Page 46 of The Female

I lean against Aziel’s desk as Gray storms out of the room. Aziel watches him leave. I’ve been friends with Aziel long enough to know his tells, and the way he furrows his brow and purses his lips are two clear indicators he’s still struggling to calm himself.

Gray was stupid to provoke him, especially knowing how worked up Aziel is today.

“You good?” I ask, the worry I feel seeping into my tone.

Aziel hesitates, his back straightening before he rolls his shoulders and stretches.

“I need to go to the pits,” he admits.

Shit.I pinch the bridge of my nose, more than a little annoyed. Aziel can’t casually go to the pits and be back for dinner. If we’re lucky, he’ll only be gone a few days, and if not, it may be months before we see him again.

The moment the scent of death hits his nose, he’s lost in the fighting, his wrath coming out full force.

“Should I get Gray?” I ask.

I know he’s going to reject the offer, but I ask anyway. He hates when I suggest he let the incubus use lust to calm him, but it would make things so much easier if he just gave in to their bond. That’s the whole point of having a bonded mate. Somebody to bring you calm when you get worked up.

I know he’s mad Gray forced the bond on him, but it wasn’t Gray’s fault. The incubus was starving when we found him, probably only hours from death, and he wasn’t in control of himself. He tore through the head of the first body he could, his actions inadvertently triggering Aziel’s bond.

Aziel blamed me for a while, thinking it was my fault since it was the fates who put the sex curse on his bloodline, but I had nothing to do with it.

“I’d rather go to the pits,” Aziel decides.

That’s not what I want to hear, but I don’t push. I’m just glad he’s self-aware enough to know he needs to go to the pits and isn’t trying to wait out his urges. There’s a human female in our home now, and I don’t want to risk him accidentally killing her in a fit of rage. Gray would never let us hear the end of it.

“You need to be back before the annual gathering,” I remind him, glancing at the calendar on the wall. “Asmod is hosting this year, and you need to present Charlie as yours.”

It’s next week, but that should be enough time for Aziel to get the fighting out of his system and crawl his ass back home.

Aziel nods, silently agreeing. Good. I’ll have to take Charlie if he’s not here, which doesn’t sound particularly enjoyable. I like her, but my interest in pretending to care for a female is nonexistent. Besides, Aziel agreed to this when he bought her for Gray.

I linger, wanting to ensure Aziel isn’t going to hunt down Charlie the second I’m gone, but when he begins to tidy his desk, which Gray messed up by throwing his oversized body over it, I leave.

I walk to Gray’s office. He’s lying on his back in the middle of the room and lolls his head to the side as I enter. He spreads his arms and legs out, turning himself into a star.

“What was that all about?” I ask.

He looks at the ceiling, and the dried blood smattered on his lip and cheek cracks. Aziel was able to refrain from hitting Gray, so the blood that covers him is either from Aziel or me. Probably me.

I unhinge my jaw and move it left and right, happy it’s almost healed. Gray’s got a mean right hook.

“He won’t kill me.” Gray scoffs, seemingly unafraid of the man who occupies the office just down the hall. “Little Wrath Baby could never hurt me.”

“No, but if not you, then probably Charlie,” I say. “He’s going to the pits.”

Gray’s eyes soften, his pissy attitude deflating at the knowledge of what he’s making Aziel do to himself. The pits always destroy Aziel, the things he sees in them haunting him for months after he returns.

I hope Gray regrets his rash actions.

“I’ll settle him,” he says, standing.

I lift my hand, stopping him. He needs to give Aziel space.

“Charlie wants a tutor,” I say.

Gray lies back on the ground. He seems surprised by my statement, but that quickly turns into an excited expression I don’t want to know the meaning of.

“Noted. What do you think of her?” he asks.

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