Page 17 of Princess of Bael

Kay

I’m goingto kill Ashmedai, I thought, my focus on Ezra’s too-perfect form.

Ashmedai must have known this would happen, that my distraction would end in chaos. The damn Archdemon was always one step ahead of everyone around him, setting up the pieces exactly as he saw fit so they would fall in the order he required.

Including sending me on this chase to find Kristina.

Because I didn’t think for a second that this was a coincidence.

He knew the balance was at stake, that certain members from both realms—Hell and Heaven—were growing in power.

“War is coming,” he’d told me.“And if we don’t play this exactly right, pandemonium will win.”

I’d played my part, just like he’d intended. Except he’d failed to mention the very negative outcome of this entire mess would result in me having to work with Ezra.

My nemesis.

Mymate.

I hated him. And I hated more that the others thought they could just dictate to me like some sort of minion.

I’m Princess Kayla of Bael. Not a fucking pawn.

My teeth ground together in protest. This was ridiculous. “I’m not working with you,” I said.

“Oh, you absolutely are,” Ezra countered. “Even if I have to follow you to Hell and drag you back, youwillhelp me fix this.”

“Like I did last time?” I asked, arching a brow. “Oh, wait, you can only mate me once. Hmm, so that’s out. How will you use me this time?”

“Don’t act like this is my fault, little hellion. You’re the one who set the trap that allowed Kristina to be taken. And for what? A selfish vendetta.” He glared at me. “If your goal here was to punish me, then trust me when I say your job is done. Because I’ve never been more disappointed than I am right now.”

My lips parted. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me. You’re a fucking disgrace, and I’m mated to you. It disgusts me.”

His words knocked the air right out of my lungs, causing my heart to halt midbeat.

I rose from my fighting crouch and straightened my spine, his statement rolling through my mind on repeat. I’d imagined this moment a million times. Never once had I anticipated his ability to hurt me with a few crude comments.

But I felt each one like an arrow through the damn chest.

I hadn’t realized that Ashmedai’scalling cardwould explode in the sky. Just as I hadn’t anticipated a Tracker showing up and unleashing a venom bomb. Although, I had been immune to it, thanks to my cuff, so I should have acted faster than I had. But I’d been in a bit of shock from his appearance. I’d also completely misunderstood his intentions. By the time I’d figured out what he’d intended to do, it’d been too late.

At least I’d stabbed him.

With a trackable knife,I realized with a start. All my weapons had runes on them that allowed me to find them again with ease, mostly because I was tired of other demons taking my shit.

But in this case, it might just allow us to find the Tracker who’d taken Kristina.

Which meant we needed to move now before he had a chance to remove it.

We were probably already too late due to all the conversation.

“We need to go,” I said, looking at Ezra. “Right fucking now.” I was already pulling up the coordinates with the cuff on my wrist.

“What are you talking about?”

“My knife has a locator rune on it.” It should give us a near-exact location. I just had to—