Page 68 of Princess of Bael

I smiled sadly. “No. You came for me first.” And I’d severely underestimated how angry she would be. I’d thought all this time apart would have cleared her head, made her see the bigger picture, and understand that this was the best route for us both.

Alas, that wasn’t what had occurred at all.

Because she wasn’t me. She didn’t view the world as I did. And that’d been the fatal error in my calculation—I hadn’t consideredherfeelings at all.

“I don’t blame you for hating me,” I said, continuing my line of honesty.

There was nothing else to lose here between us.

Besides, she more than deserved to hear my truth.

“I didn’t consider how my choice would impact you,” I confessed. “Not entirely, anyway. I knew what it would do to me. And it was a consequence I felt I deserved. Not just for failing Johanna in the first place, but for what I did to you as my mate. However, I didn’t know it would infuriate you to the point where you would willingly trust other Archdemons to help you track me down.”

That part wasn’t meant as an accusation, even if it sounded like one.

It was meant to be the truth because I had honestly never anticipated her going to such lengths to seek revenge on me.

“I thought you would forget all about me,” I continued. “You’re the Princess of Bael. We might be mated by my rules, but most demons don’t engage in blood bonds. I know the connection between us weighs more heavily on me than it does on you. Which is partly why I didn’t anticipate your residual anger. I expected it to be temporary.”

“You tricked me into a mate-bond and left me in Hell,” she retorted, her voice a low purr of angry energy that vibrated the air around us. “How could my anger over something like that betemporary?”

“That’s where I misjudged our situation,” I told her. “I never tookyourreactions into account, only my own. I knew I would suffer, and I accepted it for the greater good. Given the one-sided nature of our bond, I never even considered your feelings because I knew it wouldn’t hurt you. It felt… insignificant.”

“It wasn’t insignificant to me.”

“I see that now,” I replied, stating the obvious. “What I’m saying is, I failed to account for your emotional reaction to what I’d done.”

“So you’re saying I’m reacting emotionally,” she deadpanned.

I cleared my throat, very aware of the dangerous web she was weaving around my words. “No, I’m telling you that I didn’t account for either of our emotions or how we would feel about my actions. I took a practical stance that I now see was wrong. But I also don’t regret it.”

“Because you acted in the best interest of humanity while knowing full well you would eventually fail anyway, thereby making all this pain amoot point,” she summarized, her tone telling me how she felt about everything I’d just said.

“What would the world be like today had Bael taken Johanna four decades ago?” I asked, reiterating my earlier question. “His power only began to shift over the last decade or so. He needs her now for balance. But what would have happened had he taken her too early? Would she have balanced him prior to his increase in power, thereby shifting that energy to someone else? Someone less… worthy?”

It was all a delicate dance of righting the scales. To tip them too soon caused the other side to experience an unexpected fluctuation that could create a ripple effect.

I walked over to the board to draw it, showing the scales and adding Bael’s name to one side, mine to the other, and Johanna at the top. “Had he taken her, she may have stabilized his energy too soon, but that wave of power would have had to go somewhere,” I said, drawing a line from Jo to Bael.

I added Kayla to my side of the scales, showing the temporary stability had we chosen that path four decades ago.

“But the shift has always been coming, so what happens?” I continued, drawing a zigzag line of electricity around both couples and the spark-like ripples away from their balance. “You wouldn’t be nearly as powerful as you are now”—something I demonstrated with a red marker, showing the sparks of energy leaving her for somewhere else—“and I would be more or less the same. So who would have inherited the power destined for you? What about Bael? And would Kristina and Lucía have been enough to maintain the veil?”

I turned to find Kayla studying my crude drawing with a skeptical expression.

“Maybe it’s not the best illustration,” I started.

“No, you are definitely not an artist,” she informed me, her tone deadly serious.

I smirked. “True, but you can see where the paths begin to shift.”

“Sort of.” She didn’t sound very convinced.

So I attempted a new method of explanation.

“We’ve felt this divine shift for several millennia, the first of which occurred when the Divinity was born. All three came into existence around the same time, stirring a fresh power dynamic. You’re aware of this part?” I guessed.

“To an extent,” she hedged.