Page 34 of Princess of Bael

But for whoever hired them? Yeah, they were certainly doing their job.

I swapped my gun for a pair of daggers, deciding to save my bullets for whoever really needed them.

And started stabbing at the air.

Demonic screeches echoed off the trees, creating the perfect alarm of sorts while Ezra and I worked to take each Orsini Devil down. They were short and stumpy and invisible, making them difficult to track. But my senses drove me and my blades, slashing through them as I sensed their auras, until the field around us was painted in red snow.

And silence.

I remained crouched for a second longer, surveying the landscape, then I slowly stood to find Ezra staring at me with a glimmer of wonder in his eyes. Rather than comment on his obvious surprise, I focused on the stronger power lurking in the woods—the one the Orsini Devils were attempting to mask.

Now that they were all unconscious and not breathing, I could home in on that intense signature. It flared like a beacon against my demonic senses.

I took off toward it in the next instant with Ezra hot on my heels.

But the aura began to fade as soon as I moved toward it, telling me I was already too late.He’s portaling,I realized, slowing my pace.

Ezra either didn’t care or he didn’t notice, because he blew right past me, his steps determined.

I frowned, my steps turning to a stroll.It’s not right. Something’s not right.

I almost uttered the words out loud, but they wouldn’t stop Ezra. He continued at full speed ahead.

However, the power was gone. I couldn’t sense it at all now.

“Ezra…” I trailed off, noting the desperation in his movements.

My brow furrowed, and my feet picked up speed to follow him. He must have sensed something I couldn’t. Or maybe he wasn’t sensing anything at all.

No. That wasn’t it.

I chased him deeper into the trees, running at his pace now, following whatever lead he’d picked up on, then froze at the sight of him falling to his knees just ten feet away from me.

Fuck.

Thatwas why the power signature had disappeared.

It was… it wasKristina’senergy I’d felt slipping away, as though siphoned off into another being that had clearly disappeared.

Leaving the precious piece of the Divinity dead… on the forest floor.

My hand covered my mouth, my legs anchored to the ground like blocks of cement.She’s… she’s dead. The Divinity is compromised. She’s… gone…

Ezra’s head fell back on a bellow that sent a blade right through my heart. It wasn’t a sound of solitary sadness, but one of acute fury. A mixture of emotions that swirled all around him, ending in a wave of agony I could feel to my very soul.

The impact fractured a part of me, our link throbbing to life and forcing me to feel every sensation pouring out of his spirit.

Failure.

Admiration.

Despair.

Love.

That last bit gave me pause, allowing me to climb out of this emotional web to the surface, only to be yanked back under a sea of grief.

My knees buckled, sending me to the ground behind him, the sensations drowning me beneath an avalanche offeeling.