Page 8 of Her Silent Knight

“Witch...”

“You’re not going to die. You’ve done that already, vampire. Drive.”

A deep chuckle was his only response. Seconds later, they were off. Wind whipped against them as they sped in the direction of the place she called home, for now. It wasn’t that far away.

Within walking distance, just through the frozen forests. They made it there within five minutes. Well, they made it close. The wards she had on the trees closest to her cottage kept Rhen and his guys from coming any further.

Rhen glanced over his shoulder. “You’ll have to remove your wards so that I can bring him in.”

Sin bit her lower lip. It wasn’t like Rhen had never been on her land before. He’d even been inside her cottage. Still, having him in her place was always a risk she was nervous to take.

“You know you can trust me,” he told her. “I won’t hurt you. I joke around a lot. But I won’t do anything to hurt you or break our deal.”

“Unless you run out of blood.”

“There’s always someone to bite around here.”

“I’m just a last resort, huh?”

“Don’t think like that.”

“It’s the truth. You won’t hurt me, as long as there are other options. But if there’s ever a shortage, if you ever run out of food, you won’t hesitate to come for me. I know this. You know this. Your crew knows this.”

Rhen sighed. “I’ve been here for over a hundred years. There’s never been a shortage. Not for those of us who know how to hunt. You have nothing to worry about. Remove the wards, I’ll bring him in and collect my payment.”

“No biting.”

“I have the needle and syringe in my pocket.”

“Sterile.”

“Yes, witch. Hurry, before he wakes up.”

“He won’t wake up until I tell him to.” Or until the spell wears off. Her magic was a little wonky on this plane. It didn’t always do exactly what she told it to.

“Damn, you’re that powerful?” Rhen asked as she climbed off his ride and pulled the helmet off her head.

Handing him his helmet, she told him, “Yes, I’m that powerful.”

No matter how iffy her magic was, she needed the creatures here to believe she was the baddest witch on this plane. On her good days, she was. The look they exchanged was intense. She refused to look away first.

“Warning heard loud and clear,” he told her before bowing his head.

“Good. Only you can come in.” That said, she walked away. She moved slowly, not wanting to slip down on the ice. It was supposed to snow again in the morning. She needed to reactivate her wards before they got covered up in fresh snow.

“Careful,” Rhen called out. “I don’t want my future vampire bride to break one of her sexy legs.”

Sin stuck the middle finger up and kept walking. Rhen’s laughter blended with the laughter of his crew. Sin found herself smiling also as she trekked across the ice-covered terrain.

Though she’d never give in to temptation, she had to admit that Rhen was sexy as hell. And he had a body to die for. She’d seen it once when he’d been wounded and came to her for help. She’d had to remove his shirt to examine the wound.

Abs for days. No, years. Abs for decades. He liked to joke a lot, she knew there was another side to him. A darker side. A side she hoped to never see. Though he liked to clown around a lot, that wasn’t all he was.

Whenever he wasn’t joking, whenever he thought no one was looking, there was a strange look that came over his face. It sent chills down Sin’s spine and fear into her heart. Yeah, she never wanted to see that side of Rhen.

She nearly slipped on the rocks that littered the ground outside her gate. They were covered in ice. Sin sidestepped them. On days they weren’t covered in ice, she liked to hop from one rock to the next when she made her way home.

When she neared the gate that surrounded her small cottage, she raised her hands out to her sides. Eyes closed, she continued walking forward. The locked gate door sensed her presence and opened.