Page 6 of Princess of Bael

I had never seen the other two before, but I knew of them.

The raven-haired beauty with the haughty, regal posture was Lucía, while the willowy, doll-like redhead’s name was Kristina.

They moved closer together, their chants growing in power, but my attention was drawn away by the appearance of a new silhouette overhead.

A familiar divine being who haunted my dreams.

Ezra, Archangel of Justice, protector of the Divinity, and the one male in all the realms who’d earned my eternal loathing.

He cut an imposing figure as he descended from the light. His velvety black-brown wings stretched behind him to slow his momentum, making him look large and intimidating, especially with his hard body encased in black pants and a matching fitted T-shirt.

His dark boots touched down, and he immediately went into warrior mode with his hands hanging loose at his sides as he strode away from the Divinity to begin surveying the area.

All the black between his ebony feathers and midnight clothes made the white of his hair even more shocking.

The last time I’d seen him, his hair had been a mix of silver and black and hung in long lengths past his shoulders. He’d cut it short, and it was stark white now, thick and messy as though he’d just been roused from sleep. Still looked good, though, much to my chagrin.

However, his protective instincts sucked.

Because he’d clearly missed the obvious threat hiding in the bushes less than ten yards from his precious Divinity—me.

As though to confirm my assessment, the imposing Archangel gave me his back as he stalked to the other side of the street. His wings disappeared as well, likely to mask his supernatural presence.

Not that it would help.

Ezra possessed an otherworldly aura that couldn’t be disguised.

As did the chanting females before me.

The members of the Divinity were weaving a translucent web of magic into the air, their voices and hand motions causing the enchantment to glow with fiery golden embers.

Can a human see this?I wondered, frowning as I glanced around again for any witnesses. But the street remained silent apart from their voices.

Movement in my periphery caused me to freeze. The stealthy Archangel had stopped right in front of my bush, causing me to retract my earlier statement about him being oblivious to my presence.

Dammit.

“Show yourself,” he demanded, his gaze on my hiding spot.

I considered telling him to fuck off, but that wasn’t how this game was meant to be played.

Well, here we go, I thought, rising to my feet to meet his gaze. Liquid caramel swirled with dark power in his vibrant irises, his brow furrowing as he took me in.

Not a single sign that he knew me.

Or even a note of fear.

It was as though I didn’t exist to him. That I wasn’t standing here armed and ready to hurt him. That I hadn’t spent the last forty-one Earth yearsloathinghim.

Which shouldn’t surprise me at all, given our history.

But the lack of recognition in his features still stung.

My veins lit with an uncontrollable fire.Did I mean that little to him? A passing fancy that he left in Hell with his soul-mate bond firmly intact for eternity?

I wanted to scream at the injustice of it all. How aptly named he was as the Archangel of Justice. If anyone deserved punishment, it was the pompous male in front of me.

And now he had the audacity not to recognize me? His own fucking mate?