Page 51 of The Female

He reaches out to place a hand on Silas’s shoulder, but the fate brushes him away with a frown. He doesn’t look happy, but he doesn’t argue Gray’s statement like he did the first time the incubus suggested it.

“Maybe this is a sign you should be more careful with your things,” I tease.

My parents used to say that to me every time I broke something, and it pissed me off beyond belief. It seems to have the same effect on Silas as he works his jaw side to side seconds before he reaches across the table and flicks my forehead.

It doesn’t hurt, but I still jolt in surprise.

“Are you flirting with my female?” Gray laughs.

That sours the mood, and Silas clears his throat before shaking his head and fishing his phone out of his pocket. I know Silas doesn’t have any interest in me, but Gray hasn’t gotten the memo.

He’s always trying to read into our every reaction, which I’m starting to think is another incubus trait. The meal passes in comfortable silence, and I eat until my stomach feels like it’s moments away from bursting.

“Have you ever thought about how weird it is that all the breeds began experiencing low female birth rates at the same time?” I ask. “I’ve always wondered if it was some sort of virus.”

Gray taps his fork against his plate and glances at Silas. The fate clears his throat before awkwardly reaching over the table to grab a dinner roll.

Odd reaction.

“What?” I ask.

“I think it was fate,” Gray blurts.

My head snaps toward Silas so quickly I’m surprised I don’t give myself whiplash.

“You did this?” I hiss.

Silas’s chest expands as he sets his roll down and meets my gaze. His eyes are pleading, but I don’t care. He did this? I struggle to believe it, but his weird reaction is hard to ignore.

“I don’t control fate,” he eventually says. “I’m just the vessel that connects fate to the physical world. It speaks to me, and I assist when the balance is off.”

I sink my teeth into my bottom lip, not understanding.

“What’s the balance?” I ask. “And what do you assist with?”

Gray leans forward, seemingly interested in hearing the answer as well. I know Silas, and I assume fates in general, are secretive about what goes on in their mind, but I need to know. Silas is kind, and I can’t imagine him hurting anybody.

“Everything that exists is interconnected, like a big circle. There’s no start and no end. It’s been that way since the beginning. When things threaten to uneven the balance, either by breaking the circle or severing a connection, a fate’s purpose is to right it,” Silas explains.

I lick my lips. “And how exactly were females unevening the balance?”

Silas shrugs and taps his temple. “That question is above my pay grade. I don’t think…” Silas trails off with a frown.

“Go on!” Gray urges. He does a poor job hiding his excitement, and he practically bounces in his seat as he waits to hear more.

“If it was an act of fate, which I have no insight into, it could have been a solution to a completely unrelated problem,” Silas says.

Gray scoffs and, for once, I agree with him.

“I struggle to believe that the fates could be so cruel as to condemn an entire gender for no good reason. That’s bullshit,” I say.

Silas cracks a smile, but it doesn’t meet his eye. I’m sure he knows more than he’s letting on. He may call himself a vessel all he wants, but he’s a vessel with a direct line to the fated world. I have no idea what exactly that is and I doubt he’d answer me if I asked, but I’m sure it grants him more information than he’s sharing.

“I never said it wasn’t. It’s just a thought, and if it was an act of fate, I doubt we’ll ever find an answer,” he admits.

I hum, choosing not to push the subject. I enjoy my dinners with Gray and Silas, and I don’t want to ruin it by prying for information Silas is unwilling to give. What’s done is done, and knowing what caused the female decline isn’t going to fix the problem.

“Did you see the new soaps I put in the shower?” Gray asks, changing the subject.

---