“Point in case, I just drew you a map with crayons, and you’re worried about how many words I used!”
“I have to make a sword, and my brain is trying to focus on that at the moment!” I gritted out. I was trying to concentrate on the steps to make Rhys a sword that would knock his ego down a few pegs.
“He is offering you his sword!” Nyx argued, staring at me with a pointed look dancing in her eyes.
My attention turned, narrowing on Rhys, who was watching us argue about his so-called offer. His gaze dipped to my mouth where my teeth worried the plump bottom lip, and I imagined him moving to the table, bending me over it, and doing what he’d stated he would. A soft moan slipped past my lips, and I rolled my eyes for falling for Nyx’s overactive imagination.
“You just imagined him naked, fucking you! Oh,” she said, bouncing from foot to foot. “You’re growing up! My little girl is growing up! I couldn’t be more proud if you started making porn!”
My jaw dropped, and I shook my head, snapping myself back to reality. “That escalated quickly.”
“I went too far with the porn, didn’t I? I mean, it’s not like I think you should videotape it. At least not until you’re sure he won’t put it online. I have so many videos, but I mean, people know who I am, and that’s not bragging. Yeah, a few need to see certain parts before they believe it is me, but hey, a girl has to eat, after all. Right?” She took in my horrified expression and snorted. “Yeah, I lost you again, didn’t I?”
I rubbed my temples before counting to ten. “Let’s just begin, shall we?” I asked, not sure I ever wanted to look online again in my lifetime. There were just certain parts of your best friend you didn’t want to see, ever. “I will try not to take too long, but I do take pride in my work. Swords are a lot more work than arrows, arrowheads, or bullets. I don’t half-ass anything, Van Helsing. Also, no one should try to enter the room until I’ve hit the last cooling phase.”
I stepped into the room, closing it behind me, moving to the thermostat, and cranking it up to five-hundred degrees. Nyx started the timer, knocking her knuckles against the glass before I nodded, tying my hair up, preparing to work.
I grabbed the bars of metal, weighing each one before tossing them into the cauldron on the glowing coals. Sweat beaded on my neck, running down my temples as I peered up at the thermostat. My gaze swung to Nyx, who was watching me, her eyes slightly widening at the sight of sweat.
“Adjust it by forty minutes,” I said before grabbing the body patch that kept track of my temperature to slap it over my shoulder.
Rhys had a top-notch metalsmith room that was about to kick my ass. I placed the mold on the table before me, grabbing the cauldron without gloves or protection, and dumped the contents of the melted metals into the blade mold. Once I finished pouring, I set the cauldron down, pushing my bare hands into the ice-cold water set beside the table. I turned to gauge Rhys’s response outside the room. His eyes were locked on my hands as if expecting them to be charred.
After a few moments had passed, I poured cold water over the mold to solidify the metal. The hiss of steam comforted my mind, soothing over me as a soft smile played on my mouth. I loved creating weapons, but Winchester had warned me several times not to make anything other than ammo. Though, she had never told me why or what was so dangerous about the process.
Next, I pulled the glowing red blade from the fire and carefully placed it into the water, looking over the shape. I pulled it out quickly, and set it back onto the coals to keep the metal at the heated temperature I needed, placing it on a long table, grabbing the hammer beside me. I started shaping the sword slowly, pounding the hammer against it as sweat dripped down my face, sizzling against the glowing metal. I beat it slowly, forcing it into the correct shape, solidifying the metal together.
Once the metal became too hard, I placed it back into the forge and hummed with magic, slowly holding my