CHARLOTTE

Both Gray and Silas glare at Aziel from across the table, but he ignores them and stares at me instead. I avoid meeting his gaze, choosing instead to prod at my food and pretend as if I'm not even here. I'm desperate enough for some sort of distraction that I wouldn't even hate if Shay were here.

Anything to get his black eyes off of me.

Even without looking at Aziel, I know he's got an arrogant smirk on his lips. He probably feels so good about himself for having tricked me into giving into him for even a second. I hope his dick hurts.

Gray probably only made me come to dinner with them to punish me. I'm sure he feels betrayed by what I've done, and probably wants to see how Aziel and I interact before confronting me about it.

I didn't want anybody to know Aziel came onto me, and especially didn't want them to know that for a moment I welcomed it. I was going to keep it a secret. Something as shameful as that deserves to be kept quiet.

I might have gotten away with it if it weren't for me smacking face-first into Silas's chest as I ran to my room.

He looked confused as he grabbed my shoulders and inspected me for injury, seemingly not having heard what happened back in Gray's office. I assured him through shaky breaths that I was okay, panicked when he smelt my hair and started walking in the direction I had just run from.

I don't understand what's with these men and sniffing my head, but I know he could smell Aziel on it.

I tried to come up with a lie, grabbing desperately onto his arm to try and keep him still as I fumbled through some excuse about running into Aziel when walking out of Gray's office. Silas looked angry, but didn't question me as he told me to go up to my room and wait for Gray.

It was stupid of me to think he believed me.

Gray hasn't spoken one word since returning, only staring at me through narrowed eyes as I ask him shaky questions about where he went after our argument. I knew I shouldn't have called him a pathetic male, and especially shouldn't have said that's probably why his last female chose the other Incubi over him.

It was too far, and I regretted the words the moment they slipped from my lips.

We both knew I was trying to hurt him with them, that I wanted him to feel the way I did after learning about his betrayal to the females. I suppose I succeeded.

I'm sure it also didn't feel great to come back and be told that the female who just heartlessly attacked you then went and allowed the man she claims to hate to touch her. That she sat there like a whore while he brought his hand to her sex and felt inside her.

Fuck.

My head aches the more I think about it, and I tentatively peek up at Gray before turning to Silas. Both avoid eye contact, and in a fit of desperation, I turn to Aziel. He's the only one who will look at me, and smirks as we lock eyes.

"Is there anything you'd like to say, Aziel?" Gray finally snaps, breaking the silence.

I feel the weight of Aziel's gaze leave as he turns to look at Gray.

"Is there something I should say?"

"You touched my female." Gray lowly states.

I sink into my seat, wondering if they'd notice if I dropped to the ground and crawled away. My guilt grows the more I think about how easily I gave into the Wrath, and I feel shame over how good it felt when he touched me. I hope Silas also told Gray how I pushed Aziel before punching him in the balls.

Gray may have allowed something to happen between the three of us in his dream, but even without acknowledging it, I'm aware of the unspoken agreement that what happens there is fantasy only. These things aren't supposed to seep over into the real world.

Gray and Silas have been working so hard to defend me, yet I slap them in the face with their kindness the moment they turn around. I'm willing to bet that's why Aziel did it in the first place. He seemed so genuine as he touched my stomach and chest, his eyes wide and full of wonder.

It was all a trap, and I fell right into it.

"I thought you wanted to share?" Aziel chuckles, seemingly not caring about Gray's evident anger.

I sink down further.

"Oh, so now you want to bond Charlie?" Gray retorts, turning it around on him. "That's why you sent Shay away? Or did she leave when you refused to touch her? I get it, though. I'm sure it's embarrassing being seen with the thousand-year-old virgin."

Aziel stiffens.

"I told you I'll wait until Charlie expires, so there's no reason to keep Shay around while we wait." Aziel lowly states. "But we both know the real reason why you're upset. Are you scared she'll leave you? Charlie said it herself. You're a pathetic male, and history does have a way of repeating itself."

"Aziel," Silas warns.

"That's not true." I snap, dropping my sweaty palms to my lap.

I didn't think anybody would bother to listen to Gray and I's argument earlier. I didn't mean the things I shouted, and my heart aches as Aziel repeats my cruel words to hammer the point home. Gray doesn't fight me as I reach out and grab his hand under the table, and I hope that he understands my touch to be an apology.

Aziel frowns, his gaze dropping to my arm.

Gray's muscles are stiff in my hands, and I feel his fist clenching and unclenching against the outside of my thigh. I've seen them bicker several times, but they never cut this deep.

"Tell me, was it hard watching your mommy laugh at your screams while daddy Wrath beat you?" Gray snarls. "How old were you in that nightmare you always have? The one with the cables. Five? Six?"

The three men are out of their seats before I can even register what's happening. It's impossible to keep up with their quick speeds, but from the glimpses I'm able to capture, Gray and Aziel are throwing punches while Silas tries to pull them away.

I stand to my feet in panic, unsure what to do but filled with fear. I've never seen them fight like this before, and I reach up and grab the rock that sits between my collar bones before changing my mind and clutching the knife that sits on the table.

"Stop!" I shout, my voice cracking.

My words are ignored altogether, the three lost in their own world as they continue throwing their fists. Blood sprays out along the floor before a body's dragged through it and thrown against the far wall. I don't have time to make out who it is before they're all back at it again.

I feel vomit rising in my throat as I step back and cower away from them. The last thing I need is to get in the middle of three frenzied Demons and end up with my brain matter splattered along the table.

My feet squeak against the floor as I spin around for help, looking hopelessly at the Shadows who sneak out of the room.

"Please!" I plead, gesturing to the fighting.

They ignore me and continue filtering out, clearly not wanting to get caught in the middle of the drama. Readjusting my hold on my knife, I pray that this works as I bring it to my neck and press the blade firmly against my skin.

"Stop or I'll hurt myself." I choke out.

At a minimum I think this will stop both Gray and Silas and, hopefully the lack of attack from those two will also cause Aziel to settle down. It's a sad attempt, but I don't know what else to do and I don't want any of them to die because of my stupid actions.

It takes a moment, but they all come to an abrupt halt as I wobble and accidentally nick myself. The blade is sharp enough that the pain is slight, but it still pulls a hiss out of me.

My lips curl into a smile as all three of them stare at me dumbfounded, glad that my half-cocked plan seemed to work.

"Are you all fin-" I start, gasping as the knife is knocked out of my hand and I'm pushed up against the wall by my neck.

I have just enough time to make out Aziel's crazed expression before his admittedly soft grip on my throat is removed and Silas places himself between us. Both Gray and Aziel stare at him like they are gearing up for a fight, their bodies low to the ground and eyes flickering back and forth between him and me.

My fist closes tightly against my rock as Silas steps back and crushes me between him and the wall. I grunt and push at his back, but he doesn't budge. Is this his way of keeping me from moving? I crane my neck and stick my face out from behind his back, feeling slightly claustrophobic trapped behind him.

"You two need to leave." Silas states, reaching up to wipe at his bloody mouth.

He looks like shit, clearly having taken a couple of hits, but so do Aziel and Gray. Both of them, despite their fast healing, are bloody and disgusting. My stomach rolls as I glance toward Gray's hand and spot a few crooked fingers.

"Charlie," Gray states when I refuse to look at him.

I could feel the tension building these past few weeks between the three men, but didn't realize it'd come to a head like this. I thought at most Gray would give a couple of snarky remarks and Aziel would punch a wall or something. Can't they just throw iron weights at each other's heads like I do?

"Charlie, let's go." Gray states again, his voice taking on a desperate edge.

Silas steps forward so I'm no longer trapped behind him, but I don't move.

"I'm tired of the fighting. It scares me." I whisper, uncaring if admitting my fears makes me look weak.

Aziel scoffs, but doesn't make any attempts to leave the room. He can sit here and pretend like he doesn't care about anything or anyone, but his insistence on sticking around tells me otherwise. He cares for Gray more than he lets on, and their fighting isn't healthy.

They need to work together to fix the female issue, and in order to do that they need to be able to be in a room together for longer than ten minutes without bickering and fighting like a bunch of children.

"I'm not going to fight with him anymore." Gray promises, stepping forward.

Silas moves back and traps me against the wall again, the sudden action making me grunt as the air's knocked out of my lungs.

"Either you two leave and sort out your issues or I take Charlie away until you're seeing eye to eye agian." Silas coldly states.

"Charlie isn't unsafe here." Aziel murmurs, gesturing wildly in my direction.

Silas gives me some space as I struggle to breathe, and I hunch over to catch my breath as the oxygen flows into my lungs again. He really needs to stop trapping me against that damn wall.

"Charlie just cut her own neck because of you two. She's hardly eating and is sleeping a good thirteen hours a day. Her lips are all bloody and cracked from constantly biting them, and, in case you two haven't noticed, she's ripped most if not all of the skin off her fingertips." Silas points out. "Both of you need to leave and cool your heads. We'll talk when you get back."

Gray hesitates, his eyes dropping to my hands that, until now, I've been doing an excellent job of hiding. I grab the back of Silas's shirt as Gray looks to Aziel for confirmation, his shoulders slumping as the older Demon looks toward the ground and nods.

My heart hammers as I watch the scene in front of me continue to unfold. Gray stares at Silas for a moment before stepping forward and tugging me out from behind the Fate. I gulp and wrap my arms around him, not wanting him to leave.

"I'm so sorry." Gray whispers into my hair. "I promised I'd take care of you and I'm doing an awful job at it." He continues, clearing his throat.

Aziel's already gone by the time Gray pulls back, but the Incubus hardly seems to notice as he frowns and looks me head to toe. My intentions were never to cause this big of a rift between the men, and I'll never let Aziel touch me again if that's what will help soothe Gray.

"Gray," Silas warns, his hand landing on my shoulder before curling around the muscle and pulling me back against his chest. "Go."

Gray frowns, his eyes darting between Silas and me before his body's gone and I'm stuck staring at an empty, blood-coated room.

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Gray and Aziel are such drama queens

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