Page 127 of The Female

Gray’s nowhere to be seen, and I sit on my bed and wait for his inevitable arrival.

He’s never gone for long, the man still insisting on monitoring my every move even when I make it clear I don’t want to be near him. I know he’s concerned about me, but he should have been concerned about the thousands of females he’s condemned.

I’m no more special than they are.

Not much time passes before my bedroom door is pushed open and Gray’s face appears in the doorway. I refuse to let any emotion show as he welcomes himself inside my room and sits in the chair by my door.

“Where’d you go?” I ask.

He doesn’t respond.

I shouldn’t have called him a pathetic male, and I especially shouldn’t have said that’s probably why his last female chose the other incubi over him. It was too far, and I regretted the words the moment they slipped from my lips.

We both knew I was trying to hurt him. I wanted him to feel the way I did after learning about his betrayal of the females. I suppose I succeeded.

Does he know what happened between Aziel and me? I know he’s angry about my cruel words, but I can’t tell if part of his anger is also because he heard what happened from Silas.

I’m sure it doesn’t feel great to hear that the female who just heartlessly attacked you allowed the man she claims to hate to touch her.

Fuck.

“Have you spoken to Silas?” I ask, keeping my voice calm.

I don’t want to alert him that there’s something Silas knows that he doesn’t, but I also don’t know how to pry without giving myself away.

“Yes.”

I suppose that answers my question. He knows.

Gray and I sit in silence until a shadow peeks in and informs us dinner is ready.

“Come,” Gray says, standing.

I don’t want to eat with everybody, but one look at Gray’s pursed lips and tense posture tells me he’s not going to takenofor an answer. He’s beyond pissed. This should be fun.

Aziel and Silas are already at the table, Aziel at the head and Silas in the seat to his left. Gray sits on his right and points for me to take the spot next to him. The air is awkward, and I clear my throat and lower myself into my seat.

“Where’s Shay?” I ask.

It’s a sad attempt to diffuse the tension.

Silas is the one who answers. “Gone.”

That’s a relief, but I’m sure she’ll be back soon enough. She always is.

Silence stretches over us once more as we serve ourselves the food the shadows have laid out.

Gray and Silas glare at Aziel from across the table, but he ignores them and stares at me instead. I avoid meeting his gaze, choosing instead to prod at my food and pretend I don’t notice. I’m desperate enough for distraction that I wouldn’t hate it if Shay were here.

Anything to get Aziel’s black eyes off me.

Even without looking at him, I know he’s got an arrogant smirk on his lips. I hope his dick hurts.

Gray probably made me come to dinner to punish me. I’m sure he feels betrayed by what I’ve done, and he probably wants to see how Aziel and I interact before confronting me about it. I didn’t want anybody to know Aziel came onto me, and I especially didn’t want them to know that, for a moment, I welcomed it.

Something as shameful as that deserves to be kept quiet.

I peek at Gray before turning to Silas. Both avoid eye contact, and in a fit of desperation, I turn to Aziel. He’s the only one who will look at me, and he smirks as we lock eyes.

---