running his hand over her thigh. His eyes slipped over the black dress I wore, resting on the wrap-around heels. Exhaling, I slowly moved toward him, wondering if he’d tell me what I wanted to know.
“What does it mean to offer a Van Helsing your silver?” I whispered, tilting my head as he frowned, studying me.
“It means you are Rhys’s, and everything you fear it means, Remi. It’s like offering him your soul, and once accepted, it cannot be undone. You sold your soul to the devil, and I let you do it. Can’t say I blame him, or you for choosing him. Rhys is honorable to a point, so don’t push him. He’s never given his protection, nor have I added mine to back his. You’re special.”
“Because I’m untrained and don’t know what I should hide from you and your brothers?” I pointed out, rubbing my arms as he stood, moving closer to me.
“No, because you’re innocent,” he whispered softly. “You know we’re monsters, and you don’t care that we are. You know we murdered your family, and yet you say it is in the past. You don’t condemn us for what happened yet, and you’re right, maybe you being naïve helps that. Remi, you had yet to choose a side. But by giving Rhys your silver, you chose ours. An accident led by being naïve, but it is done. You’re wed to him, and that’s deeper than any Silversmith has ever allowed to happen. In our family’s history, no Silversmith has ever awarded us a weapon to use against our enemies; bullets and arrows, but never weapons. Weapons give us power, even the power to take down other Silversmiths.”
I swallowed, shaking my head. “Not my silver, it is cursed.”
“What?” he asked carefully.
“My silver cannot be used against Silversmiths. I will never allow it. Rhys’s sword, while lethal, isn’t lethal against my bloodline. I may be naïve and foolish and led by an overactive libido where he is concerned, but I will always protect my family, even from myself.”
“Sneaky, but we expected that already. You do know we read runes, right? We’ve had centuries of boredom to endure, Sunshine. Now, I’m here to escort you to dinner, since you are keeping everyone waiting, which Rhys considers a personal slight since he instructed you to be down shortly… three hours ago.”
“I had to get blood out of my hair, Cole,” I stated icily, moving past him to the door as Nyx followed us down.
“Indeed,” he stated, passing me down the stairs at an inhuman speed as if he needed distance between us.
“That wasn’t weird at all,” Nyx groaned.
We slowly walked down the stairs as the real-life version of the people in the paintings turned, glaring murderously at me. My heart kicked up, thundering against my chest, and I paused as anger and malice slithered over my flesh in warning. My feet wouldn’t move, and everything within me said to run, to get away from them as silent tears pricked my eyes.
“Fuck this!” someone shouted, and I was thrown backward, up the stairs, slamming against the wall to slide down, hitting the ground hard. The male rushed toward me, but Rhys appeared before me as if he’d materialized from thin air. He slammed his fist into the man’s face, sending him toppling down the stairs.
Rhys was slammed against the wall by a small, petite woman, who he lifted, slamming against his knee before he tossed her toward the stairs as well. His eyes turned, holding mine as I remained on the floor, shocked and uncertain what to do.
I started to sit up, but the air moved around us, and Cole slammed into a body before it could reach me. Acyn joined, and together the three formed a wall around me while I fought the urge to crawl into a ball and hide.
Feet became visible past Rhys, and he shouted, the voice coming out in layers. “Enough! I am the alpha. Unless someone wishes to challenge me here and now for my claim, back the fuck off and stand down,” he snarled.
“She’s a Silversmith!” a male voice shouted.
“She is, and she’s mine!”
“She deserves to die for what they did to us. You are the alpha. It falls to you to handle her, and yet you protect her? Why, brother?” another sneered.
“Because she gave me her silver,” Rhys growled, and everyone went silent.
“Are you out of your fucking mind?” the woman asked, groaning. “Now it makes sense. You do realize that others will