“That’s impossible. She’s mortal.”
“Have you never watched a Silversmith work before?” Nyx asked, and my eyes narrowed as ice dusted my lashes.
“No one has,” he growled.
My head turned, staring at the room packed full of men, all watching me do jumping jacks. I scowled and would have rolled my eyes had they not been trying to freeze in the position they were currently in, forcing me to blink repeatedly. I paused, moving to the thermostat to bring it back up, then withdrew the blade from the fire to grind it down.
My family was going to crucify me. No wonder they never let me outside. I hadn’t known that no one had never before watched a Silversmith forge a blade before, let alone how we created our pieces in extreme temperatures. Winchester was going to skewer me, and I was going to deserve it.
I held the sword to the machine, watching as sparks flew from it before lowering it to eye-level. Turning off the grinder, I gazed at the sides, then running my hand over it, bringing up a bloodied palm. I held the blood over the blade, watching as it dripped on the design, turning the metal golden in color as my blood magic fueled the protection runes.
I whispered the magic enhancement spell, lifting the sword to place into the cooling water, and then lifted it out to test the metal’s temperature, making sure it was safe to touch. I stepped on a button on the floor, as a wood statue emerged from the ground, covered in gouges where other blades had left marks, and I smirked.
Holding Rhys’s stare, I lifted the blade as I spun, sending the sword in a spinning move before releasing one hand and slammed the blade through the wooden frame. I never broke Rhys’s gaze as the statue severed into two pieces, proving that I was worth my weight in gold—or silver. The door buzzed open, and I walked out of the room covered in sweat, still holding the blade in my hands.
“For you, Rhys Van Helsing,” I stated over the excited chatter in the room. My words stopped all talk. Rhys narrowed his eyes on mine, lowering them to the artwork of the blade.
“Are you sure you want to do that?”
“It was made for you. I’m pretty sure no one else will want it with your name engraved on it.” I frowned, noticing the expressions on the men’s faces. It was just a damn sword. So why did they look worried?
“Remington Silversmith, are you sure you want to give me your silver?” Rhys repeated carefully, holding his hands out.
“If you don’t want it, brother, I’ll take it,” Cole chuckled, but his eyes held wonder as he looked between Rhys and me, and then turned to Acyn, who looked frozen in place.
“I made it for you, Rhys. Why is everyone acting weird?” I asked. I stepped back from him, but he grabbed the blade before I could step back any further or change my mind.
“I accept, Remington Silversmith. I accept your silver and your blade.”
“This is weird, even by my standards,” Nyx stated awkwardly.
“I may need that sword back,” I frowned, watching his eyes smiling like a cat who just tasted cream for the first time.
“Once a Silversmith offers a Van Helsing her silver, it’s unbreakable,” Rhys said, holding the blade so his brothers could take in the details.
He didn’t seem impressed by the sword and had barely looked at the fine details. Instead, he watched me like he’d captured me or just found something so unique that he wasn’t sure how to handle it at all.
“Why do I feel like I just did something foolish?” I asked, swaying on my feet as Nyx steadied me with her hand.
Rhys smiled and turned to see his brothers and his men salivating over the sword I’d made. They pointed to the dragons and their family crest before noting the runes etched within the dragon’s scales.
It was the finest weapon I’d ever crafted, and I had taken some precautions. You know, because I wasn’t a total idiot. Rhys couldn’t use the blade to draw Silversmith blood or it would shatter.
Nyx caught me as I swayed on my feet. Rhys sheathed the blade, stepping to me and lifting my sweat-covered body into his arms. The grin was still smugly on his face as he walked us out of the room and started up the winding staircase that led to a secret passageway into his bedroom.
“My room is fine,” I grumbled.
“That is the finest blade I have ever seen in my entire life, Remington. Thank you for the gift of your silver. You’ll stay in my room tonight, as Cole is staying as well. I’d rather you be near me when he is in residence. I am uncertain of his newest plan to pay me back for the Silversmith he lost, and I’d rather he not use you against me, all things considered.”
“All that animosity is over a Silversmith who played you both?”
“Roslyn was supposed to become my wife until I found out she had lured my mother to her father and betrayed me.”
“Ouch.” Rhys laid me down the softest mattress I’d ever been on in my life. I sank into it as it formed around me, cradling me. “Our families really went at one another, didn’t they?”
“They did, but none of yours had ever offered their silver to us, until you, Remi.”
“Shit, I did do something dumb.”
He smirked as he stripped and undressed, staring into my eyes. “That depends on how you look at it.”
“I can’t look at it, Rhys. I have no idea what the hell it even means.”
“You offered me a part of your soul, Remington. Our curse is a blood bond created by powerful magic. You and I are already bonded by that, since we sort of shared body fluids.” I grimaced, and he chuckled at my response. “Now, the deepest bond a Silversmith and a Van Helsing can ever share is when he vows to protect her against her enemies, and she gives him her silver. I vow to protect you against your enemies, for they are now mine. You are a part of me, and I am now a part of you, Remington Silversmith. From this day forward, you are my silver, and I am your strength and protection.”
“What did you do?” I gasped, fighting to sit up past the spinning in my head as light blinded me. He held my hand, smiling wickedly while watching my panic unfold.
Pain filled my chest, as if something within me clicked, and settled into place. I shook my head, anxiety rushing through me, while blinding pain throbbed in my head. Rhys gritted his teeth, holding his chest as if he felt the same pain. Still holding my hand, Rhys lowered his mouth, claiming my lips in a pain-filled kiss that sent lightning rods rushing through me as tears slipped from my eyes.
“It hurts, Rhys. Stop it!” I pleaded, but he couldn’t, and I knew it without him having to tell me. I heard his teeth gritting together, grinding over enamel as he groaned against my mouth.
“Remi,” he whispered, lifting his eyes to study the tears swimming in mine. “Breathe, beautiful girl. Stop fighting me. Just let it happen.”
“It hurts!” I screamed, feeling like my insides were filling with lava instead of the blood that had once run through my veins.
“That’s because you’re fighting the part of me that is combining with you.”
“What the hell? Why would you do this?” I whispered thickly, swallowing past the pain.
“I did it so that you can never harm me with your silver, and in return, I can never raise arms against you. I outplayed you, and your mother. The glyphs that glowed on your pretty face inside your home? They’re the sign of a newly born alpha to the House of Silversmith. I wasn’t certain at first, since it’s been hundreds of years since anyone has seen the glyphs of a newborn alpha heir. You are the strongest Silversmith I have encountered, which means your mother strategically chose your father to breed a new alpha.”