Page 46 of Princess of Bael

Her presence in my home felt… comforting. I could sense her in my office, her aura a beacon that called to my judicial instincts.

Not because I wanted to punish her.

But because I could feel the injustice surrounding her. Something had changed. She felt even more unbalanced than before, her sadness a perceptible pang that pierced my heart.

Was it Kristina’s loss? Did she feel as though she’d wronged us all by orchestrating that stunt? I could understand that. She’d acted selfishly. However, her actions were driven by my own, thereby placing the blame collectively between us.

That said, belaboring the past and casting blame would achieve nothing.

We needed to think forward, solve this puzzle, and lay the groundwork for the eventual shift between the realms.

I flew toward my home, circling the back patio to reach the open windows of my den.

Kayla sat inside on the floor, surrounded by papers like earlier, her head bowed as she scribbled something into one of my notebooks—an item she’d clearly found in my desk.

It was on the tip of my tongue to reprimand her for going through my things without permission, but I didn’t want to disturb her concentration. So I landed silently on one of my windowsills and sat to observe her.

She didn’t seem to notice me, too lost to whatever path she followed in her mind.

We were clearly on the same wavelength in terms of moving forward rather than backward because she appeared to be taking notes on Nephilim.

I frowned, leaving my seat to float down beside her. Plucking a document off the floor, I noticed a list of names with percentages beside them.

When I finished skimming it, I met her exhausted gaze. “It’s a list of Nephilim,” she explained without me even having to ask. “I’m writing down everything I remember from my meeting with Ashmedai, including the power shifts we noted among the demons and angels. I’m working on that last part now.”

She bent her head again, continuing to write.

I started leafing through all that she’d drafted, my jaw hardening with each page. She’d clearly been here all day while I’d been working on the funeral arrangements. “Have you eaten anything?” I asked.

“Not hungry,” she muttered in response, her shoulders seeming to cave a little.

“You need to eat.”

She paused to glare up at me. “As I said, I’m not hungry. And besides, this is more important than my body’s needs or desires. I was selfish. This is what I deserve.”

My eyebrows lifted as she essentially dismissed me by returning to the notebook.

“You…” I trailed off because I’d been about to say,You weren’t selfish. Which was a lie, and also entirely unrelated to the larger issue at hand. She clearly blamed herself and only herself. “Ashmedai gave you that device.”

“Yes, and I used it without considering the ramifications.” She pressed the pen just a little harder into the page, her frustration evident. “It was a naïve action on my part, one that will lead to the destruction of life as we know it unless we find out what happened to Kristina’s powers and channel them through a more appropriate candidate.”

Well, it seemed we were on more than just the same page—she’d taken the plan right from my mind.

Still…“You can’t work yourself to death, Kayla. That’s not healthy.”

“What will it matter if the veil shatters?” she countered, finally looking up at me. “And aren’t you supposed to be the Archangel of Justice? Isn’t self-punishment one of your values?”

I snorted. “That’s not how it works.”

“Right. And I suppose if it was, you’d be too weak to handle it anyway. Because of me, apparently. Or our bond. Or whatever.”

“A link I initiated knowing full well what the consequences would be,” I said, kneeling beside her to place my palm over the notebook, forcing her to stop writing. “Well, maybe notallthe consequences,” I clarified, thinking of the one we were experiencing now. “But I allowed myself to be weakened. That’s on me.”

“Just as the events that led to Kristina’s kidnapping are on me.”

I shook my head. “Those are on both of us. I should have been able to handle a meager Tracker and his Slither-venom bomb.”

It still angered me thinking about how easily he’d bested me. I hadn’t been prepared at all, when I should have been able to easily thwart his attack. Fuck, I should have been able tosensehim before he’d even arrived.