Realizing that a Silversmith witch was helping a Van Helsing, I pushed off my hood and redirected my aim. Exhaling, I released the arrow the moment she let loose her bullets for a direct kill shot. The arrow sailed through the air, slamming into the line of ammunition, moving faster than immortals could see. She gasped, and I smirked, noting her wide-eyed look of horror at missing.
Slowly, I reached behind for another arrow, nocking it before moving to stand beside the opposing men, all of whom watched me through narrow-eyed stares.
“Cease, and stand down,” I ordered, staring at the silver-haired woman. “On the order of those who hold authority over you, stand down now.”
She had fake silver hair, I realized, dyed to fit her role.
She wasn’t full-blooded, which meant silver hair wouldn’t come naturally for her until she was old enough to have it from aging. All but one of our direct bloodline had silver hair, and that was my awkward ass.
“You don’t order me around, sweetheart,” she hissed vehemently.
“I won’t ask you twice,” I warned.
“Only a Silversmith can give me orders. I have orders to assist the Van Helsing in taking the houses of this region!”
“On whose orders?” I countered.
“I don’t answer to you!”
“Nor I to you,” I smiled cruelly. “I asked you to stand down. If you insist, I will end your life.” Her hands lifted in the air, and I observed as silver magic slithered through her.
Narrowing my gaze, I watched the silver lines etching against her flesh as her power erupted in the parking lot. The man next to her was ancient, that much I could feel from the power he radiated. He had dark hair and tattoos covering his arms from wrist to shoulder, with an upside-down cross beneath his left eye.
“She’s a Silversmith,” the man beside me growled, and I turned, my jaw hitting the ground as he came into sight.
He was wearing a suit and held blades in his hands. Dark, inky hair stuck to his face, covered in sweat from fighting. Azure eyes narrowed on me while my gaze slowly lowered to his chest, which his suit hugged tightly, exposing a long, lean, muscular frame.
Magic exploded toward us, and I turned, lifting my bow that I hadn’t realized I’d lowered while I eye-raped the male beside me. My magic erupted without thought, turning my eyes silver as my veins filled with it, pulling the bullets toward me, absorbing them into my body. The woman’s mouth opened and closed, realizing her mistake too late. My fingers released the string, watching as the arrow shot through her open mouth, shattering her silver until it looked like glass raining down on the ground as she crumbled.
“What the fuck is happening?” someone asked, and I turned toward the Van Helsing that stood across from us, smiling as my silver magic reflected in his eyes.
“Pretty,” he said huskily.
“Did a Silversmith just kill another Silversmith? How are there two in the same town, when a week ago we couldn’t even find one?” the voice asked again.
I ignored the men behind me, watching the Van Helsing as he calculated his chances of reaching me before I could react. I lifted my hands, and he stepped back, feeling the undead closing in around him.
The silent monsters hidden within the shadows preparing to attack finally lunged, and I slipped away from the men next to me, offering them a coy smile. I stepped into the opening of the parking lot to fight. Not that I needed much room, but my silver was faster than normal Silversmith silver. I called the silver bullets that the fallen woman had wielded, using them to create a moving shield around me, smiling cruelly while they pelted into the undead that lunged toward me, unable to see the movement of the bullets with the speed in which they moved.
I stared at the Van Helsing, who watched me, lowering his head with a sinfully wicked smirk on his lips as he continued backing away, turning to vanish into the woods. He’d left his undead warriors to die, and that pissed me off since he’d brought them here to fight on his behalf, abandoning them to my bullets.
Exhaustion hit me without warning, and the bullets dropped to the ground, clinking on the pavement. I yelped out in surprise as a vampire lunged, and my hands lifted. I caught him by the shoulders and held his snapping fangs away from me until something sliced through his neck, severing his head from his shoulders. Turning, I found the men standing in the same place as before, as a singsong voice entered my mind.
Chapter Three
“So, just going to look around, hmm?” Nyx snorted, wiping her blade on a vampire’s clothes, which had turned into a pile of ashes. “Did you find him?” she continued, staring up at me, narrowing her eyes. Her dark head turned, and she moved her attention to the men in front of us.
Warning bells were playing in my head as I took in the tallest male. Sinfully blue eyes smiled as if he sensed how weak I was in my current state. He took a step closer, and my heart thundered against my chest.
“We need to go,” I whispered, turning to run away only to trip over my own feet, landing on my face on the concrete.
“That is an actual blood-heir Silversmith,” he chuckled.
Nyx gripped my arms, pulling me up as we started forward. “You were supposed to be the rescue squad!” I groaned, hating that the curse had come on so fast.
We tripped at the beginning of the woods, and male laughter sounded behind us. At least we weren’t being chased by the Van Helsing. It was a small blessing, but I’d take it as a win.
Nyx pulled me back up to my feet, and we continued through the woods. But it was futile, considering my curse was pretty much a giant ‘fuck you’ from the Van Helsings. Every time a Silversmith wielded their power against anyone, it backfired and made us weak and extremely accident-prone for hours afterward.
I slipped on the top of a hill, catching a branch as I went over an edge. Someone plucked Nyx from the air before she could fall over the ledge with me. I peered up at the male holding my wrist, noting his bedroom eyes smiling down at me like he’d just captured a rare prize. My eyes left his to look down at the jagged rocks below as he pulled me up, bringing my body flush against his, then pinching my chin, angling my face toward him, studying me.
“Silversmith, it seems your curse was activated,” he murmured, turning my face from one side to the other as he examined me. “You don’t look like a Silversmith.” His fingers ran through my hair, pulling a strand against his nose as I frowned.
“You planning to eat me?” I questioned pointedly while he sniffed me.
“Mommy wants some. Shit, I’ll take them all on right now,” Nyx murmured dreamily, causing my head to turn in her direction. I groaned at the look of utter devotion stamped on her face.
“You were supposed to be the rescue squad, bitch,” I grunted, and the male smiled down at me as another took my weapons.
“Hey, I came here right from the airport. I was all for playing Captain Save-A-Hoe! I told you to stay away from the Van Helsing, but no, badass Remi has to go check shit out and find him first. I hope you learned everything about him, down to his penis size!”
“Why would I want to know that?” I muttered, dragging my hand down my face. I turned my attention back to the male hanging on our every word. “Who the hell are you?”
“Rhys. Rhys Van Helsing.”