Page 157 of Princess of Bael

“Kayla!”I shouted as I caught her falling form, her eyes closing as she stopped breathing. “Fuck.”

She’d… she’derupted.Like a damn star. Light and energy pouring out of her and knocking out everyone around us.

Then she’d shot that same light up into the sky, her power more intense than Johanna’s, Kristina’s, and Lucía’s combined. They usually required chants to merge their energy to heal fissures in the veil.

Not Kayla.

She’d wielded my dagger like a damn wand and forced the veil to meld back together.

Aftershe’d taken down the barrier.

I’d felt her pulling on my soul, on our bond, and I’d teleported to her, thinking she was injured.

But it hadn’t been an injury at all.

It’d been her spirit requiringmore.

I’d left Scion and Azrael up in the sky, battling Raziel and Zerak. Now all four of them were lying in the field, unconscious from Kayla’s eruption.

I didn’t know how she’d done it, how she’d managed to pull the Divinity into her like that and use it to balance the scales.

It wasn’t a power I possessed.

Just one I’d managed but could never truly access.

That was the power of the Divinity—an energy source meant to be controlled by three beings, not one.

I was just the guard. The warrior in charge of protecting the heart of our universe.

And that heart was now Kayla.

My mate.

A true Queen of Divinity.

I couldn’t hear her mind or feel her heart beating. Yet her soul warmed the air around us.

Kayla?I whispered, longing to hear her voice.

She said nothing.

Nor did she move.

Had it been too much power for her to harness? Had it killed her? Wouldn’t I feel her death? She was my other half. The literal core of my existence. My purpose for breathing.

My Divinity.

Where are you?I wondered, my eyes scanning the burnt trees as though I might find another version of her wandering between the charred branches.

But instead, all I found was an Archdemon leaning against a tree, his navy blue wings tucked artfully at his back.

He smiled, the expression almost as blinding as the sun. “Well, that was far more impressive than the initial explosion.”

I growled under my breath, not at all in the mood to deal with him. Not with Kayla lying unconscious in my arms, still unbreathing. I wasn’t sure if she was coming back. I wasn’t sure how to save her. I wasn’t sure what the fuck had even just happened.

“You may want to lay her down,” he suggested conversationally. “I do believe she’s about to change.”

“What?”