Page 127 of Her Males

My hands shake as I grab Aziel’s shoulders, and I appreciate that he doesn’t comment on how clammy my palms have grown.

“Why didn’t you let Rock bring you here when you overhead Mammon discussing selling you to the ogres?” Gray asks.

“I was scared,” I admit. “I knew you killed Shay and her son, and I was scared of what I’d encounter when I came back here.”

Gray shakes his head. “You thought we’d hurt you?”

“I don’t know, and it’s not like I had much time to think about it. Rock and I needed to leave immediately, and the shifters felt like the safest option.”

I clear my throat as both men stare blankly at me, and my pulse begins to race when they don’t respond. Gray turns and looks at Silas, and the two have some silent conversation while Aziel whispers crazy ramblings into my chest.

“I can’t do this right now,” Gray says, disappearing.

I stare at the spot where he once stood before shifting my focus to Silas. He licks his lips and looks at Aziel, and I wish he weren’t so impossible to read.

“I should stay with Gray,” he decides. “He’s been having a hard time.”

He’s gone a second later, and I swallow past the lump in my throat as Aziel turns and carries me out of the room. My bottom lip wobbles, and I clutch Aziel’s shoulders as I try to wrap my mind around what just happened.

That wasn’t how this was supposed to go.

“They’ll come around,” Aziel says, taking me to my bedroom. “They’re surprised to hear you didn’t have sex with the shifter, and they’re running away to hide their shame over abandoning you.”

I clear my throat and wiggle against him. “You don’t know that.”

Aziel laughs and kisses my temple before setting me on my feet. He steps into my closet and grabs a change of clothes, and I accept them with quiet thanks. I can’t remember the last time I wore my own clothes, and I finger the fabric of my leggings before getting dressed.

“We have a busy few months ahead of us,” Aziel says, leaning against my dresser. “I’d like you to handle the shifters while I work with Mammon and the elves. Do you think you can do that?”

I blink, struggling to follow what he’s saying.

“What?” I give in, asking for clarification.

Aziel grabs my hand and leads me downstairs. It’s weird being back, and I stare at the floor as he comes to a halt in front of my office and pushes it open.

The room’s been put back together after the dramatic freak-out he had all those weeks ago, and I scan the space before turning back to Aziel.

“I need you to get the shifters to agree to work with us on the female issue, and I also need you to figure out where they’ve hidden Asmod’s body,” he says. “Gray doesn’t have a strong claim to the throne without it, and the shifters are being weird with it. We need it back. You’ll also need to convince them to let me build a portal in their realm. I don’t mind taking you there and back, but it’ll be easier if you don’t have to work seeing them around my schedule.”

Aziel grins, his lips pulling back to reveal a set of perfect teeth.

I have no words.

He pats my butt with a laugh before turning and leaving, and I stare at his retreating back with a slack jaw.What?

28

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GRAY

SILAS SETS THE books in his hand on the floor, and I lean back in my chair as he grabs a small pile next to his right foot and stands.

“I don’t want to say I told you so, but I did,” I say as he sticks the books on the shelf. “I did tell you so.”

I sit in a little corner chair in the library and cross my arms over my chest when he doesn’t respond. Silas can pretend not to notice me all he wants, but I know he’s watching me just as much as I’m watching him.

I’m pissed, mostly at myself, but he’s taking it to the next level.

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