Page 10 of Silverproof Damsel

My jaw clenched as I closed my mouth, fighting against the urge to run the bastard over and back up to do it all over again. My shoulders sank with defeat, and I exhaled before stepping outside, awaiting my fate at his hands.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” he spat out, venom thick in his words.

I placed my hands on my hips before I arched one eyebrow. Rhys’ lips twitched with suppressed amusement. I watched as he pushed off the hood, then strolled toward where I stood with the door protecting me. Instead of moving towards me, he placed his hands on the hood, caging me against the vehicle with his body. His massive frame made the sports car appear small and insignificant.

Sounds pricked my ears as the thud of a car door closed. Nyota and Cole’s voices erupted next, then hushed as Rhys and I glared at one another in challenge.

“Home,” I snapped, then glanced beside us to determine the other two’s location. “Where will Inotbe going today? Anywhere with you.” With my arms folded across my chest, I tapped a foot impatiently, somehow ignoring the panic swelling within my chest.

“Is that so?” Rhys challenged, his eyes sparkling with amusement. Lifting from the car, he wordlessly dared me to move.

“Damn right.” Dragging my teeth along my bottom lip, I held his hypnotic gaze. “I am not beholden to an archaic law that has yet to catch up with the modern world. I may be your silver, but, as far as I’m concerned,it means nothing.No, it meanslessthan nothing to me.” The muscles in his jaw flexed as he mirrored my pose. I stepped back, turning from his angry face, but his hand seized my shoulder, pulling me forcefully against him.

“It matters little what you or I think about our connection. You belong to me, and our souls are intertwined. Ask your sister what it means to give your silver to another. If she tells you she doesn’t know, she’s fucking lying to you. Once she explains it to you, I expect you to fall into line like a good girl for me. If you make me chase you, you won’t like me, Silversmith.”

“You assume Ilikeyou?” I questioned through clenched teeth. “Very conceited of you to assume anything about me, Van Helsing. My sentiments toward you aren’t gentle. It’s a little vicious and a lot more malicious, I fear.” The smile that spread over his face gave me a moment of pause.

Ian warned me against raising Rhys’ ire since the three of them wouldn’t be able to intervene on my behalf without starting a fight. As alphas of respected houses, I valued their advice, even if they couldn’t protect me from Rhys or my stupid, naïve choices. If they intervened, it could be seen as a slight against Rhys. Taking sides in a battle was never ideal, not when you’d vowed or aligned your houses with another.

“Until the threat to you is handled, I suggest you get control of your emotions,” he rebuked, as if I were a petulant child throwing a fit over a lollipop.

“My emotions aren’t your concern, and neither am I,” I hissed between clenched teeth. His hands balled into tight fists at his side, as if he wanted to grab and shake sense into me.

“If you’re not staying inside my house tonight, you’ll be with the other Silversmiths, Remington. I’m not asking you. This isme telling you. You’re not safe inside that shithole you’ve been calling home.” His cheek jerked, then a tic started pulsing in it.

“I can take care of myself. I’ve been doing it since the day I left home.”

“This isn’t a debate, Love. You either come with me or join your family in the chateau on the edge of town. If you won’t do what’s best for you, I will.”

The way he spoke about my home sent anger scorching through me. Not that I could argue against what he’d said. The house was a work in progress, one we’d done our best to fix up with what we had on hand. But it was stillmyhome.

Snorting, I stepped closer as the anger percolated like a kettle brewing early morning coffee. “If you hadn’t frozen every cent Nyx and I had, we’d have a place safe enough for us to stay. If you truly cared about my safety, you wouldn’t have ensured I had nothing. Why did you freeze our accounts?” The fact that I was able to conceal the pain I felt in my chest from entering my voice was a miracle.

“Because I could. I fucking wanted to. And Ienjoyedit,” he shot back, eyes thinning. Rhys stepped closer, aggression hovering thickly in the air with his presence. Fingering the lace of the thin camisole shirt I wore, he smirked. Noticing the shiver rushing from my head down to my toes, the smile grew wolfish. “You should probably stop by your house and get dressed in something less . . . simple.” Spinning on his heel, he shot off orders to Nyota and Cole over his shoulder as he walked toward the waiting vehicles. “With me, both of you. She can walk home and beg someone to transport her to her family’s estate. Neither of you is to go near them, no matter how much she begs. I’ll not give them a chance to hurt our line more than they already have.” With that, Rhys slid into the passenger side of a waiting Land Rover, slamming the door behind him, leaving me gawking at his commands.

I spun on my heel and stared around at the faces of those who had emerged from their houses, watching what was being said between us. Comforting myself, I rubbed my chilled arms while beginning to walk toward my house.

“Other direction, Remington,” Nyota muttered with tension straining her delicate features. “Five blocks south, then three to the west.”

“Nyota,” Cole growled in a stern tone. “He’s spoken. You gave your vow. Don’t make us question where your true loyalty lies.”

Cole’s gaze slid to mine with a blank expression on his face. Without a single word, he strode toward the driver’s door of another waiting SUV. Nyota followed directly behind him, glancing back with regret in her stare. Once both were inside, it sped off, leaving me to turn, eyeing the one Rhys occupied.

Swallowing down the uneasiness at finding the seat he’d sat in empty, I turned at the sound of masculine laughter. Dark, wispy tendrils slid around my wrists, then covered my mouth as I was hoisted into the air. Floating over the pavement, I felt nausea churning in my abdomen.

The tendrils caressed the exposed flesh they touched, like a lover. The sound of a vehicle’s door opening jerked my gaze to it. The driver’s, along with the passenger door, was open. Whatever held me drifted my squirming form toward the waiting SUV, planting me into the passenger seat. It yanked the seatbelt over my chest, pressing against the swell of my abdomen as it secured me into my seat.

Turning to the driver’s side, I watched in shock as Rhys materialized in it with a smug, condescending smile on his sensual lips. Both doors shut, then locked as he pressed his foot down on the gas pedal.

“You didn’t honestly think I’d let you walk home alone,” he stated in a raspy tenor.

My lips parted as I tried to form words. I knew Rhys was powerful. I never imagined he was this strong. I should’ve expected it after he’d kept it hidden. It still sent me spinning about how to respond.

“Why?”

“Are you not paying attention? Or do you just lack a fucking brain to compute how dangerous this town has become for you?” Rhys was gifted. Gifted with the ability to make my temper go from zero to sixty in seconds. It was a talent he excelled at.

“I’vetriedto leave this place.” That caused his attention to abandon the roadway and focus on me. “Did you expect me to sit on my porch sulking, waiting for you to realize you’d made a colossal mistake by leaving me? Or maybe you thought I’d be a good little bitch and sit around, waiting for you to come fetch me?”

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