Page 10

I didn’t have time to nap before Nyx’s high-pitch scream forced me out of my room. Not bothering to wait for my siblings to argue against it. I sailed down the staircase and threw open the front door. Rushing onto the porch, I was met by a hysterical Nyx.

“I thought you fucking died! ” she howled as she threw herself on me, wrapping her arms around me tightly. “The house. Holy fuck, Remi, the house is completely gone . Like, it’s not even standing anymore. It fell over. I thought you were trapped beneath the mess. Acyn finally told me you were okay after he watched me dig in the rubble for you!”

“He’s a bastard.” Nyx sobbed louder, if even possible. Clasping her tightly, I felt my own emotions intensify. The moment I tried to pull away, she squashed me until the air no longer reached my lungs.

“Never again. You’re not leaving my sight again. Do you understand me?” she babbled as she pulled back, swiping angrily at her tears. “You and I are going to need to get closer. You’ll probably need to get a lot less prudish rather quickly. It’s fine, though. You’ll adapt.”

“That’s never going to happen.”

“What? You adapt surprisingly easily of late.” Her mouth tightened as her brows twisted on her forehead.

Snorting, I shook my head. “You’re a nymph who enjoys orgies and letting it all hang out. That isn’t something I’m willing to see, Nyx. In no world am I spending time together in the same room as you and your lovers. Plural, because we both know you enjoy being shared.”

Nodding in agreement, she frowned before something behind me caught her attention. Nyx was extra squirrely today. It would not go over well with Winchester, especially since she despised nymphs.

“You seem to have landed in heaven. By chance, did you die and bring me with you? That’s why we’re best friends, girl. Damn, how many men are inside this place? Momma needs a new cock!”

“Absolutely not, Nyx. These are my brothers,” I pointed out with horror radiating through me. “They are off-limits. Say it with me. No fucking Remington’s brothers. Silversmith men are not for eating. They’re friends, not food.” Pushing me out of her way, she rocked her hips with each step she took toward Gauge, Colt, Sig, and Ruger, who’d all come outside with weapons freed from their holsters.

“Friendly, Rems?” Sig asked, his piercing silver-blue eyes raking down Nyx’s lustrous frame.

“Too friendly, I fear,” I muttered beneath my breath. “This is Nyx, my best friend. She’s the one I told you about when I worked in Seattle. She’s the friend who made that place easier to stay at.” Folding my arms against my chest, I watched Nyx petting my brothers like they were exotic animals.

“You’re a snack, aren’t you?” Nyx asked as she ran her fingers over the 5 o’clock shadow dusting Gauge’s jawline. At Colt, she brought her hand up and pretended to scratch while making purring sounds. “Yummy. And you, who are you?” At Ruger, she paused, and her face did something I’d never seen it do before.

Nyx blushed at Ruger, her pupils dilated, and she appeared to be at a loss for something to say about him. An uneasiness rushed through me at the thought of Nyx, who’d never been at a loss for words since the moment I met her, blushing before my brother.

“Name’s Ruger, ma’am,” he stated in an uncharacteristically soft tenor.

Slowly blinking, I chewed my bottom lip while watching them together. My mouth opened, then closed repeatedly as I fought to find something to say.

Why wasn’t Nyx cracking sexual jokes or flirting with him? She did that with every single male she met. It was written in her DNA to crack off with something inappropriate.

Names Ruger, ma’am?

Who even were these people?

“Absolutely stunning friend you’ve brought home, sis,” Ruger stated as his hand lifted, fixing a lock of glittering hair behind her ear. “Positively stunning.”

“What the hell is happening?” Colt asked, his eyes flicking between the two.

With a headshake, I dropped my arms that were staving off the chill to scratch my head. Yeah, I had no clue what we were witnesses to. Nothing about Nyx’s stunned, timid reaction made sense.

Ruger wasn’t a gentleman, either.

Out of the four remaining brothers I had. He was the craziest second only to Sig. Sig was the wildest of the bunch. Both Ruger and Sig were the living embodiment of walking red flags. I was certain the term had been created because of them.

Ruger played a gentleman well. Dressed in a white, long sleeved dress shirt he’d paired with dark slacks made him look debonair.

If you were to look closer, you’d see the ink peeking out of the neck of his shirt. You’d find that same ink sliding down his muscular arms, wrapping around both wrists as it spread onto the back of his hands. You’d never find him wearing shoes, not when he preferred boots to conceal the daggers he kept hidden inside.

On his phone, you’d find the names of over a thousand girls he’d spent countless nights with as he’d slept his way across every continent. In his wake, you’d find twice as many broken hearts.

I might’ve been biased since I didn’t want Nyx to go for Ruger in any manner. Not if we were going to be living here for even the next twenty-four. I didn’t need them to play with her with their certain brand of attention. Unlike Acyn, they wouldn’t play nicely with my best friend.

Acyn was an asshole who enjoyed playing with Nyx’s emotions. But he cared for her, showing that in the way he took care of her gluttonous needs. He never sent her away. Not even when Rhys demanded he be with him to oversee something away from the mansion.

He’d given her a key to the mansion.

Sure, it was the key to the back door, which only had access to his wing of the house. When I’d asked her about it, she’d told me Rhys was profoundly serious about not allowing his enemies in through the back door. Literally.

I hadn’t asked her to keep her distance from Acyn. She was a nymph. That meant she had to feed. Somehow, the two of them were able to feed on one another. It kept Nyx from consuming half of the town’s population of males.

“Would you like a ride?” Sig asked, his soft, sky-blue eyes glittering with the idea of making meat in their ‘sandwich’ out of my bestie.

The balls on these two.

“I think the fuck not. No, Siggy, she doesn’t want a ride,” I answered for her as I stepped closer, eyeing the chain on Ruger’s throat. Frowning, I slid my finger between his throat and the chain. Yanking it free, I scowled at the tiny vial hanging from the thin silver band. “Is that what I think it is?”

Ruger rubbed his nose with his thumb. Running his tongue over his bottom lip, he chuckled. “Maybe?” He snatched it back before I could prevent it, then flinched as I released an angry growl.

Horror flashed through my mind before my stomach churned with nausea. “Please tell me it is not oil from an extinct male nymph.” Ruger slid his eyes toward Sig, who shrugged as if he didn’t care if I knew the truth or wasn’t sure what was in the tiny glass vial.

“Remi,” Ruger let my name roll off his tongue slowly, as if he fished for an answer to supply.

“This is where you answer me. If that is male nymph oil, you know how they collected it, right?” I probed, rubbing the tension from my temples. Siggy’s arm reached back as he scratched his neck, frowning. “You two are unbelievable. You know that, right?” Glancing between the guilt tugging on both of their faces, I snorted. “Give it back to me now.” Holding out my hand, I tapped my foot against the wooden porch.

“No way, brat. I paid a hefty fucking price for this shit.” Ruger’s eyes slid over my angry face. Then, his shoulders slumped as he answered the question. “I didn’t mean that it was shit. Only that it was expensive stuff.”

Giving him some serious side eye, I noted the way Nyx remained silent through it all. She wasn’t laser focused on getting a dick for once. It was nice, but weirdly sad, too.

Sure, sometimes she was a little much. Nyx always chooses the wrong time to become the head marketing agent when cheering on any chance of me getting laid. It was embarrassing, certainly. It didn’t bother me that much, though.

It bothered me that Nyx wasn’t herself anymore. I adored her wild personality that made Nyx, well, Nyx. No matter what happened, I didn’t want her watering herself down for anyone, including me.

Ruger held the chain out for me to take. Snatching it back from him, I turned, then grabbed Nyx’s hand. Placing the necklace into her palm snapped her out of the spell. Her eyes rounded as she peered up at me, her mouth making a fish-out-of-water impression.

“How did you get this?” she whispered, with fear crowding her eyes.

Ruger exhaled as he brought his hands in front of him, placing his palms together before rubbing them.

“Answer me,” Nyx pleaded, causing Ruger’s eyes to narrow.

“Oh for fuck’s sake, Ruger. The nymph is fucking terrified. Put the poor creature out of her misery,” Savage interjected herself into the conversation. It forced Ruger’s head to turn toward where she leaned against the doorway.

“I don’t need to be put out of my misery!” Nyx’s words rushed out in a whirl of sound. Wide, terrified violet eyes locked with mine as I threw my hands into the air.

“That wasn’t what my sister meant, Nyx. Right , Savage?” Giving the sister in question a pointed look.

Savage shook her silvery head. It was almost convincing. It would’ve been, had the cheese-eating-grin curving over her mouth not exposed how much she was enjoying the shitshow unfolding on our front porch.

“I forgot how mischievous you two assholes could be when you’re together.” Pinching the bridge of my nose, I swore silently. “Nyx . . .” I breathed out on a heavy sigh. It was cut off by Ruger who explained.

“I bought it from a witch a couple of years back. She promised it was a magnet for nymphs. We’d heard rumors of them being a beast when they caught the scent of it.” Ruger’s reply caused my nose to scrunch up.

“Baby boy, I’m a fucking monster in the sheets. If you think it’s an aphrodisiac, you’re wrong. It significantly dampens female nymphs’ libidos. Nymphs weren’t the same sort of creature when our species could procreate together. We weren’t so insane or single minded.” A sniffle threatened to escape from my nose at her reply.

“It wasn’t right for us to take advantage of you in your less than perfect state . . . well,” Siggy said, his mouth tugged down in the corners as he looked at me for direction. “Are you crying, honey?” Stepping closer to me, he wrapped an arm around my shoulders, then used the other to tug me against his chest. “We’re assholes.”

“I’m not crying. Something was in my eye,” I argued. “I believe you were apologizing to my best friend?”

Ruger shuffled on his feet as the tips of his ears turned red. “My apologies, ma’am. I wasn’t aware it would be offensive. Remington, I’m sorry,” he stated as his eyes found the ground, remaining there.

“Does this mean she’s not available later?” Siggy asked, forcing me to pinch his ribs.

He yelped before placing distance between us. “Did you just pinch me?” Wrapping his arms around me, he kissed the top of my head as a chuckle left his lips.

“I did. I’ll do more than pinch if either of you seek out Nyx for more than a friendly chat or to ask about the fucking weather. We have much bigger issues to worry about than debauchery or chasing her around like Neanderthals,” I irritably snapped. Pulling away from Sig, I glanced toward Nyx as a deafening sound tore through the gathering.

Pain tore through my shoulder, forcing me back as if a bee had stung me. In front of me, Nyx’s face twisted in agony. A scream ripped from Savage as several more explosions clapped through the countryside. No, it was not an explosion.

The tattletale sound of piercing shots continued as my stare dipped to Nyx’s chest. My brain wasn’t computing how I could see through her upper chest. Daylight was visible right below her chin.

In stupefied horror, I watched as she dropped to her knees, then slumped sideways before me. Stepping toward her, I cried out as powerful arms wrapped around me, then dropped us to the ground.

The moment we landed on the porch, the hum of silver accumulating around us sounded in my ears. On the ground, I stared into Nyx’s sightless eyes, tears pricking as they burned mine. White light swam in my vision as I felt the world begin tilting out of control.

A shriek of horror burst from my lungs. Heavy feet rushing over the wooden floors erupted before the whizzing of silver dimmed out all other sounds around us. Massive amounts of silver cut a path toward the shooters.

Ruger adjusted me in his arms as Winchester shouted out orders to everyone. Luckily, this was her element. Within seconds, the screams of those who’d begun the assault littered the air.

“Nyx?” My words were swallowed by the fighting occurring around us. My arm shot out towards Nyx’s motionless frame as a bloodcurdling scream burst from my parted lips.

“Get her inside, Ruger. Now!” Winchester snapped, forcing him to pull me away from her.

“Nyx!” I cried as my fingers brushed her arm but moved farther from her as Ruger lifted me in his arms, rushing inside the chateau. “No! No! You can’t leave her out there. Save her, Ruger!”

“Enough!” Winchester snapped sharply. “You are bleeding and my priority right now.”

“This is my fault,” I whispered weakly. Ruger placed me gently on the ground, just inside the entrance.

“This isn’t on you, Remi. You didn’t ask for them to hunt you,” he assured, kneeling beside me as he unholstered his weapon.

“If I hadn’t come back to this place or got knocked up by Rhys, this wouldn’t be happening right now.” Tears ran down my face as grief sliced through me.

“Well, shit. When you put it that way, it’s harder for me to argue in your defense. Do not move. Do you hear me? I’m going to grab your bestie before she can bleed out on the porch. Stay awake. Tell me you hear me on this one or she can water the wood with her blood.”

“Please don’t die, Ruger,” I warned, uncertain I wanted him to leave me alone right now.

“I’m pretty hard to kill, little sister.”

Spots, like lights spreading throughout a carnival, sparkled in and out of my vision. Everything around me spun like I’d stepped off of solid ground onto the merry-go-round.

The pungent, acidic scent of copper assaulted my nostrils. Glancing down at the soft green sweater I’d slipped on after bathing, I trembled. Crimson splatter covered the front of the shirt, proof of what had transpired.

The more I tried to move, the faster the room spun. My eyes refused to adjust to the whirling of the world around me. Closing them, I tried to block out the whirring of sounds.

Several more shots rang out as shards from the doorframe littered the floor. Clapping my hands over my ears, I slowly inhaled, then released it. Repeating it several times, I fought against the reality of what was occurring right now.

Something touched my leg, forcing my eyes to open, revealing a dark, shadowy figure standing over me. My lips parted as I fought to release a scream, but nothing escaped as darkness sliced its icy, cruel talons into my mind. It forced consciousness to flee from my grasp.