Page 68 of Silverproof Damsel

“Nyx,” I called to her back as she moved to leave. Turning, she offered me a sheepish smile.

“I’m healing. Promise, Remi. I had extensive damage,” she stated, then strode back to me, sliding her arms around me, holding me tightly. “I miss you so Christ on crackers much.”

A clap of laughter exploded from my lips, which caused pain to ignite in my shoulder blade. “That’s not how that is used.”

She snorted as she pulled away, peering down at me. “We had this talk. I can use it however I want to so long as Bullet’s first word isn’tdickorI need cock.Remember?”

“The fuck?” Rhys blurted. His outburst caused another bubble of laughter to escape. “Bullet’s first word will not be either of those things.”

“See, the name is catchy,” Nyx exclaimed, tossing her hands up. “Doesn’t matter how random the name is, it sticks. It’s our little silver Bullet. Deal with it, Van Helsing. The name stays.”

“Out.” Rhys’ outburst had Acyn strolling back into the room. He bent down at the waist, grabbed Nyx around the hip, then lifted her over his shoulder.

“Isn’t he so romantic?” she gushed then waved goodbye.

Snorting, I shook my head. “Maybe in an oafish sort of way, I guess?” As I watched, Nyx blew a kiss before she began using Acyn’s butt cheeks as drums. “Wow. Serious couple goals right there.”

“Not happening.” At Rhys’ reply, I turned back, unable to stop the bewilderment from playing over my face. “You are not using my ass like a fucking air drum.” The fact that he’d said it with a straight face had me wondering if he was serious about the matter.

“I was being sarcastic. Just so we’re both entirely clear on the matter.” I didn’t want to pretend his ass cheeks were air drums, did I? Deep in consideration, I tipped my head to the side, considering what he’d do if I did just that to him. A wide, smug smile lifted the corners of his kissable lips. “Just so we’re clear. That was a no, right?”

“I said that didn’t I?”

“You did,” I conceded, but my eyes slid back to the monitor and my eyes became watery once more. “We created that, Van Helsing.”

“You are doing the lion’s share of it. I merely gave you a seed, but you are making it grow. How do you feel?” he asked, voice rough as if emotion was making it hard for him to speak.

“Weak.” Admitting that I was vulnerable wasn’t as easy as it should’ve been. I didn’t want to lie to him. I’d pretended to be fine. Obviously, it hadn’t panned out for me. “I passed out. Didn’t I?”

“I sent Nyx in to visit with you. She and Acyn found you unconscious. He carried you here, where the healers fought to break the high fever. It took two days before it finally broke.”

“Two days?” Confusion fluttered through my mind as I tried to understand how I’d lost days.

“Two full days for the fever to break. It took another day for you to finally wake up.” My brows shot up at the shock of how long I’d been in here. “The wound was infected. It was slowly poisoning your blood system. It is ironic how similar the reaction is to Nyota’s,” he explained.

The blood drained from my face as his smile faltered. “Is she okay?” Rhys’ face went blank, concealing all emotion.

Inwardly, I shrank from the way he shut me out again. I was merely seeking to help him in saving Nyota from suffering or perishing. Silently considering how best to explain what they needed to do, I watched his eyes slowly narrowing on me, as if he was seeing inside my mind.

“We need to clean her blood, like a dialysis machine would. You can’t heal her from the outside unless you can remove the silver through magical means. You can’t though. It’s Silversmith silver, right? So, the only one who could remove it would be a Silversmith. It would need to be the Silversmith who createdit in the first place.” Rhys’ eyes narrowed on me, then slid to the monitor before returning. “The Silversmith who forged the metal could remove it from her system. I can’t. I wasn’t the one who forged that silver. Everything I forged was unleashed on the knights who tried to kill me at my house. I didn’t have time or a forge big enough to unleash the sheer amount of silver that was used in that bomb.”

But I’d felt a familiar taste of my silver when it had unleashed against Nyota and myself. If I was right, they’d use either a similar silver or discarded silver to make it look as if I’d planned the attack myself. Whoever it was, they’d wanted me to take the blame for the assassination attempt on the Van Helsing bloodline.

“The silver used, as far as we can tell, was from E.V.I.E. and brought here with the intent to kill me. It wasn’t meant to kill Nyota or you. That bomb was placed in the corner of the room where my chair at the head of the table sits. It had been accidentally moved earlier in the day by the maids to clean the room. Whoever detonated the bomb intended it to kill me. I thought it was more of Illeron’s bullshit. The thing is that it couldn’t have been my brother, not unless he intended to die along with me.”

“It wasn’t me.”

Rhys’ dark head bobbed in agreement. “It wasn’t you, but it was your silver, Love. Unfortunately, you’re not strong enough to remove your silver from her blood,” he revealed.

The finality in his tone sent ice rushing through my bloodstream. My silver was killing Nyota. “If you’re right, then I have to try.” Swallowing past the lump in my throat, I fought the tears pricking my eyes, searing them.

“Our child or Nyota. Choose which one you’ll sacrifice. Hell, you may end up dying beside her if you attempt it in this weakened state,” he snapped furiously.

“I can’t just sit around and do nothing. She’ll die.” Turning his head, he stared at the screen, refusing to meet my gaze. “Rhys, she’s your sister.”

“I don’t need you, of all people, reminding me what is at stake here,” he snarled, then groaned when I flinched from the rage he’d revealed briefly.

Closing my eyes, I fought against the twisting of my heart. “At least allow me to try to save her.”

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