Page 44 of Princess of Bael
Then she spun and decked him in the face with an impressive punch, following it up with a knee to his groin—a kick he caught with his thighs before lashing out and grabbing a fistful of her hair. “You want foreplay, baby, and I’ll give it to you. But kicking me in the jewels is a hard pass.”
She screamed and started attacking him in earnest, her skills quick and nimble as she fought him.In a dress. The fabric split at the sides, allowing her fluid motions to carry as she introduced her heel to his cheek. He ducked, but not fast enough, the sharp edge drawing a gash along his face.
Which resulted in another chuckle from the psychopath.
The two of them continued to grapple, causing my father to sigh dramatically. “Be thankful, Johanna.”
“For what?” she asked, sounding bored. “That the stalker of my dreams finally made his fantasy a reality?”
My father grinned, his dimples appearing as he gave her an indulgent look. “You enjoyed those dreams just as much as I did, sweetheart.”
“Okay, ew,” I said, not wanting to listen to any more ofthatconversation.Where the hell is Ezra?
I searched the surrounding field for his black-brown feathers and shock of white hair but came up empty.
He probably didn’t want to see me anyway.
Because he rightly blamed me for all this.
I swallowed, uneasy with, well, everything.Hedeserved my wrath and retribution, but Kristina hadn’t. I could claim all day that I hadn’t known what Ashmedai’s device would do, and it wouldn’t change what had happened.
Kristina was dead because of my actions.
The veil would fall because of my blind need for revenge.
Ezra had used me and left me in Hell. I hated him for it, but I hadn’t exactly suffered.
I… I grew into a powerful heiress as a result.
While he’d apparently been weakened.
All those comments in the snowy forest had been eye-opening. The other angels had called him inferior… because of our bond. Because he’d left me in Hell instead of killing me.
It struck me then—the real purpose of my father’s blood vow that day and why he’d been so thrilled by the prospect.
“You made that deal with Ezra to punish him. No, totorturehim as a result of taking away your power outlet,” I whispered, interrupting whatever conversation he’d been having with said outlet.
I met my father’s devious gaze, my own eyes narrowing.
“You were never thrilled by the prospect of having me home. All those deals that kept me from going to Earth, all the schooling and the training, it was never for my benefit. It was for you, a way to keep me busy in the underworld so I wouldn’t find Ezra. Because you wanted to weaken him.”
All this time, I’d thought it was a result of my father’s obsession with grooming an heiress.
But he’d never come for me on Earth.
He’d never cared when I’d been human.
And I’d forgotten that beneath my intense fury at Ezra using me for his own gain. I’d lost sight of it so completely that I hadn’t even been able to see that my own father had used me as a pawn, too.
He’d just played a much longer game.
I almost laughed, my heart and soul already too shattered to break any more.
“Wow” was all I could muster. “Just…wow.”
“Kayla—”
I held up a hand, taking a play out of Azrael’s book. It’d worked for him, so why not me? “I’m good. I don’t need your explanation. I understand your penchant for deals,Dad. Don’t belittle me by trying to make another one.”
