His two mates positively glowed with interest.
Gleason’s focus was on the map.
And the Royal Guard gave me a look that suggested he’d enjoy watching me die. I returned that glance with one of my own, warning him to back the fuck off.
“He reminds me of Xai,” the Nephilim muttered to Ashmedai as her heeled boots met the ground.
“Mmm,” the Archdemon hummed. “Equally stubborn, but less cryptic. Their power levels rival one another, too.”
My brow furrowed at the latter half of that statement. I knew Xai was growing in power; however, I hadn’t been aware of him reaching my status of an Archangel. “Is that how he saved Eve from the Shadow realm?” I wondered aloud.
“Among other reasons,” Ashmedai answered, proving to be just as cryptic as the male in question.
“Is she awake?” Guinevere asked, her sensual interest having disappeared behind a layer of obvious concern. “Is she okay?”
“She was still unconscious when we descended,” I replied, aware of the friendship between her and Eve. “But Raphaela is healing her.”
“Yes, that’s why Azrael left over a year ago,” Gleason interjected, his focus finally shifting away from the map to look at me. “You missed the meeting.”
“Did I? I hardly noticed,” I deadpanned.
“What he means to say is ‘We regret missing the meeting and are wondering if you can bring us up to speed,’?” Kayla interjected diplomatically.
I glanced at her. “Since when are you the reasonable one?”
“Since you decided to become the possessive asshole in the relationship.”
“Does that mean you were a possessive asshole before?” I asked.
“In your dreams, maybe,” she responded with a sweetly sarcastic tone. Then she looked at her Royal Guard. “Archangel Mietek stated that your report claimed you didn’t see how the portal opened in between the realms. Is that true?”
“Yes,” he confirmed. “The portal took a lot of effort to close, too. Prince Bael and Prince Alastor worked with a few Archangels to close it after you and Ezra ascended.”
“If the portal wasn’t closed prior to our ascension, then what caused the demons to stop attacking us?” I asked, confused by his statement. I’d assumed the portal closing had resulted in the end of the battle. But I’d been nearly dead by that point, so I hadn’t actually been aware of anything.
“They started to leave after stabbing you with the holy blade,” Kayla replied without looking at me. “So they were really only there to kill Ezra.”
Yaz nodded. “They were after you as well, but it seemed to be more of a strategic measure to keep you from protecting Ezra.”
She grunted at that. “Well, it backfired since our bond is what saved him.”
I ran my finger down her spine, displaying my gratitude without words. Because she was right. Had it not been for her acceptance of our connection, I would not have survived.
“Yes, which means protecting you is about to become an even harder job.” Yaz sounded more amused than irritated, but he punctuated the statement with a glower in my direction. “Thanks for that, Archangel.”
“Good thing I can protect myself,” Kayla inserted before I could reply. “So you still don’t know who attacked us in between the realms?”
“No,” Yaz confirmed.
She nodded, looking at Gleason and then Ashmedai. “Has anyone learned anything useful during our absence? Anything that we should know before we start chasing nonexistent auras around?”
“You’ll need to review the updated power shifts.” The Archdemon gestured to the table. “Then you may want to examine the strategy on the map.” He pointed to the giant wall of paper. “We’ve outlined several points of attack that we believe are imminent.”
“Yes, I’m here to report those back to Prince Bael,” Yaz added. “And to give him an update on your well-being.”
Kayla rolled her eyes. “Tell him I’m fine.”
“Are you, though?” His attention flickered to me before returning to her, true concern etched into the olive-toned planes of his face.
