narrowed my stare on the tight smile that was anything but friendly. He looked like sex personified with his dark hair messed up and out of place, as if he’d slid his fingers through it in frustration. He glared at me as his jaw hammered against his cheek, angrily.
“What?” I asked, and he stared at me without looking away. Something had pissed him off between him leaving the shower and now.
“You’re wearing jeans and a knit top to go into the mountains?”
“You’re wearing a suit.” I crossed my arms over my chest, raising one brow in irritation.
He paused, looking down at the expensive Italian suit he wore, and frowned. He started undressing, and my eyes studied every inch of flesh he revealed to my greedy stare. Once he pulled off the white shirt, he vanished into his walk-in closet, dispelling my blunt eye-raping, as Nyx called it.
Rhys returned a moment later wearing relaxed jeans and a dark, tight-fitting button-up, which hugged his muscular form like a second skin. Instead of his Italian loafers, he wore black boots that hardly made a noise as he made his way to where I stood. He grabbed my bag, withdrawing a zip-up sweater, and tossed my things to his bed without a word. Threading his fingers through mine, he pulled me with him from the room.
My stomach churned at the idea of taking him to my mother’s cabin, deep in the mountains. If she knew I was bringing a Van Helsing home, she’d have my flesh taken from me in a heartbeat. I was betraying our family’s biggest rule: Don’t bring a Van Helsing home under any circumstances. The thing was, Rhys was my best shot at finding my mother alive.
Chapter Eleven
The drive to the cabin was in awkward silence. I wasn’t just bringing one Van Helsing home, but rather three brothers, who all glared at me. It was such an uncomfortable ride that even Nyx was surprisingly silent. Chewing my lip, I leaned over Rhys’s lap to look out the window as we passed one of the curves in the bend. If he minded, he kept it to himself. I sat back, wondering why the brothers looked as if they were expecting a fight.
We pulled into the driveway of the cabin, and the car rolled to a stop. I paused, silently studying the house. The chair had been righted and sat further back on the wraparound porch. I kept that tidbit to myself, praying my mother didn’t come out with bullets flying toward the Van Helsing, who sat next to me. Rhys opened the door, and I grabbed him back, noting his raised eyebrow as he allowed it.
“Problem, Silversmith?” Rhys asked pointedly, hiking one brow higher than the other before he slid his eyes to the house to scan the area.
I worried my bottom lip with my teeth, considering what to say, if anything. His attention settled back on me, and I exhaled, releasing my lip with a pop.
“My sister may or may not be here. It would be unfortunate for you if Winchester is on the property.”
“You think I can’t handle a Silversmith hunter?” Rhys studied my face before snorting and exiting the vehicle without fear. “I’ve hunted your people down for over three-hundred years, Remi. I smell blood.”
His abrupt change in subjects caused my brows to shoot toward my hairline. I climbed out, standing beside him. I lifted my nose in the air, confirming what he’d said. Today the blood was more pronounced, and the coppery tang had turned putrid.
“Maybe you should wait in the car, Silversmith.”
I snorted, rolling my eyes heavenward, stepping around his hulking frame. “You wait in the car, I don’t need to be protected—” Power entered the clearing, halting the words that sat perched on the tip of my tongue.
“Get inside the damn vehicle, Remi—”
A blur of movement caught my eye. Turning, I cried out as something rushed toward me, but a flash of silver intercepted it, and something wet splattered my face. More blurs entered the small, cramped space between the car and the house. I was grabbed and held against a solid chest as Rhys moved with one arm around me, the other holding his sword while he protected me. It felt like we were dancing, my arms wrapped around his body while he deflected blow after blow from an unseen enemy. Rhys moved toward the car, depositing me back into the door while Nyx laughed, her eyes flashing with approval.