Page 3 of Princess of Bael

Sure, I thought, stroking the cuff around my wrist to engage the portal rune.I’ll get right on that.

Just like I would update Ashmedai, too.

At some point, I’d taken an assistant job to both Princes of Hell. It wasn’t one I’d applied for, or a position I’d actually accepted. Yet Ashmedai and Alastor seemed to be under the impression that I worked for them.

In reality, I was doing this to save my father.

Something I would never have anticipated early on in our relationship.

But the old Archdemon had grown on me throughout our thousands of Hell years together.

And I really didn’t want to see his realm—my birthright—fall apart as the result of this imbalance.

I also held a soft spot for Earth and the humans here. Which motivated me even more to find a solution to this whole shifting-power issue.

The fact that all of this granted me the opportunity to royally piss off Archangel Ezra certainly added to the appeal.

Becausehewas the one I needed to dethrone to fix this mess.

I would happily drive a blade through his cold, black heart. Then take over his precious Divinity and make the appropriate adjustments.

Too bad I didn’t have the knife I needed to properly kill him.

Prince Alastor had one, which was part of our deal. He would give me the tool I needed after I delivered the female he required.

Fine.

I’d need my bond to Ezra to make this work anyway.

He’d used me once. Now it was my turn to use him.

I smiled at the prospect, then engaged the portal energy to find a new location away from Prince Alastor. The cuff had all sorts of helpful magic, allowing me to teleport at will and mask my location.

Which was how I’d picked up a Tracker tail.

He seemed fascinated by my energy signature and would not bugger off.

It was like he saw me as some sort of challenge.

Idiot, I thought, selecting Richmond, Virginia, as my destination. It seemed like the ideal location to set a trap, given my previous human history.

I’d lived in the state of Virginia for twenty-five years before Ezra had turned my world upside down. Seemed like an appropriate place to rekindle this bond with my long-lost mate.

I nearly snorted at the notion of it.

Making him bleed would be incredibly satisfying.

Last time we’d met, he’d been able to snuff out my fire energy. Well, we’d see how well he danced with a blade this time around.

I landed on my old street roughly a block away from my townhome. Unsurprisingly, a new structure stood in its place. Something a bit ritzier than my previous stomping grounds. Actually, it seemed as though the whole neighborhood had leveled up in my absence.

However, the soft mist rolling in off the James River was familiar. As were the hovering clouds fogging the streetlights.

A dangerous ambience.

Yet one I’d always enjoyed while living here.

I meandered around a bit, the sense of being watched a heavy sensation on my mind. That Tracker had obviously made me paranoid.