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The fighting outside grew louder and more distressing with each endless moment that it continued. My fear grew thicker. I wasn’t sure which side was winning, but Nyota refused to allow me near enough to a window to peek, either.

“How are you so calm?” I demanded, then resumed pacing.

Nyota shrugged, then turned toward the sound of boots meeting tiled flooring. Planting her hand on her hip, she glanced at me before issuing orders to the knights flooding into the dining room where we stood.

“Let’s sum it up to my experience. Otherwise, I’d probably be an anxious asshole like you’re being right now.”

“Noted.”

I watched in silence as she issued orders, as if she’d been born to do just that. It was her element. She more than excelled at it. Without so much as a moment’s hesitation, Nyota sent them off to battle. It was as if she sensed where they were needed the most through some invisible link she shared with her brothers.

Once the last of the swarm of men had vanished from sight, she turned toward me again. The moment she did, a thunderous sound caused the crystal chandelier above our heads to sway, causing thousands of rainbow prisms to light throughout the chamber.

Screams erupted immediately upon the second deafening bang, causing fear to cut sharp ribbons through my innards. My hand flattened, with the palm against my abdomen, as the walls shuddered from whatever had blasted through the courtyard.

“We should be out there aiding them,” I reiterated what I’d already said a thousand times. “What if they’re wounded?”

Nyota’s crystal-blue eyes thinned on me before she flipped inky, dark tresses over her petite shoulder. Without so much as whispering a word, she negated what I’d demanded once more.

“I need to know what is happening out there!” My voice was sharp with panic flooding each word I uttered.

“If they were hurt, the knights would bring them inside where they’d be tended to, Remington. If you think I am going to allow you outside of this house, you’re sorely mistaken. I promised Rhys that I’d keep you safe. It’s not a promise I intend to break.”

Groaning in frustration, I paced even faster than I’d been before attempting to change her mind once more. Frustration and helplessness were shooting through my veins. I’d never felt so utterly worthless in my entire life.

If the order of knights harmed, or even worse, killed any of Rhys’ siblings, he’d murder me himself. The least he’d do was ensure I suffered until the last breath left my lungs. If Rhys was harmed or he died, I’d never forgive myself.

I didn’t want Rhys to suffer anymore. He’d endured enough at the hands of my mother, breaking my heart. Sure, I wasn’t to blame for what he’d experienced. I was still able to look at it from his perspective, though. Everything was much easier to understand when you were on the outside looking in.

After everything we’d been through together, I still didn’t hate Rhys. I couldn’t. Life was too short to spend it hating anyone. Hate was too ugly an emotion to allow power over you. It destroyed, devoured, and darkened your life the moment you let it into your heart.

Rhys hadn’t done anything bad enough to force me to give the odium a place within my soul. Quite the opposite. That was part of the reason his rejection had cut me so intensely.

I wasn’t sure when or how I’d fallen head over heels in love with Rhys Van Helsing, but I knew that I had. Not that I’d ever admit as much aloud, or to him. I’d never allow him to know just how deeply he’d cut into my heart.

With Rhys, there were too many firsts I’d experienced with him.

I’d never allowed myself to dream of a relationship before I returned to this place. Men were something I used. It was something I’d done to work stress out of my system. Sex had been unremarkable and something I’d not been opposed to living without. Until Rhys.

Rhys had shown me what a true gentleman should be. Hell, he’d still shown me even when we were enemies. He’d opened doors for me, pulled out my chair, and forced me to walk on the inside of a sidewalk on the right side of him. It ensured I was never in danger of being grabbed or hit by the briskly moving traffic.

Rhys opened my eyes to true, iniquitous pleasure. He’d worshipped my body like an acolyte revering their deity. I’d never felt beautiful until I saw the way he watched me as he took me soaring to heights I’d never reached before, as if he thought I was the most beautiful creature he’d ever looked upon.

It was so much more than that, though. He was the first person, besides Nyx, whom I’d allowed to slip past my defenses to know the real me. I’d let him in and allowed him to get close enough to desecrate and leave me in sharply broken slivers of who I’d become with him.

The thought of losing him sent me spiraling into a dark, murky pit of anguish. One that threatened to send me straight for the front door, right into danger, to prevent it from ever occurring.

“Breathe, Remington!” Nyota’s horrified scream jerked my head to the side to see what had scared her. At the same moment, Nyota’s palm connected against my cheek. The slap vibrated through me as searing pain heated where she’d struck me.

“You slapped me?” I demanded, outrage lacing my tone.

Crystalline-blue eyes widened in shock as if she realized what she’d done at the exact moment I’d realized it as well. Her full, pouty lips tugged down in the corners until it became almost comical.

“Why would you slap me?” I asked with my hand against the offended cheek.

Lifting her shoulders, she quickly dropped them before scrubbing her palms over her beautiful features. “You began turning different shades of red. I thought you’d stopped breathing!”

My face mirrored the confusion filtering over hers. Opening my mouth to argue, I closed it as the silence outside forced my mind to the bigger issue at hand.

“Is it over?” I whispered but felt the wrongness drifting throughout the air. “Something is wrong—” No sooner had the words slipped off my tongue an ear-piercing sound erupted outside.

The entire house shook for a split second before the windows shattered. Glass became projectiles as they embedded into anything they struck. Several other smaller eruptions began erupting from inside the house.

A humming noise started all around us, forcing my heart to pound like a drum against my ribcage. Sweat trickled down my forehead as each eruption got closer to where we stood. Whispers of silver sang to my soul, like a lover calling out for its other half. The call of it was familiar, as if I’d unleashed the silver being employed.

Horror shot through me with the knowledge of it being my silver currently being wielded against the Van Helsings. It wasn’t merely familiar, it was mine. The silver being deployed against the Van Helsings was forged in my sweat, blood, and tears. Struggling to use my magic to seek out the source of silver, I felt uneasiness creeping up my spine.

“Fuck!” Nyota snarled, lunging toward me at the same moment the gentle hum of silver rushed through the air. As if it were a dance partner, it twirled around me in a flurry, as if seeking to protect me, then found its mark elsewhere.

In slow motion, Nyota’s solid frame collided with my frame. Together, we began falling toward the floor as shrapnel struck against the large oak table and embedded into the thick wood surface. Nyota made a strangled sound from deep in her chest, forcing my eyes to widen in dismay.

The sound of men screaming flooded my hearing as I finally saw the flashing numbers flowing red in front of us.

A fucking bomb?

This wasn’t happening. How had anyone managed to get bombs inside the House of Van Helsing?

It exploded with a thunderous noise, but it didn’t blow up. Instead, it released tiny silver slivers into the air. Each one shot toward me, forcing them to tear through Nyota to reach me. Realizing what was happening, I forced the silver away from me and out of the room, sending it elsewhere.

“Nyota?” I whispered as fear cut through my chest, sharper than any silver could. I trembled as horror choked my words. Tears scorched my eyes as warm liquid soaked through the top I wore. The familiar acrid scent of fresh blood burned inside my nostrils as a sob escaped my quivering lips. “What were you thinking? This isn’t fucking happening!” I cried as the world shook around me.

Warm liquid flowed onto my chest as the sounds of feet rushing toward us pulsated in my ears. Panic, unlike anything I’d ever known before, shot through my veins, like gasoline flowing too quickly through a fuel pump. It inundated my engine. Before I had a chance to fully understand what was unfolding, Nyota’s limp form was ripped away from me.

Cole’s dark features tightened with confusion when he realized Nyota wasn’t moving. “Are you hurt?” My head slowly shook in reply to his question. “Nyota? What the fuck—” Cole’s words stilled as anger sharpened over his handsome face. “Silver?”

Cole’s words caused warmth to drift up my chest to burn my ears as guilt gnawed at my innards. Trembling, covered in Nyota’s blood, I turned as an angry snarl was released from several of the Van Helsing brothers.

“Is she dead?” Illeron demanded with worry filling his tone.

Shivering violently as Rhys’ wrath swung toward me, I shook my head. Opening my mouth to reassure him I hadn’t harmed his sister, it closed as Illeron began snarling vitriol.

“This is your fault,” Illeron stood up, eyes widening with horror. He jabbed a finger into Rhys’ chest. “You are honor-bound to protect us and your house first and foremost. You brought your whore home, now Nyota is fucking dying. You’ve failed to uphold your vow to us all, brother. You’re unfit to be the alpha of this house.”

“There was no silver inside this house.” Rhys’ tone was cold, lifeless. Azure eyes simmered with malice as he turned them on me. “Either issue a challenge for my seat or get the fuck out of my way so I can deal with the issue at hand, Illeron.”

My blood turned to ice as it ripped through my veins, leaving me chilled to the bone. My heartbeat became thunderous drums beating noisily as I rose to my feet, stumbling back a few steps as the angry disposition of each Van Helsing focused on my every move.

“Take Remington to the Onyx Wing and lock her inside, Nikolas. Once you’re assured the doors are locked, stand guard outside the door. She’s not allowed to escape back to her murderous bloodline. Mikel, go review the camera feed to figure out how Remington was able to bring silver inside my house.”

“Walk,” Cole commanded with a viciousness in his tenor I’d never heard him use before.

I’d never harm Nyota. Once she was better, she could tell them herself that I hadn’t done it. The fear of her dying caused a fist to grip my heart, squeezing it tightly.

“I didn’t do this. You know I’d never hurt her!” I shouted, but Rhys turned deadened eyes toward me, giving me pause.

“Wouldn’t you? You’re as fickle and murderous as the whore whose womb you were grown in. Cole, remove her from my sight before I do something that can’t ever be undone.”

Cole’s hold on my elbow tightened as he jerked me toward him. The grip he had on my arm burned. He’d never been anything other than flirtatious before. None of that softness lived within him anymore.

“You can either walk or be dragged. Decide now, Silversmith,” Cole warned coldly, forcing my feet to move one in front of the other.

“I wouldn’t hurt her, Cole. She protected me when none of you cared. Nyota has saved my life more than anyone else.” My words fell on deaf ears as he dragged me down a dark, wrecked corridor.

I couldn’t wrap my head around what had occurred. I hadn’t been here for more than an hour before shit had gone sideways on me. It was as if I’d walked right into a well-thought-out trap. One that had taken little to no effort to spring once I’d stepped into the mansion.

One of Rhys’ brothers wanted me dead. Whoever it was had already infiltrated my dreams and then attempted to blame me for their sister’s death. The lengths they’d gone to ensure I took the fall for Nyota truly terrified me.

Whoever was behind it was after me or Bullet, but Illeron had gone right for Rhys’ throat. He’d placed doubt in the minds of the other Van Helsings as to where Rhys’ true loyalty lay. Rhys wouldn’t believe me over his brother. I’d walked myself right into a viper’s nest, voluntarily.