Page 181 of Princess of Bael

She doesn’t seem all that upset about it,Ashmedai pointed out.And she would have died brutally had I not made this deal.

She did die brutally.

Ashmedai made an impatient sound.Her father took the power from her and redistributed it, as commanded by the other side.

You did warn him he would have to do things he wouldn’t want to do,I inserted dryly.Obviously, this was one of those things.A guess I’d made based on how strongly he’d demanded Ashmedai let him see his daughter. He obviously had a heart somewhere inside him.

It was the only way to truly save her. At least he was able to kill her peacefully, something I doubt would have happened had the other side been forced to extract her power via different means—which they would have eventually tried, Trudy. You’ve seen enough now to know I speak the truth.

He did.

But that didn’t mean I was blinded by his “kindness.” I knew the real him now. I understood his plays. Nothing about this situation was a result of him caring about anything other than the endgame.

Don’t pretend you saved her from a worse fate, Ash,I drawled.We both know this was about paying Ankou. He wanted an angelic pet capable of withstanding his demonic side. You provided that in the form of Kristina.

I didn’t say my saving her from a worse fate was my only motive, he returned casually.Just a benefit of the arrangement. Two demons, one sacrifice—that’s the saying, yes?

It took effort not to roll my eyes.Two birds, one stone.

How human of you,he murmured back, his amusement palpable once more.

“Sweet gold of mine,” Ankou said warmly. “Your father is here requesting an audience. Shall I permit him entry?”

Kristina swallowed, her eyes lifting to Ankou. “Yes, please.”

His resulting smile was indulgent. “Do you intend to kill him?”

“I don’t know, my king. Maybe.”

Ankou’s opposite hand produced a golden dagger that he handed to her. “The choice is yours, golden one.”

“Thank you, my king.”

They’re giving me weird Hades and Persephone vibes,I decided, their connection seeming like an odd mix of sweet and evil.

Am I to know who they are?Ashmedai asked.

Greek mythology,I returned.Hades, God of the Underworld?

I assure you, Hades does not exist in my underworld,Ashmedai replied flatly.

Hence the wordmythology.

He didn’t reply, his focus entirely on Ankou as he snapped his fingers. “Allow the Archdemon to enter,” he called.

Do you think she’ll kill him?I wondered, eyeing the fragile-looking female. She was a former piece of the Divinity, which meant she was a lot stronger than she looked. Even without her veil power, she still had the blood of an Archdemon and an Archangel running through her veins.

Johanna and Lucía were proof of what she could be, as they’d both mated their Archdemon counterparts to form a new sort of balance. They were powerful matings. Of course, Lucía and Alastor still pretended to hate each other. But that was their clever way of hiding the power they now shared.

If Kristina had mated Ankou, then she would be just as powerful as Lucía and Johanna were now. Perhaps even more so, given Ankou’s ties to the afterlife.

That was how Ashmedai had made this arrangement—gold for an angelic pet in the form of Kristina’s soul.

All Ankou had to do was retrieve her soul, which I imagined wasn’t very difficult for him, given his reign over that realm of existence.

“After this, our deal is through,” Ankou said conversationally to Ashmedai.

Ashmedai dipped his chin in acknowledgment, his mind telling me he’d already fulfilled his goals with this arrangement. He’d only brought Morax here to finish his debt to the Archdemon.