Page 5

My house was destroyed. Rhys hadn’t exaggerated when he said the ceiling caved in on my head. White and brown chunks of what I assumed had once been the ceiling covered the entire front room. The support beam had fallen, resulting in a partially collapsed roof. It no longer held the job title of roof, as the entire thing looked deflated.

Standing at the large picture window, I studied Rhys’ silhouette hidden in the shadows across the street. He blended in amongst them or was a part of them, maybe? I wasn’t sure I had much knowledge about the enigma that was the father of my unborn child. With one last glance, I abandoned the window in search of what belongings I could salvage from the mess that had been left.

Navigating the ruins of the house, I located my borrowed phone and shot off another message to Winchester. In the small, quaint room I’d taken residence in, I picked up my small pack, then scanned my measly belongings with annoyance.

In muted silence, I began shoving several articles of clothes along with things I couldn’t live without. Things like my body pillow or my lucky slippers that I’d had since leaving home. Pictures of my time spent at E.V.I.E., which Nyota had dropped off. Things that couldn’t be replaced, no matter how much money someone had. I attempted to salvage what I could, but the ceiling had left my room in disarray.

“Remington?” Winchester’s voice floated to my ears. The sound of glass crunching underfoot flooded the space.

“I’m in here,” I called back.

“Fucking hell! I knew I should’ve made her stay with us. It’s fucking reckless to be alone when the entire world wants us buried in the cold ground!” The pain lacing her tone forced me to hasten my steps toward her. “I’ll kill them all for this—”

The second I rounded the corner and forced a chunk of drywall out of my way, her words choked off. Ice-blue eyes swam with tears, forcing her to wipe at them to prevent anyone else from seeing them. She’d braided her icy-blonde hair, piling it atop her head, resembling a platinum crown.

“Praise the goddess,” she uttered so softly that it was barely audible above my labored, uneven breathing. “Are you unharmed?” The moment she reached me, she immediately began patting me down for injuries.

Shaking my head in reply, I felt overwhelmed by emotion, preventing me from speaking. Everything I had bottled up for the past three months seemed to flow over the rim of the bottle. Tears pricked my eyes as burning started behind my nose. Wrapping my arms around my middle, I stood awkwardly, knowing Winnie hated crying or pretty much any display of emotion.

“What happened, Remi?” she questioned, hesitation straining her tone. Stepping closer to me, she glanced down toward my middle before dragging her narrowing stare back to my face. “You’ve gone mute, then?”

Without hesitation, I threw myself at her. Winchester stiffened against me while I hugged her as if she were my lifeline. She’d never been good with affection. I once thought it made her cruel. I’d teased her about being as ice-cold as her startling, bewitching gaze.

Sobs racked through my frame as everything unraveled. Emotions inundated me like a river flooded from a hard, heavy winter’s melt. It was like she’d removed the lid on my emotions herself.

I could hide my emotions well. I’d been forced to as a child. Winchester had done a damn good job of setting an example of how to behave before our mother’s watchful eye. The dam had broken, releasing the emotions I’d refused to feel for so long. I wasn’t able to hold anything back, not anymore.

Memories were slowly trickling back now that Rhys’ demon had broken the wall shielding me from them. Those memories were harsh, vicious, and filled with flashes of the brutality my mother had employed on me to force my immortality to occur earlier, rather than later.

The memories being unleashed, coupled with the rejection from the man I’d hopelessly fallen in love with, were all crashing down around me. Life was currently kicking my ass from every angle it could.

Winchester’s arms awkwardly wrapped around me slowly, then tightened as violent sobs rocked my frame. A loud exhale broke from her lips before she made comforting sounds, holding me through the breakdown I was experiencing.

Nyx was my best friend, my person. But Winchester knew me more than anyone else. She’d raised me, even though our mother had done her best to forge me into a weapon of mass destruction. Winchester had made sure I knew how love felt. She loved me despite my flaws, which were many. Unlike Roslyn, Winnie raised me with tenderness and encouragement, as a mother should.

“That asshole is dead ,” she breathed through choked up emotion as she patted the back of my head.

A burst of hysterical laughter escaped my lips, followed by a hiccup. Her eyes examined my face before her rose-colored lips were tightly pursed together.

“Do you need me to slap you?” The clinical way she asked caused a second bubble of laughter up from my chest to leak from my lips. “Good goddess, are you having a mental breakdown? I am unsure of how to continue here, Remington Alaina.”

“It isn’t a mental breakdown. I’ve just been putting a pin in a grenade. Regrettably, it exploded. You’re one of the few people I can cry in front of without ending up vulnerable and pathetic.” Saying it aloud wasn’t easy, but I wanted her to know how safe I felt with her.

“That’s just . . .” She stared at me as her hands dropped to her side. “Great.” The way her face strained didn’t match her words. The awkwardness was visible in the way her face scrunched and her brows pushed together. “Are we done hugging?”

“Sorry,” I muttered with lips twisting into a smile. “But I needed it, so thank you for enduring it, sis.”

Her face contorted as if her next words would be physically painful. “That’s why I’m here. For hugs . . . and shit .” Yep, that was painful for the ice queen. I fought against the laughter bubbling up in my chest, threatening to ruin the moment. “What did Van Helsing do? Don’t try to tell me this wasn’t that smug, conceited prick, Remington. I can still smell his expensive aftershave in the air.” She crossed her arms, then fixed her gaze on me.

“It wasn’t him—” Holding up my hand as her mouth opened to divulge a bevy of colorful curses in objection, I stopped her.

“Remington—”

Snapping my fingers, I silenced her argument. “It wasn’t Rhys. Not that had attacked me this time, anyway. He showed up, then ended up rescuing me.” Her eyes thinned, as if she weren’t buying it at all. “During the storm, knights . . .” The mention of knights had her silver brows shoving up on her forehead. “Not Van Helsing knights, but others. I don’t know which house or faction they belong to, either. Rhys prevented one from cutting me in half. If he hadn’t intervened, I’d be dead right now.”

“How are you so blasé about someone attempting to murder you?” The way she spoke told me she was calculating shit in her brilliant brain. Which meant she’d be figuring it out any moment now . . . there it was. Her eyes widened before worry flashed through them. “This wasn’t the first attempt on your life, was it?” The betrayal in her voice made my heart clench as my stomach twisted.

“You’ve been fighting to get the house officially acknowledged. Plus, Colt, Sig, Ruger, Gauge, and Savage all showed up, and you had to manage that. You didn’t need me adding to the burdens you already have. I know your plate is already full.” The softening in her face offered reassurance which I welcomed after the last twenty-four hours.

“You’re my sister. That means I am always available to you, Remi. I should’ve been the first call you made when something happened. I fucking raised you, for fuck’s sake.” The pain lacing her tone flooded her eyes before she groaned. “Pack a bag. You’re coming with me. It’s not up for discussion. Let’s go.”

Smiling, I reached down, plucking up my bag from the floor. “Already ahead of you for once.”

Winchester pulled her phone from the pocket of her jeans, then rapidly shot off orders. “Check the area for any threat. There have been attempts on Remington’s life. In light of her sensitive circumstances, we’ll be on high alert until I instruct otherwise.”

I pressed my fingers over the bridge of my nose, listening to my siblings’ sarcastic remarks directed at Winnie. If Winnie hadn’t been in command mode, she’d have walloped them for those remarks.

“No, not in a moment. Get your asses out of the vehicles and sweep the fucking area. That’s an order.” With a swipe of her thumb across the screen, she ended the call. She looked at me and eyed the small, pathetic bag holding my few belongings inside. “That’s all you intend to bring to the house?”

Grunting, I tossed the light pack over my shoulder, even as my stomach slowly began twisting. “It’s all I own, sadly. Rhys froze my accounts and forced us to close the doors to the club. All of my money sank with Forged Desires. Until it opens—I have nothing.” I feigned unconcern about my lack of funds.

“You’ve been here, broke as shit, and all this time, you what, Remington? You never once thought to ask me or one of the others to loan you cash? I have more money than I can spend in fifty lifetimes. I’d have gladly given you some.” Strolling toward the door, she turned as the ceiling made a loud, unsettling noise.

As I looked up, my stomach plummeted faster than the large piece of roofing. Winchester gripped my arm painfully, jerking me away from the spot I’d stood beneath the large, damaged panel.

“Bloody hell! This house is crumbling around our heads. Come on, this place isn’t safe for you.”

“You’ll need to open your house to Nyx. She’s going to be homeless as well,” I muttered as we strolled through the narrow hallway. Stepping out the front door, I glanced back with regret. I’d failed to make it six months on my own, outside of the protection of E.V.I.E.. Shame and self-loathing drifted through me at the embarrassment of it all.

Savage’s stony disposition caught my eye. A smile twitched over my lips as she smirked, nodding. Colt stepped up beside her, his eyes sliding to my middle with a look of apprehension.

“Leave it to our littlest spitfire to be the Silversmith to bear a Van Helsing child. I knew you were in trouble, Remington. But this? This is insane, even for you.” Stepping closer as I reached him, he pulled me close for a hug. “But your child will be loved. Very loved, sister. No matter what blood runs through the wee thing’s veins.”

Winchester had warned me of the complications and precarious situation of carrying a Van Helsing child, and what it could entail. I wasn’t only carrying a Van Helsing child. I carried the Van Helsing’s Heir. No matter what happened, I’d deal with the complications, whatever they were.

Of course, that also created issues within our house. A house that Winchester was working hard to create. She still faced hardship as she sought to raise the fallen house of Silversmith from the rubble it had been left in. My having the enemy’s heir wasn’t going to make it easier on her, especially not with a few of our siblings opposing my doing so.

“Thank you, brother.” Tears pricked my eyes, threatening to fall as Savage offered a curt nod of agreement. “I’ve missed you both.”

“And us?” Gauge asked, stepping out from the shadows, grinning mischievously. “No love for us, baby sister?”

My smile spread as he, along with the others, came into view. “Everyone’s here?” I asked, though I already knew the answer. “I can’t recall the last time you were all together.”

“No, not all of us. Smith and Weston are both already en route. They should be here soon enough, though. And you wouldn’t recall it happening because it hadn’t been allowed when Roslyn lived, honey,” Ruger explained, then leaned closer to plant a kiss on my forehead. “I heard you killed the bitch. If I’d known you were going to be the one to set us free, I’d have been nicer to you.” Winking as he pulled away, he frowned. “Honestly, I can’t say I expected the youngest to be the one to put the rabid dog down.”

I understood Roslyn’s fear of having all of us in one place. Last time too many Silversmiths had gathered, a mob decided to hold a bonfire in their honor. Irritation at agreeing with my mother caused a crease to form in my forehead.

“Don’t insult rabid mongrels. They deserve better than to be compared to that murderous whore.” Savage had never been one to mince words. Plus, she had a thing for dogs. She had set up a sanctuary for mistreated animals with a heavy focus on dogs.

“I didn’t expect it to be me, either.” At my awkward reply, they laughed at my expense.

“We’ll catch up and trade compliments at home. Remington isn’t safe out in the open. Load up. Remington is staying with us now.” Winchester’s order had everyone stiffening before scouting the surrounding area with murderous glares.

Marching the last few steps toward the line of waiting SUVs, I spared one last glance back at the house. My stomach threatened to expel what little food I’d held down as I realized I was returning to my roots.

Back to the Silversmith clan, who were mortal enemies to the Van Helsings. It was going to be a complete shitshow. That much was a given.

Rhys would not forgive me for the blood running through my veins, ever. The thought made my eyes sting as the realization sank in that what we once had was gone. I’d expected him to come around after his temper had cooled. He hadn’t forgiven me, but at least he couldn’t say I was lying about carrying his child anymore.

It didn’t matter, though. For now, I had to look out for what was best for us. It wasn’t him. It couldn’t be him, not unless he changed and did a shit load of groveling. I’d be damned if I allowed him to think he had any claim over me or Bullet. The most I’d allow him to do was add his surname to our child’s name. That was only because I was feeling generous. Bullet Van Helsing had a nice ring to it, admittedly.

The sound of a car moving briskly down the road forced my head to turn toward it. Locking eyes with Rhys, I felt a flurry of butterflies erupt into flight as a smug smile played over his lips as he rolled to a stop beside the stopped vehicle.

Rhys wasn’t suicidal. That meant he was showing me he wasn’t afraid of my family. He would walk through them to reach me if the need arose. The thought alone created a wealth of warmth throughout my system. It also told me it hadn’t been Rhys who wanted me dead. If he’d wanted me buried six feet deep, he would’ve let me die last night. He hadn’t, though. It caused hope to flare in my chest.

Climbing into the vehicle, I drew in the familiar scent of my family flooding my senses. Pulling the seatbelt on tightly, I smiled as they piled in after me. It had been too long since we’d been together, but something told me it wouldn’t last long. Good things rarely ever did.