Page 158 of Princess of Bael

Her body began to convulse half a second after the word left my mouth, her clothes erupting in flames. I dropped her as the heat singed my skin, the inferno covering her from head to toe. “Fuck!” I jumped to my feet, searching for water or something to smother her with.

I started to flutter my wings, thinking to cover the flames, but Ashmedai leapt forward to catch my plumes and yank me back. “Give her a second, Ezra.”

“She doesn’t have a damn second!” I shouted back at him, my fist aiming for his face.

He caught my wrist and twisted it, then teleported us into the sky. I called my sword to me, but it paused midair as he blocked it with a telekinetic shield.

“I’m going to fucking kill you,” I seethed, flipping out of his grip and attempting to punch him again.

But my body froze.

My arm hanging in the air.

My wings sprung wide.

My legs stuck in a sprinting position.

My mouth partially open, allowing me to release a snarl. Because while he’d used his gift to hold me in place, he was still allowing me to breathe.

“You’re going to thank me,” he corrected, his tone mild. “She’s being reborn, Ezra. If you take a breath, you’ll sense it and realize I’m right.”

Reborn.

Was that why I could feel her yet couldn’t at the same time?

My eyebrows attempted to lift, but Ashmedai’s telekinesis held me captive.She’s becoming an Archdemon.

“Not exactly,” he replied, making my eyes want to narrow now. I always suspected he could read minds. But those two words proved it. “There’s a lot you suspect about me. Some of it is true. But you really should be paying closer attention to those around you, Ezra. I’m not your enemy.”

You’re not my ally either.

“I am in more ways than you realize.” He sighed, the sound tired as he snapped his fingers.

We landed on the ground in an instant, his telekinetic hold dropping immediately as my sword fell to the ground.

Kayla was nowhere to be seen, a cluster of reddish-black feathers on the ground in her place. I ran to the feathers, pulling them back to reveal my beautiful mate beneath the nest of silky plumes. “Kayla,” I whispered, the sight of her taking my breath away. The flames were long gone, leaving behind unblemished pale skin.

She still wasn’t breathing.

But I sensed her spirit all over this forest, her life a blessing that would soon return to her corporeal state.

“Change,” Ashmedai echoed, smiling. “Beautiful, isn’t it?”

I glanced up at him. “How did you know?”

“Because it’s always been expected. She’s too powerful to remain a Halfling, not with Bael’s blood running through her veins. And now her ties to you have pushed her into becoming who she was always destined to be—a being of the Divinity. Or a queen, as you earlier thought.” He flashed me a grin with that last statement, confirming his mind-reading power yet again.

Not that he needed to.

This was just him being Ashmedai.

His smile disappeared as he casually strolled over to where the portal hummed with residual life. Another snap of his fingers opened it back up.

His wings flared. “Run.”

I frowned. “What?” I stood to walk over to him and realized the words were for the demons waiting to come through on the other side.

They scurried at the sight of us standing on the opposite side. Or perhaps it was just Ashmedai’s presence that sent them running. His intimidating size was accented by his dangerous aura, his powers flourishing in a manner I’d never witnessed from him before.