Page 12 of Silverproof Damsel

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 bodypillow 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 isdead,” 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 . . . andshit.” 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.”

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