“Just seeing that you tap that ass soon, brother,” Acyn grunted and then snorted. “Do it, Rhys, or someone else will, and they won’t care what she thinks. Hell, she’s almost succumbed to Cole on a few occasions. You know the rules. Finish it before you lose the only leverage you have against them.”
“Not here, asshole,” Rhys growled.
I swallowed against the door, frowning as I listened to the brothers. When the room went silent, I slipped back into the shower, resting my head against the stall. I had to stop kissing Rhys because I lost my ever-loving mind and did stupid shit when I did.
Chapter Twenty
I sat on the bed, staring at Nyx, who frowned, studying me quietly. I told her what I’d heard, and she’d come up blank on what it could have meant. Something was happening, and neither of us had any idea what it could be. It left us unsettled, but the fact she was walking funny added some amusement to the evening.
“Are you okay?” I asked, watching her move around as I winced for her.
“Van Helsings don’t play around, Remington. I mean, I’m good at orgies. This wasn’t an orgy. Normally, I’m the one feeding. They fed, and damn did they feed. I came so many damn times that I was begging for mercy. Me, a freaking nymph,” she groaned. “I don’t beg for mercy, ever.”
“Until now,” I pointed out, finding her bruised ego a little humorous.
“You watched, pervert,” she smirked. “I don’t think their Beltane and ours are on the same level. Fair warning.”
“Why do you say that?” I asked, remembering Rhys asking the alpha wolf to bring his bitches. How demeaning was that?
“Oh, I don’t know. The fact that Acyn and Cole mentioned sharing me with the crowd that hadn’t known the pleasures a nymph brought to the bedroom. Plus, they’re also bringing in a bunch of feeders since it’s the one night Rhys can’t fully control his monster. Everyone loses their shit on Beltane, and it turns into one big orgy. I have a feeling this one is going to be lit.”
“He’s bringing in feeders?” I asked, needing her to clarify.
“I don’t know, but it sounds like he may need them. He is the alpha to the incubi and the Van Helsings. He’s the only alpha who has a combined house, of which I know you’re aware, since technically it’s your family’s fault.”
“He’s called in all the alphas to deal with the vampires. We need to get out of here and get home.”
“About that, Remi,” she said, sitting beside me, patting my hand. “You know how E.V.I.E. has always had a silent benefactor? One who actually runs the Seattle division, even though he never comes to check on things?” Nyx asked, and my stomach did a somersault.
“Yes?”
“It’s Rhys. He’s the head of Seattle’s E.V.I.E., and we can’t go back. If we leave, we can’t go there anymore.” She grabbed my hand, holding it as I stared at her with my mouth wide open.
“You’re sure?” I asked through a tightening in my throat.
“I called to check-in, and they told me to stay with you. I asked if they had heard anything else about your mother, and they told me the benefactor had it under control. That unless Rhys Van Helsing said otherwise, we weren’t allowed to go back to the center,” she whispered, peering carefully at the door. “On Rhys Van Helsing’s command, we are officially jobless and homeless. I have money saved up, though, and we can find a house to rent. We’re going to be okay, Remi. You and me, we always make it through things together. This is just one more thing we’ll have to survive.”
“My armory,” I moaned, rubbing my hand down my face.
“Rhys’s armory is ten times better than yours. Acyn said he was already moving people to allow you full access to it. It isn’t like you can’t make guns anymore, or ammo. You just have to make them for him.”
“So that he can use them against other alphas and play God, Nyx. If I make his weapons and they’re all created of Silversmith silver, he could rule the entire alpha community. He’d be their judge, jury, and executioner, and I’d be handing it to him.”
“The thing is, Remington, he already is. You’re just handing him silver to reinforce his hold on them. Rhys Van Helsing is the one creature no one is willing to challenge. He is lethal and sinister when he dishes out his punishments. You’ve already been working for him without either of you knowing it, so it’s not like it will be any different.”
“It’s different because my mother is still missing, and Rhys is sneaky. He’s using my stupidity against me, and I don’t know what I can or can’t say because he took my phone. He cut off all my outside communication. No one within my bloodline knows he has me, and no one is coming to save us, Nyx.”
“You’re not a damsel who needs saving, Remi. You’re fucking bulletproof, and you literally can have the world at your feet. If you and Rhys end up together, you will be the ‘it’ couple in the immortal world. You’re already his silver, whatever the hell that means. That one has me stumped, and nothing anywhere says shit about it or what it means. I know it isn’t good for you, not where your family will be concerned.”
“I’m aware of that. I’m afraid that the snakes in the bed were for me. A warning to others that I’d become a traitor. It can actually mean a few things, but considering where I am and who has me, I’m almost certain it was Winchester, sending up smoke signals to anyone coming here.”
I moved from the bed, peering into the bathroom at the dress I wore in the full-length mirror, remembering the feel of Rhys against me as he’d watch me unraveling for him. How was it he touched me and I disappeared? All the survival training I could use to flee him fades to black, and I became lost within him. Unless he was using his incubus magic against me, and I was succumbing to it?
I pulled my hair up into a ponytail and walked out of the bathroom, finding Cole sitting beside Nyx, running his hand over her thigh. His eyes slipped over the black dress I wore, resting on the wrap-around heels. Exhaling, I slowly moved toward him, wondering if he’d tell me what I wanted to know.
“What does it mean to offer a Van Helsing your silver?” I whispered, tilting my head as he frowned, studying me.
“It means you are Rhys’s, and everything you fear it means, Remi. It’s like offering him your soul, and once accepted, it cannot be undone. You sold your soul to the devil, and I let you do it. Can’t say I blame him, or you for choosing him. Rhys is honorable to a point, so don’t push him. He’s never given his protection, nor have I added mine to back his. You’re special.”
“Because I’m untrained and don’t know what I should hide from you and your brothers?” I pointed out, rubbing my arms as he stood, moving closer to me.
“No, because you’re innocent,” he whispered softly. “You know we’re monsters, and you don’t care that we are. You know we murdered your family, and yet you say it is in the past. You don’t condemn us for what happened yet, and you’re right, maybe you being naïve helps that. Remi, you had yet to choose a side. But by giving Rhys your silver, you chose ours. An accident led by being naïve, but it is done. You’re wed to him, and that’s deeper than any Silversmith has ever allowed to happen. In our family’s history, no Silversmith has ever awarded us a weapon to use against our enemies; bullets and arrows, but never weapons. Weapons give us power, even the power to take down other Silversmiths.”