Page 24 of The Female

I try to hide my shock, but I know I’ve failed when Aziel snaps his gaze to me and laughs once more. Was Gray lying to me? It sure sounds that way.

My fingers continue to fiddle with the hem of the shirt I’m wearing, worrying the fabric between my fingertips as I watch their argument unfold.

“I’m only going to feed off her dreams, and that’s that,” Gray finally says, leaving no room for argument.

Aziel clenches his jaw. “You’ll starve.”

“I’ll be fine,” Gray snaps. “Besides, I doubt it will even go that far. She’s desperate for it.”

All eyes turn to me. My bottom lip twitches as I try to hold in my tears, the stress of today getting the best of me as my eyes grow wet. I don’t want to be some pawn for Gray, and I don’t want to be here.

I’d kill to be with my family again, even if that means I spend the rest of my life in hiding. These men are going to be the death of me, intentionally or not.

Gray drops the argument as he notices my silent crying, his cold expression softening.

Aziel turns to Silas and mumbles something I can’t hear before leaving. The room feels lighter with him gone, and muscles I didn’t even realize were tensed relax. Silas and Gray’s proximity still has me on edge, though, and I watch the two of them through narrowed eyes.

Gray moves toward me, but he pauses as I scurry backward. The back of my legs meets the edge of the bed, preventing me from moving farther. I feel like a lamb being led to the slaughter.

“You don’t need to be so afraid,” Gray promises.

I don’t believe a word that comes out of his mouth. I can already tell he’ll never love or respect me as my father did my mother, and because of that, I’ll never not be afraid of him.

Men who treat women like property are dangerous.

Gray huffs and runs a hand through his hair. His fingers catch in his messy curls, and he flinches as he tries to remove his hand.

I step to the side, moving around the bed as Gray takes another step closer. He frowns and glances at Silas one last time before turning and leaving the room altogether. Instead of going through the door we came in, he storms through the bathroom and into his connecting room.

My attention shifts to Silas. He hasn’t moved, his body still lingering in the doorway.

I don’t know what I expected a fate to look like, but he fits the bill. His face seems to hold a thousand answers to questions I don’t even know I have, and he watches everything around him with nerve-wracking intensity.

His throat bobs as he swallows, and I clasp my hands together as he leans his shoulder against the doorway. He seems to be the calmest of the three.

“Despite what I’m sure you think, nobody’s going to force themselves on you,” he says, turning to look down the hallway I know leads to the stairs.

My lips twitch. I’m glad somebody seems to be on my side. I don’t know what it is, but Silas doesn’t give the same fearful vibes the others do. I think it’s his disinterest in me, his attention curious but not sexual.

Aziel, and especially Gray, look at me like I’m prey and they’re the predator waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. I bet they’d go straight for the throat, sinking their teeth into my jugular while their claws rip open my underbelly.

Silas looks at me like I’m a person. Admittedly, one who annoys him, but a person nonetheless.

“Aziel has never had sex,” he says, “and he can’t without creating a life bond. The royal Wrath lineage is too strong, and the fates gave him that weakness when he was born. It’ll keep him away from you. Gray pushes boundaries, but he won’t do anything you truly don’t want. If he grows too hungry, I’ll see to it that he gets fed from a different source.”

Despite my doubts, I find myself relaxing.

I suppose Silas could be lying to me, but I fail to see what he’d get out of that.

I still don’t know how I feel about Gray or if I believe he won’t use me when he gets hungry. It’d be a waste of money, and I’d be stupid not to recognize that.

Silas looks around my room. He hums as he evaluates it, his eyes lingering on the closet before moving to the bathroom door.

“Lock the door to Gray’s bedroom when you’re in the bathroom. If you’re going to masturbate, don’t do it in there. He’ll be able to smell you from that distance,” Silas says, sucking on his teeth.

I flinch, uncomfortable with the topic of masturbation.

“You’re free to move around the house, but I’d recommend you stay out of Aziel’s wing. I’m not going to sit here and threaten you to stay away from mine, but I’d prefer if you did,” he continues.

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