Chapter 14
Scotty
Slipping out of Ego’s bed just past sunup shouldn’t have been so hard. I’d had plenty of one-night stands where one or the other of us had bailed without a goodbye. This felt different.
Maybe because Sky had become one of my best friends, and I totally just fucked around with his brother.
Even worse, I’d started it. I didn’t know what had come over me.
I’d gone over, frustrated after sitting through dinner listening to Sky worry about his cousin—yet again—and knew that enough was enough.
I’d planned to reason with him—again—maybe yell at him, or beg him if necessary, but nowhere in setting my alarm and choosing to show up here in the middle of the night had part of my plan been to sex him into compliance.
For fuck’s sake, I was pretty sure I’d never talked another man into anything with my dick before.
I stared down at his pale face, completely relaxed in sleep in a way that he hadn’t been able to manage in his waking hours, and I sighed. My heart hurt for him in an unexpected way. I wasn’t lying to him when I told him I thought he was being a baby and that he needed to at least tell Sky.
But I did understand. His world had been thrown into chaos.
So many options had been taken away from him in one night without his consent, so I got it.
I also knew to the core of my soul that if he would get the support he needed and let Lysandro train him, he’d gain things that weren’t available to him as a human sound witch.
Resisting the urge to kiss his forehead in some kind of sweet goodbye—this had been sex fueled by anger, then desire, nothing more—I stood up and stared down at him one last time.
The stillness was disconcerting, reminding me of Stevie as he lay dead in my arms after taking the knife that was meant for me.
Enough.
I shook myself out and collected my clothes from where we’d left them littered across the floor.
Now that he’d agreed to tell Sky, he was no longer my problem.
It would be up to his cousin to wrangle him into submission for Lysandro to guide him.
He wouldn’t need me to be a part of the healing of his heart or the changes in the future now laid out for him.
It was best to…I laid my head against the wood of the front door, giving myself a minute to breathe.
It would be fine. I would be fine. It was time for me to go back to my studies, anyway.
Sneaking over here every night had been hard.
If it wasn’t for the fact that my brother and the rest of them thought I was still hanging out at the library, I wouldn’t have managed it.
Technically, I’d still been going there, but just long enough to return the thermos to Lysandro from the night before and let him replenish it before I drove out here to Ego. They wouldn’t need me for that anymore.
Shit. I needed to get out of here.
After driving back to the manor, I opened the front door and about jumped out of my skin to find several pairs of eyes staring at me expectantly.
“Uh. Hello.” My gaze roamed from Chance and Jetty to a disheveled Sky, who leaned into King, over to the stairs where Elyse sat between Marc’s legs, and Rosie sat two steps above them. “Um, good morning.”
“Yes, it is morning,” Harry said, popping into existence next to the banister. “And we have quite enough to worry about with Ego without having to worry about you, too, Master Scotty.”
“Seriously,” Sky said with a thickness that told me he was on the verge of tears. “Your brother is out at the pond with Trixie, almost as distraught by you shutting him out as I feel about Ego icing me out of his life.”
“Shit,” I mumbled.
“Shit indeed,” Harry said, startling me. The historic ghost rarely succumbed to cursing. “Why don’t you all join me in the kitchen so we can talk. Buck’s gone to get Stevie.”
I swallowed past the lump in my throat when no one moved, all eyes focused on me.
Some with concern, others accusatory. It was a good thing Ego had given me permission to reveal his truth or I had no idea how I’d have gotten out of this.
Figuring that they were all waiting on me, I made the trek to the kitchen, letting them follow behind.
Once we got there, Chance pointed at the seat at the head of the table. For the first time since I woke up this morning, I really wanted to tell Ego off. It was so unfair that I was in trouble because I’d been protecting his secret.
Everyone sat quietly around the table, still staring at me, so I focused on the sugar bowl to avoid meeting anyone’s gaze. Harry hustled about the kitchen, setting everyone’s favorite beverage in front of them, along with fresh-baked pecan rolls, a fruit salad, and a platter of bacon.
Just as he finished distributing small plates to each of us, Buck appeared near the stove, and Stevie and Trixie faded in next to the door leading from the kitchen to outside. My gaze moved quickly to my brother, but he stared at the floor, looking lost and dejected.
“This is all Ego’s fault,” I mumbled.
Sky gasped. “What? What about Ego? Have you talked to him?”
Okay, that wasn’t the way I planned to broach this topic. I cleared my throat. “Actually—”
“Food first,” Harry said.
“But—”
“No,” Chance said, interrupting Sky’s protest. “Scotty’s just getting home, and I imagine he’s hungry.”
“Must be nice.” Sky crossed his arms over his chest. “I haven’t had an appetite in weeks. You know, since my cousin fell off the face of the Earth.”
“Sweetheart,” King said, wrapping his arms across his boyfriend’s shoulders. “You’re being a little—”
Sky’s finger shot up in the air. “Don’t you dare tell me I’m being dramatic.
You don’t know…” His voice trailed off, then he cleared his throat.
“Ego’s story isn’t mine to tell, but he’s been through a lot.
And so much of it’s bad…like really, really awful.
And no matter what, he’s kept in touch with me.
“When we were both too busy to chat, I could always see what he was up to on YouTube, but he’s gone there, too.
Do you know how scared I am? My cousin’s like a YouTube fiend.
I’ve teased him a million times that he needs to seek help for his addiction, and all of a sudden…
nothing. It’s been months. Something’s—”
“He’s at his mini-castle,” I said quickly. “He’s been home almost a month.”
“What?” Sky shrieked. “Why didn’t he tell me? How do you know? What the actual fuck is going on?”
I’d known since before I’d fallen asleep last night what today would hold, but doing it was harder than I imagined. Deciding to rip the band-aid off, I gazed slowly around the room, meeting every eye, then said, “Ego’s a vampire.”
Telling them had gone about like I expected.
Which is to say, there was shock, disbelief, outrage, grief, and then silent acceptance.
No one else had been as psyched as me, which was either because they’d already known vampires were real or I was just a total dick. Hopefully, it was a little of both.
Maybe.
Okay, there was a possibility I should’ve given Ego a little more grace for his reaction. Although, in my own defense, I would go nuclear if I ever came across the piece of shit vampire who turned him. The lack of consent and abandonment were both equally disgusting, and he needed to pay.
It was just after sunset now, and Lysandro arrived earlier to feed Ego before we came.
I’d heard the relief in the old vamp’s voice when I’d called to inform him that Ego had given me permission to tell his people about the change.
He’d promised to come, let Ego know, and keep him calm until we arrived.
Sky hovered over me as I entered the code into the keypad. He choked back a sob, and I paused with my hand on the door handle. “What’s wrong?”
“He used a combination of our birthdays for the code.”
King tightened his grip on his boyfriend’s shoulders and kissed the top of his head. “See, we all told you he still loves you.”
Sky’s eyes glimmered with tears, so I turned away quickly. Ego’s situation sucked in so many ways, but I was happy that he and Sky had each other. From all I’d picked up, neither one of their parents were worthy of the title, but they weren’t alone.
I wasn’t alone either since we’d come to Willowhope, and Stevie had appeared to me.
I guessed technically, I’d never been alone.
His spirit had been following me since the minute he’d passed away, but I hadn’t known it.
And even now, with the revelation of how different our existences were now with me still breathing and him dead, I keenly felt the loss of a blood relative, but…
I blew out a breath. This wasn’t about me. If I wanted to lay in bed and feel sorry for myself later, I could, but first, I needed to finish the handoff and put Ego into Sky’s care.
As I led Sky and King across the vestibule to the room Ego essentially spent all his waking hours in, I was a little surprised at how slowly Sky was following me. Vampire hearing was extremely keen, but I wasn’t sure Sky realized that, so I went back and whispered, “What’s wrong?” in his ear.
“Are you…are you sure he wants me here? I don’t…” He wrung his hands together in front of him.
Lysandro blurred into the room and smiled kindly at Sky. “He’s nervous about your visit, but he was more scared you wouldn’t show.”
Sky’s eyes widened, and a look of fierce determination settled on his face. He pulled away from King and stormed into the other room. “Why in the hell wouldn’t I come?” he yelled at his cousin.
King snorted, clearly amused, but I was not amused. At all. I’d explained what a big deal it had been for me to reveal Ego’s secret to them. Sky couldn’t just go around yelling at him. I didn’t care if they were family.