Page 12

The news of my choosing to go with Rhys wasn’t met with amusement by my other siblings. It had taken Winnie to silence the angry disagreements before I’d been able to explain why we’d chosen this way forward. Once I’d fully explained why it had to be this way, that I would be safer with Rhys, they relented, albeit adversely.

Rhys had been correct. We weren’t prepared for this fight. It wasn’t that there were more of them, even. It was the weapons they’d created that had killed Colt.

A knight had broken through the house’s defenses, then removed Colt’s head as he’d protected my defenseless body.

If I hadn’t chosen to allow my anger to drive my choices, my brother would still be alive. Nyx wouldn’t be wounded, maybe even dead.

Nyx’s flesh was icy cold and a pale shade of blue. Strange symbols slithered over her flesh, feeding me hope on a heaping silver platter. It allowed me to believe that she was healing, even though her wound hadn’t appeared to change.

Glancing at Winchester and Savage who had entered my chamber armed to the teeth with weapons strapped on their person, I frowned.

“So, walk me through this. You fall asleep, then soon after, this asshole shows up in your dreams?” Savage asked pointedly. “Does this happen every night?”

As my head nodded a reply, her forehead creased while she bit her bottom lip, narrowing her gaze on me.

“Holy shit, Remington. I guess I failed to grasp the magnitude of what this asshole could do.”

Scratching the back of my neck with my good arm, I winced as it jostled the wound. “It’s not every time.” Her face tightened with worry as I groaned from embarrassment. Confessing the power Rhys held over me wasn’t something I wanted or planned to admit. Ever. “Rhys must instigate it for the dreamscape to pull me in.”

“Dreamscape?” Winchester’s nose wrinkled as she turned, staring at me from beside the window where she stood guard.

I’d intended to come to the bedroom myself, but, with the enemy camped on our doorstep, I’d been informed otherwise. No amount of my assuring them I’d be fine worked to appease their worry. It wasn’t until they’d come up with what they believed was a solid plan that I was allowed to enter the sleeping chamber I’d be summoning Rhys in.

Of course, I’d tried to call Rhys first, but the assholes outside had cut both the power and phone lines. As darkness approached, we lit candles throughout the entire chateau, adding light to every room to ensure they couldn’t pinpoint our location.

Winchester insisted I summon Rhys from her bedroom. She worried the enemy might have discovered which room I’d been sleeping in before they attacked. Inside her chambers, they’d chosen to have one sister guard the window, while the other was stationed at the entrance to the room.

I’d then summon Rhys to me from her bed, which was mere steps away from the panic room she’d had built instead of a closet. In the event I ended up incapacitated, it would be easier for them to hide me there, rather than dragging me up a flight or two of stairs.

The silence outside the house stretched in the darkness.

The onslaught had stopped, but they were probably regrouping and preparing for the next wave of attacks. They were relentless. The dim lights visible in the obscure cover of darkness warned that they intended to keep coming at us. It wouldn’t end until they obtained what they wanted or lacked the numbers to successfully storm the chateau.

“I don’t know if there’s a term for it or not. I call it a dreamscape since he creates the landscape within the dream. I’ve never asked him whether it has an actual name or not.” Both of my sisters seemed satisfied by the answer.

Lying back on the bed, I exhaled as Daisy entered the chamber. “This stuff tastes like ass, but it is safe during pregnancy. Fair warning, it punches you right in the dick.”

“Let’s just hope it stays down then, huh?” The skin around Daisy’s eyes crinkled as if she was considering smiling before the deep sorrow returned, flooding them until it forced me to look away.

This morning, the atmosphere had been tranquil and happy with being reunited after so long. Now, it was thick and somber, flooded with grief and sorrow at losing our brother.

Daisy placed the tray beside the bed, then offered me a delicate teacup. “Do try to hold it down, Remi. The herbs are difficult to get. Not to mention, we’re rather trapped here for the foreseeable future.”

Wincing, I nodded in reply. Holding the dainty hand painted teacup with uneasiness churning through my stomach, I eyed the pea-colored sludge concoction. My belly emitted a sound of rebellion as the concoction wafted to my nose, roiling my stomach.

“If Remington’s correct, Van Helsing will deal with the assholes outside before allowing her outside the chateau.” Winchester’s statement had my focus shifting from the gooey green shit to the window.

Scanning her side profile, I noted the exhaustion visible on her visage. Dark circles curled around puffy, red eyes. It made her pale complexion appear darker. It didn’t look as if she’d gotten much sleep last night before our world had been ripped asunder.

Guilt sliced through my chest, twisting my heart like a sponge. This was my fault for bringing them into a fight that wasn’t theirs to deal with. Rhys’ warning was playing in my head like a broken record. Why did every lesson I learn have to hurt so damn badly? Why couldn’t I do the right thing without hurting others or having lifelong consequences?

I brought the concoction to my lips, holding my nose as I downed it in one swig. The acrid bitterness of the drink burned my throat as my stomach roiled, threatening to send it all back up.

“Hold it down, Remington,” Daisy instructed, then stepped back a few steps when I turned round, horrified eyes toward her. “I don’t know which is greener right now. You, or the tonic.”

Savage’s laughter jerked my focus toward where she leaned against the wall. Another clap of laughter sounded at the window, forcing my attention in the opposite direction. Winchester held her palm over her mouth, but the sparkle glittering in her icy-blue depths exposed that it had been she who’d laughed alongside Savage.

“That wasn’t just gross. It tasted like swamp ass!” I declared, causing the three of them to burst out laughing as I felt my eyelids growing heavier by the second. “Damn.”

“It works rather quickly,” Daisy announced once she’d stopped laughing at my expense. “Let’s hope he’s as powerful and protective as you think he is, sister.”

I prayed that whichever Van Helsing brother who’d sent me to the horror show earlier wasn’t waiting for me. Leaning back, I exhaled as sleep fought to claim me. Blinking up at the ceiling, I felt myself losing the fight as the room blurred, then melted around me until stars filled a velvety dark sky above the meadow, which I’d found myself lying down in.

Scanning the lovely, shadow filled meadow, I felt the hair on my neck rising as the awareness of being observed drifted over my flesh. An unsettling feeling hummed through my veins as stars shot through the sky above. Sending a prayer to any god listening, I prayed Rhys was somewhere in the dreamscape and not someone else.