Page 117 of The Female

“Why?” I ask.

I can’t bring myself to look him in the eye as he shifts in his seat and sighs. Instead, I flip through the report until I reach the page on extinction. Dozens of breeds were estimated to be extinct in the next fifty years, and I feel an overwhelming sense of grief as I read through them.

This could have been prevented.

My body tenses as I find humans on this list, my kind estimated to go extinct in seventeen years. It’s a miracle we’re still around, but it’s no secret we’re hurting. Even if we wanted to, I doubt we’ll ever be able to repair what we’ve lost. The human gene is spread thin, and unless all the other human females and I procreate exclusively with human males, we’ll be diluted until there’s nothing left.

“It was only supposed to be for ten years, but then we got busy and, I don’t know, we just didn’t think about it,” Gray explains, each word feeling like a knife to my chest. “We never—”

I raise my hand, unable to handle hearing another pathetic justification. There’s nothing he can say to make this better. There’s no excuse.

My bottom lip quivers as I read the list of now-extinct breeds. Gray remains quiet as I make my way through them, his hands running through his hair and messing up the neatly styled strands. He’s visibly uncomfortable as I force him to hear the names of all the species he’s condemned, but I don’t care. He deserves it.

“What was so important that it came before the females?” I ask.

Gray sucks in a sharp breath and glances to the left. I watch with a clenched jaw as he gnaws anxiously at his bottom lip. After a good minute or two of waiting, I realize he doesn’t have an answer.

Nothing was stopping them. They just didn’t care enough to do anything.

I push back my chair and stand. I need to get out of here.

“You’re a selfish prick,” I scoff.

Gray shakes his head and stands, his need to defend himself only worsening my current contempt.

“Charlie,” he pleads.

“Millions of people have died because of you!” I cut him off as I grab the report and roughly shove the papers in his direction. “All because you didn’t find it worth your time to tell anybody you found the cause for the extension of an entire fucking gender.” I step back as he moves forward.

Gray comes to a halt as I scramble away from him. The absolute last thing I want is his hands on me.

“Tenyears? Why the fuck did you decide to wait ten years in the first place?”

“To give the Wraths time to get their numbers up before—”

“You’re not even a fucking Wrath!” I scream, losing the last bit of composure I have.

I run my hands through my hair before gripping and tugging the strands. All this for the fucking Wraths? Is Gray so desperate for Aziel’s approval that he happily agreed to let us die out? Is he that fucking pathetic?

“Charlie, I’m sorry!” Gray pleads, taking a step forward. I back away. “It’s not too late to do something. We can still make it better.”

I let out a dry laugh. Is he serious? I don’t trust Gray as far as I can throw him.

“I promise. Aziel changed Wrath’s laws and built female rehabilitation centers all throughout the kingdom. The women are happy, and we’ve had a boom in female births these last twenty-five years. We can help others do the same,” he assures me.

“I don’t believe you,” I hiss.

Gray recoils and turns toward the door just as Aziel and Silas wander in. Both men look confused as they glance between Gray and me, clearly coming to investigate what all the yelling is about.

I glare at all three of them, my blood boiling as I stare at the reason my life is the way it is. They’re all monsters. Heartless, selfish monsters.

“Why’s the human yelling?” Aziel asks.

“Why am I yelling?” I retort, my sarcasm thick. “I’m yelling because you three are a bunch of selfish pricks.”

Aziel blinks, looking shocked at my sudden outburst. Silas mirrors that reaction, and Gray stares at me like a lost puppy. An evil, face-eating, human-murdering puppy.

“It’s your fault I was sold,” I say, gesturing wildly in their direction. “It’s your fault my father’s dead and my mother’s stuck in some facility. I would have a normal fucking life if it weren’t for you three!”

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