Page 132 of The Female

Seriously? I turn toward him, my eyes desperately trying to adjust. I can’t make out anything other than the slope of a nose and what I think is a jawline.

“It might not make you happy, but it’s not bad,” he warns, his voice oddly warm despite his earlier annoyance with me. “Fates are secret. You can’t tell anybody or it might hurt the balance.”

Why would her fate not make me happy? Will he get in trouble for telling me? Silas pulls me closer.

Is he cuddling me because he wants to or because he feels bad for me? I don’t like the idea of him touching me out of pity. I move to pull away, but Silas tightens his hold and entwines our legs, making escape near-impossible.

This doesn’t mean anything. Silas has made his disinterest in me quite clear, and I’m not going to get my hopes up, only to be let down again.

“Tell me,” I decide.

Fingers trail over my collarbone, and I forget how to breathe.

“She spends a while in the facility. I can’t tell if you interact because I can’t see your fate, but she’s not unhappy there. She ends up in another realm. I can’t tell which one, but there’s a lot of snow and trees.” His voice grows quiet, and he clears his throat to wake himself up. “There’s a man. He’s not human. Elven, maybe. They share the same aura, which can mean many things, but given they are intimate, I’d take that to mean they’re bonded. She looks happy.”

Silas brushes his lips against my shoulder, and I soften in his hold as hope blossoms within me. She’s going to be happy?

“There are chunks of her life I can’t see, which I’m taking to mean you’re in it,” he continues.

“Why can’t you see my fate?” I ask, hoping he’ll let something spill in his sleepy state.

Silas smacks his lips and curls his arm further around my body. His fingers slip under my shirt and press against my skin. I try not to react.

“Because I can’t see my own. You and I are too close for the fates to let me see it,” he explains. “I can’t see Gray or Aziel’s, either.”

I hum. I suppose I should take it as a good sign he can’t see it. That means that Gray isn’t going to get rid of me.

“I’m tired, Charlie.”

“Then go to sleep.”

I don’t understand why he feels the need to force himself awake.

Silas grunts and releases a deep sigh, his breath warm as it fans over my neck and shoulder. I roll over and press my back against his front. He seems content with the change as he forms his body around mine.

“You’ll stay, right? You won’t leave in the middle of the night? I’m a deep sleeper,” he admits.

I shake my head and let out a silent breath.

Now that I’ve spent so many of my nights with Gray, I don’t like to sleep alone, and Silas’s presence is comforting. I’ll probably wake up tomorrow morning and regret this, but that’s a problem I’ll deal with then. My feelings for Silas haven’t changed, and when he holds me so close and whispers such nice things in my ear, I struggle to keep them locked inside.

“I won’t leave.”

My words are met with a quiet snore.

32

_____

GRAY

THE NOISY CHATTERkeeps my mind from racing as I sit at the bar nursing my drink. I can feel Aziel’s presence to my right, his shoulder only inches from my own, but neither of us takes the initiative to start a conversation.

I’m willing to bet if it weren’t for Charlie’s scared cries, Aziel would’ve never agreed to Silas’s demand. I sure know I wouldn’t have. Even now, knowing we aren’t welcome home until we’ve settled our differences, I still can’t bring myself to speak to Aziel.

I thought he cared for me in his own twisted, indifferent way. Loved me, even. These past few months have proven I was wrong in that assumption. Aziel cares only for himself, and there’s no room in his cold, dead heart for anybody else.

His end of the bond prods at mine, the first bit of acknowledgment we’ve had with one another in the hours we’ve been sitting here, but I ignore it and take a big swig of my drink. It burns as it slides down my throat, and I spin to face the room of people.

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