Chapter 28 Ego
Ego
Applause thundered throughout the convention center. I’d already done two encores, so I threw my hands up in a V and shouted, “Thank you all. We love you and goodnight.”
Delaney waited for me right off the stage with a towel and a water bottle. Ignoring the offerings in her outstretched hands, I picked her up and swung her around.
“Eww, gross, Ego. Put me down. You’re disgusting!”
Laughing, I put her back down, making sure she was stable on her feet. “Did you see that?”
Her frown turned upside down in an instant as her eyes sparkled. “Of course, I did. You’ve been on fire since you got back from that nowhere beach town. Must be something in the water. Or…” She waggled her eyebrows.
“What?” I asked, swiping my face with the towel. I drained the water bottle as we headed for my dressing room, stopping for backslapping hugs with my musicians and high-fiving anyone I didn’t know for their great work helping make tonight’s show another success.
Once we were safely behind the closed door, I prompted, “Sooo…”
She smirked and leaned against the wall. “I don’t know. It feels like maybe you’re holding out on me.”
“How?” I asked, peeling my wet clothes off and dropping them on the ground.
I’d never been body shy, but I especially wasn’t in front of Delaney.
We’d never had sex or anything because yuck.
She was like an older sister, but she’d been with me since the beginning.
I’d been fortunate that she’d recognized my talent, taken me on as a client, and then stayed with me for this ride. But that meant she got all of me.
“Ego. Tell me the truth. Have you met someone?”
Dirty blond hair and big blue, accusatory eyes flashed in my mind, but Scotty wasn’t even remotely on the table.
For whatever reason, the guy hated me. Well, after helping my cousin, I might have worked my way up from him hating me to merely detesting me, but that wasn’t exactly a promising start to something more.
However…maybe I had met someone. “I think I met me, D. It feels like I finally have an idea of who I am, and maybe I’ll find some purpose in that.”
Her face softened. “Buying that place near your cousin really was a smart decision for you. I doubted it, but…I can’t deny that you’re happier than I’ve ever seen you.”
“Thank you, love.” I tried pulling her into a hug, but she pushed my chest, laughing. “Good grief, Ego. Put your junk away.”
Cracking up, I backed away. “You’re such a prude,” I teased, winking at her.
“Get in the shower. Your fans await.”
After my meet-n-greet, I went back to the hotel room and let one of my bodyguards safely deposit me in my room.
It had been a long day. It was another awesome one, but I was really missing the little family I’d started becoming a part of back in Willowhope.
It might be less lonely if I could talk to ghosts or practice this whole sound magic thing, but the show must go on.
I’d missed Christmas in Willowhope, and I promised myself that my schedule from now on would let me be with Sky and his whole Scooby Doo crew of friends from now on.
It was too late to even FaceTime my cousin, so I headed out to the balcony, letting my imagination wander about where he might be tonight in the Dream-veil.
Walking to the railing, I leaned against it, inhaling the chilly night air, and let myself just be.
For the first time in as long as I could remember, I had hope, and I needed to enjoy it.
“Finally,” a voice said from somewhere behind me. I spun around, but I was alone.
Geeking out that maybe a spirit had found a way to reach out to me so I could hear them, I said, “Hello. Are you there?”
A figure fell from above, landing firmly on their feet in front of me. “I’ve been watching you,” was the last thing I heard as the man jerked my body forward, sank his teeth into my neck, and red-hot pain lanced through my neck before I passed out.
Thank you for reading this installment of King & Sky’s journey.
I hope you return to Willowhope in the next book in The Dreamwalkers series, Ego’s Guide to Love Bites & Vampires.