Page 135 of The Female

Aziel cocks his head to the side as I pull off my shirt and tear it into strips. I hand one to Aziel before tying the other around my eyes to block my vision. This has the added benefit of hiding my tears, and I wait and listen for Aziel to do the same to himself.

We sit silently for hours, neither of us having the courage to speak as we suffocate on Charlie’s overwhelming fear. I don’t want to know how long she spent here surrounded by the rats, her little hands fiddling with her clothing as she waited for the Seekers to find her.

The day they took her must’ve been horrific. She was torn from her family, forced to look at her father’s corpse, and shoved into a facility where she was treated no better than cattle.

I went to that facility and purchased her, so excited as she was forced to stand naked on a stage and have her dignity torn away.

I was a dirty male.

Iama dirty male.

“I love her,” I admit, breaking the silence.

Aziel is quiet for a long minute before he clears his throat and sucks in a shaky breath. I pretend I don’t hear it as I wait for him to respond.

“Why?” he asks, his voice lacking the sarcastic tone I’ve grown accustomed to recently.

“I initially liked her because she was angry and fiery. She is, don’t get me wrong, but she’s so much more than that. Charlie’s kind and persistent, always eager to learn. She’s got a huge fucking heart and such strong convictions. She’s everything we’re not,” I admit, my voice no louder than a whisper.

It feels wrong to shout in here. This is a room for quiet and secrecy. For being hidden. Charlie would’ve never shouted in here. A rat scampers across my foot, and I let out a choked cry at the sensation. Human pests are disgusting and full of disease. They could have killed her.

“Why don’t you want me to be happy?” I eventually spit out, my voice cracking.

Under normal circumstances, I’d be embarrassed by the emotions I’m spilling, but I feel different when I’m in here. I can’t think straight when surrounded by so much pain and fear, the scent seeping from the walls and soaking into every one of my pores.

I know it’s affecting Aziel, too. This is a common torture method among demons. We’re sensitive to these negative emotions, incubi more than the others, but Wraths still struggle with it.

I don’t fight against the hands that latch on to my forearms and pull me forward. Aziel’s chin rests on the top of my head as he holds me to him, his heart thumping frantically beneath my ear.

“I want you to be happy,” he says. “You know I do.”

Shaking my head, I move to pull away but am pulled back to his chest.

“No, you don’t,” I protest. “If you wanted me to be happy, you wouldn’t dismiss Charlie so easily. You won’t even give her a chance.”

Aziel sighs and trails his fingers down my back. I don’t like the gentle touch, unused to receiving them from him. Even when we’re at our best, we keep our distance. Aziel’s made it clear he doesn’t want intimacy from me.

“I’m choosing Shay because I want you to be happy. You and Silas will find comfort with her,” Aziel says, still misreading our relationship with Shay. She was a fun fuck, but that’s all it ever was.

We tolerated her because she was easy and willing, and she didn’t make us work for it. I would never want her as a bonded. She’s selfish and vindictive and an all-around bad person.

I tug my blindfold off with a grunt and wait for Aziel to do the same. Why is he so dense?

“I don’t want her, and neither does Silas. We will be happy with Charlie, and I know you care for her, too.”

My heart thumps as I cup Aziel’s cheeks. He doesn’t usually like it when I touch him, finding my actions too intimate, but he doesn’t stop me. His eyes bore into mine as I trail my finger down his cheek and across his lips.

“The Wraths will revolt,” he says. “They want a strong ruler.”

I sigh and shake my head, still not understanding this logic.

“You have a strong leader in Silas. Most Wraths only take one mate, but you will have three. Silas is the strong one, I’m the son of Asmod, which makes me good for alliances, and Charlie is for love. They’re getting what they want, and if they’re upset, they can leave for Greed.” Leaning forward, I connect my lips with his.

They’re wet, and I can’t tell if the tears belong to him or me.

Aziel lets me kiss him, the first one we’ve ever had, and I slide my tongue against his before pulling away and trailing my mouth down his neck. His pulse races, and I lick the spot where most demons choose to bite. Someday, he’ll let me sink my teeth into him, and this will be the spot that tells the world he’s mine.

Fingers curl into the hair at the base of my neck and pull me away.

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