Chapter 2
Ego
Noise.
So much noise. The trickle of—no. Wait. Pain. Pain lancing through my head. My body. It hurts. My neck is stiff.
No. Wait. Is that blood? No, my blood?
The swishing of the wind. Why did I hear the swishing of the wind? No, no, no. Not wind. Blood. A pounding heart.
Confusion. I was so confused.
What is that?
I jerked up in bed. My room was dark, the blinds pulled. My mouth tasted like…I smacked my lips, my tongue sticking against the roof of my mouth. My mouth tasted like… copper?
Taking a deep breath, then exhaling, I sat up and rubbed my eyes.
The pounding at the door became a distant background noise as my fractured thoughts pieced themselves together. I went out last night. Where did I go? To the balcony.
My gaze shot to the closed doors where the long curtains were pulled tightly across the glass. I didn’t remember…
Pain. So much pain. There was someone there. Someone in the shadows. They…no, he…
My hand shot to my neck, rubbing the area where—yes, yes. I remembered now. He sank his teeth into my neck. Images of blood trickling, trickling, trickling into my mouth.
Hunger.
So much hunger.
Then darkness.
My door banged open, startling me. Who was that? Where was I?
“Ego! Why the hell haven’t you answered your phone? Where the hell have you been?”
Delaney. It was Delaney, my manager and assistant, my friend. We were on tour. This was my hotel room. Okay…but…
“What?” I stared at her in confusion, throwing my arm over my eyes in pain as she flicked on the overhead light. I hissed, the sound tearing through my teeth.
“Shit,” Delaney mumbled.
I knew she said it low, but that quiet whisper reverberated in my mind like she’d shouted at me.
She flicked the light back off and rushed to my bedside. “Oh, Ego.”
Dropping my arm, I blinked up at her. “Delaney, what’s happening?”
She shook her head. “Lay back down.” She said it almost tenderly.
We had an amazing relationship. Outside of my best friend and cousin, Skyler, she was the person I was closest to in the whole world.
But she was a tough-as-nails businesswoman, not usually so gentle and kind when she spoke.
Once I rose in fame, she’d let go of her other clients, focused on me, and became my Girl-Friday because she didn’t think anyone else was up to the task.
She’d said managing my career was easy compared to managing me.
With a huff, she stroked the hair that had fallen onto my forehead back, tucking it behind my ear. “Come on, Ego. Lay down.”
Swallowing, I nodded. “Okay. Yeah. Okay.”
Lying back, I snuggled under the covers as she drew them up over me.
“Are you hungry? Do you need to feed?” she asked.
Well, feed was a curious word choice, but this wasn’t a normal morning, was it? Checking in with my body, I felt…satisfied. That made no sense. I hadn’t eaten since last night. I always woke up starving or, at the very least, craving caffeine, but I felt…fine.
“Delaney, why did you ask if I need to feed? What does that mean? Nothing’s making sense.” Horrified, I sat up again. “What time is it?”
She patted my cheek. “It’s five thirty. The sun went down a few minutes ago, which explains why you didn’t hear me knocking at first.”
Then she pushed me back, and I settled against the pillow.
“But I had an interview tod—”
She held up a hand, cutting me off. “Don’t worry. I covered for you. I’ll have to rearrange your schedule from here on out.”
“Why?”
She smiled sadly. “I’m afraid your days in the sunshine are over.”
“What does that even mean?”
“Oh, Ego.”
I woke again from the sound of the door opening and closing softly behind it. I hadn’t really been asleep, just resting, trying to retrieve all the fractured memories from last night.
“It’s a good thing you didn’t have a concert tonight,” Delaney said. “But you have one tomorrow, so we need to get you sorted.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
She smiled brightly, but it was fake. “I know you don’t. But I’m going to explain it all to you.” She sat at the end of the bed.
That’s what she’d promised before she’d rushed out of here earlier, after her ominous your days in the sun are over.
“Ego, I hate to tell you this, but you’ve been turned.”
Affronted, I reared my head back. “Turned? What does that even mean? Turned into what? Did something happen? Did I get dragged on social media or something?”
Delaney rolled her eyes. “This has nothing to do with your career, my boy. I’m saying that a vampire changed you.”
My brain scrambled, trying to make sense of her words.
I knew there were vampires. I’d met one back in Willowhope, and he was pretty much the sweetest guy ever.
But I’d never told Delaney that. I’d never told her anything.
She didn’t know about the paranormal—that I was a witch, and I sure as hell hadn’t told her about vampires. She’d have thought I was off my rocker.
She reached forward and grabbed my hands, clasping them between hers. “What I’m about to tell you is going to sound unbelievable. Fantastical, even. But the truth of the matter is, the supernatural exists. Paranormal beings walk this plane.”
I narrowed my eyes at her.
“I know you don’t believe me,” she hastened to add. “But it’s true.”
“But how do you know? It’s a secret,” I said. “I’m not supposed to talk to anybody about magic or witches or vampires or anything.”
This time, her eyes narrowed at me. “Since when do you believe in all of those things?”
I averted my gaze. “I…”
“Ego,” she said sharply. “It’s very important right now that we’re on the same page. I need to know what you know.”
“So, it just so happens that…mmm, remember how I told you about my cousin, Skyler? The one who lives in Willowhope?”
She gave a sharp nod. “The reason you bought that absurd mini-castle in that small town on the Jersey Shore?”
I nodded briskly. “Exactly. It just so happens that, well, I’m not really supposed to say.”
Delaney stood abruptly, planting her hands on her hips. “Ego, you’re a motherfuckin’ vampire. At this point, you can’t hide anything from me.”
A vampire? How the hell could I be a vampire? I was a sound witch. I just found out that I was a sound witch, and now this? It didn’t make any sense.
I shook my head furiously from side to side. “No, no, no. How is that possible?”
Delaney sank down on the mattress next to me. “I’m so sorry, Ego. This is the reality of the situation, and I can’t help you if you don’t tell me everything you already know.”
My gaze snapped to hers. “Why aren’t you freaking out? How do you know vampires are real?”
Delaney sucked in a deep breath. “There’s something I should probably tell you.”
“What?”
She licked her lips, hesitating.
Grabbing her hands, I persisted. “What is it? Tell me.”
Delaney’s eyes widened, and her face contorted with pain. Yanking her hands from mine, she said, “Easy there, buddy. You’re stronger than you used to be.”
Dropping my gaze from hers, I stared at my hands. They looked the same.
Delaney cleared her throat. “The truth is, I’m a fae.”
I stared at her. Blinked. Then stared some more. A fae? What the fuck was she on about? No one had ever said anything about fae. Vampires and shifters, yes, but not fae. Gran would’ve told me. She was a High Priestess.
After several minutes, Delaney tilted her head. “Ego?”
I swallowed thickly. “This can’t be happening.”
“I know this all seems…” She trailed off.
“Before Willowhope, the world was ordinary. I thought there was more to it than met the eye, but everything made sense. The next thing you know, my cousin’s a tether-witch, his best friend’s a green witch and psychic medium, I’m a sound witch, the manor has ghost butlers, my biggest fan has been dead for years, and I met the coolest vampire ever. ”
My body started to shake.
“But that thing, that man from last night, there was nothing cool about him. He was pure evil.” Turning accusing eyes on Delaney, I said, “And now my longest friend, the person who runs my career, and I trust for everything, tells me she’s a—”
Delaney’s face blanched as my volume rose. “I know, I’m sorry. But people—humans—aren’t supposed to know about our world. I had no idea you knew, but you’ve been so different since you returned from that small town.” She shook her head. “But I should’ve known anyway.”
“You should’ve known what?”
Her lips tilted in a slight smile. “That you were a sound witch, of course. Your music, your voice—it’s so beautiful and transformative. It speaks to people’s souls.”
My pleasure at her words evaporated as the menacing figure from last night flashed through my mind. The way he sank his teeth into my neck. That man—that thing—had taken my life and left me… I didn’t even know how he left me.
Scarred.
Damaged.
No longer a sound witch, but a vampire.
Suddenly, my body grew weak. I felt dizzy.
“Delaney, something’s wrong.”
She clapped her hands on her thighs and stood with an abruptness I was used to from her. “I know. Let me fix you up.”
She strode to the kitchen area, and I heard her sharp, concise moments before she returned with a gold goblet nestled between her hands.
“Drink this. It’ll help.”
Delaney had been forcing water, protein drinks, and energy boosters down my throat for years, so I took it without hesitation.
Putting my mouth to the rim of the unusual glass, I took a sip. A coppery, tangy taste flooded my mouth. It was disgusting.
Before I asked if she was trying to poison me, a hunger like nothing I’d ever felt seized me, and I brought the vessel back to my lips and guzzled down the gross, thick liquid within.
Delaney watched approvingly, but I saw a hint of sadness.
As soon as I was done, the goblet slipped from my hands, bouncing off my body and onto the floor.
“What was that?” I asked softly.
“A special blend.”
Squeezing my eyes shut tightly, I asked, “A blend of what?”
She hesitated.
“Tell me, Delaney. The truth.”
“I mixed blood with that fruity sangria you like, to try and help with the taste.”
“So it’s true? This isn’t some weird hallucination. I’m not having a nightmare?”
Delaney shook her head. “I’m so sorry, Ego.”
“Delaney, are you sure about this?”
She stood back, appraising my appearance.
I looked like the same old Ego that the fans expected, except she’d had to run out and get me theatrical foundation and other stage make-up to get me back to my normal appearance.
Staring at my reflection and seeing how pasty white I was had come as quite a shock.
Seeing myself looking back at me at all had come as a happy surprise since I wasn’t sure I’d still have a reflection.
According to Delaney, that was a myth, which was a good thing because not being able to see myself? You might as well kill me. Again.
“You look great.”
“And you’re sure I won’t—” I swallowed past the lump in my throat. “You’re sure I won’t hurt anybody?”
After my first drink from the goblet last night, my hunger had grown insatiable. Delaney had stayed with me, whipping up her special blend every couple of hours.
“No, you’re going to be fine.”
She reached out and touched the oxidized, Byzantine silver chain she’d hung around my throat. She tapped the black tourmaline amulet that hung in the center.
“This is strong fae magic. It’ll keep you nose-blind. You won’t be able to smell the blood pumping through the veins of the musicians on stage or the audience.”
“But what if I get hungry?”
It felt so weird not to say thirsty when it came to drinking, but what I felt went beyond simple thirst. It felt like my insides were trying to eat me from within as the need for blood hit me over and over again.
“I have a couple of water bottles filled with the mix and ready to go. You’ll take them out on stage with you, and every time the hunger hits, take a drink.”
She gripped my shoulders.
“Ego, it’s important that you take long drinks as often as possible. Just because you’re on stage and wearing the amulet doesn’t mean that the insatiable need won’t be building when you’re distracted while performing.”
“I feel like a baby. Isn’t it newborns who have to eat every few hours?”
Delaney snorted. “Does that make me your mama?”
We both went, “Ew,” at the same time.
She stepped in and wrapped me in a hug. I appreciated it, but it also freaked me out. If there was one thing Delaney wasn’t known for, it was coddling me. “Don’t worry about anything. Dean is going to stay with you at all times.”
That was good. I’d always felt safest with Dean, my head of security. A lot of the other guys found him a little too stoic, but I thought his grumpiness was part of his charm. Unless… “Is he… something paranormal?”
“No, but he’s trustworthy and loyal. He’s too professional to ask questions about your behavior shifting, and he’s too practical to get suspicious that it’s anything otherworldly. He’ll just keep his head down and do his job.”
I blew out a breath—a habit I’d come to realize I didn’t actually need to do anymore—and nodded. “Okay. I’m ready to do this.”
A knock sounded on the door, and Dean’s deep, raspy voice asked, “You ready, boss?”
Delaney reached out and cupped my face between her hands. “You don’t have to do this, Ego. We can cancel the rest of the tour and get you home.”
I gave one sharp shake of my head. “No. As long as I can sing, I’m not going to disappoint my fans. They’re all I have left.”