E.V.I.E.: 13 Slayers, 13 Missions

by Lexi C. Foss

  “You murdered doctors?” I asked, resting my head against him, hearing his deep exhale while he brushed his lips over my shoulder, kissing it gently.

  “Only the ones who wouldn’t save you,” he admitted softly. “Nyx, tell the physician who lived, that Remington is awake and speaking. Have him standing by outside the room to examine her. I’ll finish her bath,” Rhys ordered.

  Nyx hesitated, watching me. “You promised not to leave me alone. Do you have any idea how terrifying it was to walk outside and smell your blood mixed with Cole’s? There was blood splattered all over the car and ground beside it, but we couldn’t find a trail anywhere. It just vanished, and I was alone and terrified!”

  “I was in a trunk,” I whispered, coughing. Nyx rushed forward with more water, staring over my shoulder.

  “Stuff it, Van Helsing. She’s my person, and I almost lost her. That shit messes with a girl’s head, and I haven’t reached an orgasm since. Cole ate me for an entire week, and still no orgasm! Although, that was the hottest thing I have ever been through in my entire life.”

  “Nyx, she needs to be examined by more than you and me right now,” Rhys stated calmly, exhaling against my shoulder. It sounded like he was struggling to remain calm in the face of a hyperactive, overemotional nymph.

  “I’m okay, Nyx. I probably should see the doctor, though,” I laughed at her pouting lips. After a moment, she nodded in agreement. She slapped her forehead, lunging forward without warning to hug me tightly. “Nyx, I’m totally naked, and you can’t un-see that, ever.”

  “I’ve been self-appointed vagina washer for over a month. You and I are way past first base; we’re like…”

  My hand landed over her lips, stopping her from speaking. “Oh my God, don’t finish that,” I chuckled, turning to bury my head against Rhys. “This is so bad,” I laughed harder.

  His fingers played in my hair while he silently kissed my neck as the door closed with Nyx’s departure. Rhys turned me around to face him, and I fell toward him. His eyes slid down my body, and he sat up, placing me onto the opposite side of the tub where Nyx had been leaning.

  “How do you feel?” he asked, grabbing for the sponge she’d sat on the tub’s edge.

  “Weak. I feel very weak,” I admitted, watching Rhys slowly wash me like some delicate doll. “Not so weak that you would rub my flesh off if you actually touched my skin with the sponge.” His lips twitched, and his attention lifted to the soft smile I offered him. “I won’t break.”

  “You did break, Remi. You almost died nineteen times while I fought to hold you to this world. You flatlined nineteen fucking times, and I anchored you to me with your mind. Ian has been feeding you his blood. Conrad bit you three times to see if we could force a change. Hunter, he wanted to take you to his realm and force you to become one of the spirits that reside there.”

  “And you?” I asked, slowly taking in the sinewy muscles of his chest, tensing from his movements.

  “I held you tight and told you that I didn’t accept you leaving me, Love. I want you alive, do you hear me?”

  I didn’t lift my eyes to his, unable to look into them for fear of seeing something deeper developing there. He closed the distance between us, lifting me onto his lap as something very hard and noticeable sat between us. Rhys’s lips brushed against mine seeking permission, and my arms wrapped around his neck, kissing him hungrily. He stood from the bathtub, walking us into the bedroom, where he laid me carefully onto the bed.

  A knock sounded at the door, and he laughed, peering up at me, smiling. “I’m going to build a bunker just to have a place for us to fuck so that we’re not constantly disturbed.”

  “That’s a little much just to get laid, isn’t it?” I asked, and he lifted as to leave. “No, not even,” I growled, pulling him down, lifting my hips in invitation.

  I shivered as he stretched my body out on the bed, lifting his head as he groaned. His eyes heated while staring down at me, watching me tremble with need. His hips moved slowly, testing me until I attempted to roll him, but failed miserably. His smirk infuriated me with his cocky brows that lifted. Rhys claimed my lips, growling as he devoured me.

  He pushed into my core, stretching me full before lifting back, rocking his hips while I gasped at the multitude of sensations he created. He was slow, calculated with each gentle thrust, which I eagerly met as he smiled down at me.

  The knock sounded at the door again, and Rhys pulled his lips from mine. “Unless you want to die a slow, painful death, go the fuck away!”

  He lowered his mouth to mine, nipping my lip, and I laughed against them at his random outburst that wasn’t like him to indulge in. His body moved gently, purposely building the orgasm up until it ripped through me. He pushed his forehead against mine, carefully rolling us until I was seated on him. Lowering his hands, he moved my hips slowly. I placed my hands onto his chest, uncertain I could stay upright.

  “You do know she’s not healed, right, asshole?” Nyota snapped from the other side of the door.

  “She’s on top,” Rhys snarled, and Nyota chuckled, and maybe I was hallucinating because it sounded as if she’d just said that I was her girl. “You’re beautiful, but you’re exhausted still,” Rhys groaned, rolling us quickly. He moved forward with purpose, edging me toward the cliff again until he groaned, moaning loudly. He placed his hand over my mouth, smothering the cry as lights ignited behind my eyes, and bells rang in my ears. “You should wake up now so that we can do this for real, instead of half-assed inside your head, woman.”

  “What?” I asked, staring up at him while he smirked beside me on the bed. “This is a dream?”

  “Yes, this is an improvement. There weren’t monsters chasing us, or crazy shit unfolding this time. You’ve been asleep for over a month now. I kept you here so that you would let your body heal. I have to admit, some of the shit inside this pretty head of yours is honestly creepy as hell, woman.”

  The knock sounded at the door, and I lifted my head, peering at it. Rhys moved on the bed, and I blinked, struggling to sit up.

  “Slowly, Love. Bloody hell,” he groaned, peering down at where he’d tented the blankets. “You’re sure you’re not part succubus, right?”

  “Do not blame your erection on me. I was in a coma, so who’s the pervert here?” I whispered weakly, turning onto my side while his fingers pushed the hair away from my face. He leaned over, kissing my forehead, then got up from the bed. Rhys slipped into sweatpants before silently moving back to my side.

  “Sit up.” Rhys watched me struggling to move and held up his hand. “Hold on,” he ordered, pulling out a black silk nightgown from the dresser before returning.

  He lifted me gently, careful of the IV taped to my arm. Rhys untied the nightgown I wore, slowly removing it to replace it with the clean black one he’d retrieved. His fingers worked quickly, tying it up before placing me back into bed, pulling the other nightgown out of the blankets, before walking it to the hamper. I silently watched him pour a glass of ice water before returning, handing it to me, before fixing the covers.

  “You’ve been doing this every night since you saved me?” I whispered, narrowing my eyes on him as he nodded.

  “You asked me to stay with you. I have not left this room since we brought you back from Laura’s hive. Ian, Conrad, and Hunter tracked down and beheaded every vampire she sired in the last fifty years. She and her people won’t harm you again. The other alphas saw to it. But I couldn’t break that promise to you and go hunt them down.”

  “Thank you,” I whispered, feeling the pull to sleep as he opened the door.

  Everyone moved into the room, staring at me. Even the alphas were here, and Thurston, god’s love him, burst into the room, screaming his presence.

  “Thurston is here!” he shouted.

  “Hello, Thurston,” I smiled weakly, trying to sit up. Cole moved toward me, fixing the pillows behind me before he leaned down, kissing my ear.

  “You, sleeping beauty, scare
d me to death.”

  “Are you okay?” I asked, and he nodded.

  Stepping back, he sucked his bottom lip between his teeth. “Now that you’re awake, I am okay. I’m so sorry that I didn’t see the danger that night.”

  “We lived,” I smirked, scrunching up my nose. “Laura’s dead and we’re not. That’s a win for team good guys.”

  “It’s cute that she thinks we’re the good guys, right?” Cole asked, turning to look at Rhys.

  “It’s endearing, if not a little irrational. We’re the monsters, but let’s wait to tell her that.”

  “You guys know she can hear you, right?” Nyx asked, sliding to the bed beside me. “What I said in your dream walk? That happened. It really happened. So, should I not tell you out here?” I stared at her while her mouth opened, and her eyes widened. “Got it. Can we redo this and wake her back up later, so she doesn’t know that I washed her vagina? She’s prudish.”

  “Stop talking, nymph,” Nyota stated, smiling at me. “It’s about time you woke up. You asked the alpha to remain at your side while you slept. That makes you an asshole. Just so we’re clear. Also, welcome back to the world of the living. I’m… glad…,” she paused as her brothers watched her. “I’m glad I didn’t have to watch these assholes mope around because you died.”

  “Thanks, Nyota.”

  “I’m Thurston!”

  “So you are, Thurston,” I laughed, turning to stare at Rhys. “I think I need a bath.”

  “You just had one… Oooo,” Nyx stated, inhaling the air before she tilted her head. “You just woke up! And you call me horny? Jesus.”

  “Someone get the doctor up here to check her out so we can get her that bath she’s itching to take,” Rhys stated, his lips twitching. I stared hungrily at him, watching his eyes smolder with the hunger to match mine. “Now,” he growled, moving to the bed as everyone watched us. Thurston jumped, and we turned as he sailed through the air toward the bed. Rhys lifted me quickly to prevent injury. He moved so fast that I hadn’t even known he had until I was in his arms, staring up at him with wide eyes. “Thurston, Remington needs rest. There’s a giant pool out back, why don’t you go swimming for a bit?”

  “Thurston, swim!”

  We laughed while watching Thurston excitedly leaving the room. Rhys placed me back onto the bed and sat beside me. He reached for my hand, and Nyota studied it, smiling before she hid it. Rhys adjusted the covers, fussing over me while the entire room watched in silence. He didn’t seem bothered by it, not even when the doctor entered and shooed everyone out but Rhys.

  32

  The doctor gave me a clean bill of health, and I’d tried to corner Cole for days without luck. I was pretty certain he was avoiding me, but Rhys denied it. Rhys, on the other hand, couldn’t get enough of me in his bed. He had demanded I remain with him, close by at night so he could guard me. Not that there was a threat against me anymore.

  If I were honest, I’d admit to myself that I enjoyed the feel of Rhys beside me. I would admit that his scent drove me to the edge of sanity and hung me on a cliff of bliss. I’d also say that being with him when he laughed or seduced me was mind-blowingly beautiful. I’d admit that I was falling for my enemy, but I wasn’t admitting that shit out loud. That was a double-sided blade that once you fell on, couldn’t be withdrawn from your heart.

  I watched Thurston dancing, clapping his hands while I followed his lead with his mother and father, both watching us. Thurston was simple. He wanted to dance without a care of who judged him. He didn’t mind that the world wasn’t black and white, or that we belonged in the edges of those colors in the grey area. What I wouldn’t give to feel his carefreeness with him. But I could feel that something was coming. Every day a grey cloud hung above us, threatening to let loose without mercy. We all felt it closing in around us.

  Tapping Thurston’s hand, I bowed and thanked him for the dance before heading toward Rhys, who had just entered the hall. The moment I got close to him, Van Helsing knights rushed into the hall, striding urgently toward him. My heart dropped as their words echoed in my ears the moment they reached him.

  “There’s a large force of Silversmiths outside the gates. They’re demanding you release Remington Silversmith, or they intend to ensure no one leaves this estate alive,” Luis said, turning worried eyes in my direction.

  “How many Silversmiths?” Rhys asked, turning to narrow his eyes on me as I slowly approached him.

  “If I had to guess? I’d say at least fifty or more,” Luis informed, standing back as Rhys watched me.

  “Henderson, close the armory so that they cannot access the silver within it. Alert those within the estate grounds to go inside their homes until I say otherwise. Once our people are all inside, let the Silversmiths through the gates. They won’t take Remington. She’s going to tell them she is staying here of her own accord.”

  “Why would I do that? I’d be cut off and disowned.”

  “Because if not, I will give the kill order and murder them all while you watch it happen. They’re unable to cast within the iron gates. The only silver here that they’d be able to wield is in my armory through reinforced iron and steel. The moment they enter my estate, they’re defenseless. Unless you wish to watch your family bleed on my grass, you’ll do what I say.”

  “You’re a bastard,” I swallowed, feeling my stomach tightening while flipping repeatedly.

  “I warned you that I wasn’t a good guy, Love. You assumed I was, and that is your mistake,” he growled, grabbing my arm while pulling me close against him. “Don’t do anything stupid, do you understand me?”

  “Clearly,” I hissed, struggling to get out of his hold.

  “Be a good girl, and I will let you ride my cock tonight.”

  “I don’t think that’s going to happen ever again, asshole,” I snapped, falling back the moment he released my arm without warning, watching as Luis moved to break my fall.

  “With me, Van Helsings, and Head of Houses. Let’s go welcome the House of the Fallen back from their graves, shall we?” Rhys snorted, holding his hand out for me to accept.

  I glared at it with hot tears burning my eyes. Rhys had no idea what he’d just done. For the last two months, everything had been smooth, and we’d lived happily, or as happily as enemies could. I’d allowed him to use me, to comfort me, and the first chance he got, he betrayed me.

  I guess it wasn’t an actual betrayal. He’d never pretended to be anything other than my sworn enemy. I’d just let my guard down and assumed something had changed between us. I thought that I could become more to him, and I’d been wrong.

  Rhys pulled me with him, marching toward the doorway which we exited together. He didn’t stop moving until we were on the gravel driveway. I could see my family through the gates, yet I couldn’t make out who was who at our current distance. I was surrounded by Van Helsings and the alphas. Doors closed, and runes glowed above the houses that lined the long winding road leading through the compound.

  The gates to the estate opened, and my heart clenched as cars slowly started to pull through. One by one, they moved up the long, hedge-covered driveway that led to the mansion. Hooded figures stepped out of the car and slowly moved toward us while managing to keep a safe distance.

  When enough of them were out of their cars, the first one spoke. “You will release my daughter, Rhys.” My mother shoved back her hood, and I smiled.

  “Mother,” I whispered.

  “Hello, Roslyn,” Rhys growled, and my eyes snapped to him, before settling back on my mom.

  “It’s been a long time, my knight. I’ve missed you. Have you missed me?”

  Nausea swirled through me, burning the back of my throat. “No,” I whispered through the tightening in my throat.

  My mother’s sapphire eyes moved to mine, glaring at me. “You should have stayed where you were, child. You’re such a disappointment.”

  My eyes slid to Winchester, who was looking between us in confusion. “You’re E
lizabeth.”

  “I was never as weak as my sister. I hear my whore daughter is fucking my knight,” she stated coldly, noting the tears slipping from my eyes. “Stop being so weak, Remington.”

  I felt like the world was spinning around me. Everything was off-kilter, and the malice dripping from my mother’s lips made me want to retch. Rhys shut down his emotions as everyone else around us whispered in low voices. Shock rushed through the crowd, and then fear entered it, which caused my mother to smile.

  “How could you?” I asked thickly.

  “How could I do what? Stop being weak like your father? And wipe away the tears, you stupid little bitch. Get in the car, Remington,” she hissed vehemently, turning to Rhys. “Did you enjoy fucking my daughter? Was she as good as I was for you, my love?”

  “She means nothing to me; less than nothing.” Rhys didn’t speak more than a few words, as if he were frozen and unable to understand what was happening. His eyes slid to mine, and in them I saw a deeply seated hatred.

  He looked at me like I was a stranger. Like I’d known my mother was Roslyn all along. I started to step closer to him to tell him he was wrong, but her hand shot out, landing against my cheek, jerking my head to the side as pain ripped through me.

  “You’re nothing to everyone who knows you, daughter. You’re less than nothing to me and my lover, Remington. You are my greatest failure. Imagine my surprise when I returned home to find you fucking my enemies like the little whore you are. I should have murdered you long ago. Just as I did the others who couldn’t prove useful,” she snarled.

  Winchester stepped closer, like she planned to intervene on my behalf. “Enough, Mother,” she hissed.

  “Stand back, Winchester, or you may join her!”

  “In what? In becoming alpha to your house?” I snapped, glaring at her.

  “You were never to become alpha to House of Silversmith, you stupid little bitch; that’s not your purpose. Did you honestly think I created you to become an alpha?” my mother laughed coldly, and when I moved, she slapped me again.