Page 79 of Princess of Bael

Ezra provided my only link to reality.

Yet he wasn’t conscious.

What’s happening? Where am I?

But on the heels of that thought, another hit my mind like a bolt of lightning.

Heaven.

Thatwas the cause of my discomfort. And the source of the drowning sensation.

I don’t belong here.

My soul wept, urging me to return to the safety of Hell.

But Ezra’s spirit clung to mine, begging me to stay.

Somehow, he’d teleported us here. Or maybe I’d miraculously engaged in the ability to ascend.

Perhaps someone had even come for us.

It all felt too foreign and impossible to decipher. I was lost to the whims of my dying mate.

Because even in death, he owned me. His energy swirled with mine, dragging me down with him to a grave of despair.

I could fight it. I could cut him off. I could let him die.

The link was a fragile strand, one that wobbled and sizzled with warning.Too weak. Too neglected. Too degraded.

It would be so easy to slice through it and let him fall.

Only, my heart refused to allow it. Instead, I found myself clinging to him as though he were my anchor in life, demanding he survive.

To kill him my way, I told myself.

Truth or a lie? I couldn’t say.

It didn’t matter.

Something sliced my arm, drawing a hiss from my mouth. “He needs this,” the female informed me. “Your connection is barely alive.”

I wanted to say something aboutwhyour bond was nearly dead, but I couldn’t move my lips. I couldn’t even see her. Part of me wasn’t even sure any of this was real.

Electricity jolted through my veins, drawing a gasp from my throat.

“See?” the woman said. “He needs your blood, and you need his.”

Ambrosia touched my tongue in the next instant, stirring a groan from my chest.So good, I marveled, swallowing and humming inside as warmth spread through all my previously chilled limbs.

The decadent flavor made me feel alive.

It calmed the ache in my gut, making it easier to breathe.

Another dose graced my mouth, the essence an addiction I immediately took down my throat. I barely felt the knife wound on my arm, too lost to the intoxicating flavor coating my tongue.

The sensual game continued for hours, or maybe minutes. I really couldn’t determine time, my mind lost to everything except for the buzzing electricity humming through my veins.

Eventually, the darkness abated, revealing a clear blue sky.