Chapter 16
Scotty
I had no idea why I was here. Ego didn’t need me; he had Sky now. Sky had told me I was off Ego duty forevermore. That he’d deal with his ridiculous—his word, not mine—cousin. Yet, here I was.
It wasn’t like I didn’t have my own things to do.
After dropping the vampire revelation at the manor yesterday, Stevie had been as fixated on that as everyone else, so we never got a chance to chat.
I wasn’t sure if he still felt neglected after finding out where I’d been, but I really needed to reassure him.
I’d gone out to the pond this afternoon to speak with him before I had to check in guests, but one of the older ghosts had been in the middle of a tale about the Wild, Wild West—which he’d apparently been alive for.
Stevie had sat riveted, and I didn’t want to interrupt. Honestly, once I’d joined them, I’d been pretty into his story, too, and I’d missed check-in. Luckily, our teenager, Archie, had come in, and he’d handled the whole process on his own just fine.
Feeling stir-crazy and knowing I needed to get back on track studying for the GED, I headed to the library.
When Sky had been at the manor for yoga, he’d assured me he’d be taking care of Ego tonight, so I’d expected to see my favorite librarian when I got there.
Instead, I’d found Benji, who’d told me that Lysandro planned on spending some time training Ego tonight.
I’d tried to study for the English portion of my test, I really had, but I’d felt an irresistible pull toward the mini-castle. I tried to ignore it, going so far as popping headphones in and blaring music, but my attention was shot, and I couldn’t get past the feeling of needing to be here.
Unsure how to even justify it, I’d stopped back by the manor and ran up to my room to grab a gift I’d ordered for Ego online. It was just a silly little thing that he probably wouldn’t even care about, but it was better than showing up empty-handed like anyone was supposed to care I was here.
Reaching the front door, I hesitated. Did I ring the doorbell or put in the code? No one expected me, so it seemed a little presumptuous to just walk in, but would it be weirder for me to act like I didn’t know the code when I’d been using it for weeks?
Ugh. Why was adulting so hard? I didn’t have one clue what to do, but my problem was solved for me when the door was yanked open, with a smiling Ego standing on the other side. “You’re here,” he said brightly.
“Uh, yeah. I hope that’s okay.”
“It’s wonderful,” he said, a huge smile plastered on his face
“I’m not going to lie, but you’re kinda freaking me out,” I told him. “I haven’t seen you this happy since…”
He threw his head back, laughing with what sounded like pure joy, and uh, yeah. Something was not right here. “Are you okay?” I asked, reaching for his forehead. I didn’t know what I expected to find besides his normal cold-to-the-touch skin, but I couldn’t think of what else to do.
“Come in.” He grabbed my hand off his forehead and tugged me into the other room so fast that I’m pretty sure I went airborne.
“Ego, I’m not a kite,” I yelled.
He stopped abruptly by his spot on the couch, dropped down, and pulled me into his lap, wrapping his arms around my middle.
“Ego,” I hissed, trying to push his arms off of me.
The baby vamp only clutched me tighter. “Sorry, I just missed you, and I didn’t think you were coming over, and I didn’t know what to do.” He rested his forehead against my shoulder blades. “Look, Lysandro. Scotty came. Isn’t this the greatest night ever?”
“What’s happening?” Sky whispered as I stared helplessly at him.
“I’m not really sure,” I mumbled back, pushing on Ego’s forearms. “Ego. Can you maybe let me go sit in my seat?”
He went still as a statue, then hissed out, “Nooo,” like he’d kill someone if they dared to separate us.
“What the actual fuck?” Sky asked, while digging out his phone. I thought maybe he was calling King or one of the witches for help, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. He was recording.
“Sky!” I yelled.
“What?” he asked with a goofy smile. “It’s like he’s high all of a sudden. This is awesome.”
I whipped my head toward Lysandro. “What’s happening?”
Instead of looking as perplexed as I felt, he appeared to know exactly what was going on with Ego. “I believe that the fledgling has found his anchor.”
“His what?” I shrieked. “Ego, let me go.”
He sighed, finally loosening his arms just enough for me to wiggle out of them and half-fall off his lap and onto the floor. But with his vampire speed, he caught me before my butt hit the floor. When he picked me up in a bridal carry, I glared at him. “Put me in the wingback, Ego. Right now.”
He frowned. “But—”
“Now,” I demanded. He set me down, then stood over me like a sullen child. “Go. Sit.”
He huffed. “Fine.”
As I turned back to Lysandro, I noticed that Sky was still recording his cousin. “Why are you doing that?”
“Because,” he said with a grin, finally turning off his phone. “When he’s back in his right mind, I’m going to torture him with that video.” He cackled. “I’ve never seen him act like that in my life.”
Ego’s brows crinkled, and I saw the beginning of a frown creeping onto his face. This wasn’t good. If Ego didn’t know why he was like that either, it would be another thing that would freak him out.
“Lysandro, what’s an anchor?”
The old vamp pointed a finger at me. “You. You, dear Scotty, are Ego’s anchor.” He hummed. “I really should’ve known.” He shrugged. “But alas, I wasn’t fortunate enough to have found mine during my infancy.”
“Your what? Like when you were a baby?” Sky asked before I could.
Lysandro flicked his hand in a flit. Or flitted his hand in a flick. He really was an expressive old dude. “Sorry, sorry. I meant my first twenty years as a vampire.”
“So your kind are in their infancy for the first twenty years after they’re turned?” Ego asked.
“Our kind, yes,” Lysandro agreed with a nod.
Now, normally, I was vampire and shifter obsessed.
I’d looked forward to finding out all the vampiric shit once I knew I had a source, but I didn’t like being called something I’d never even heard of, and how could I be Ego’s anything?
Wouldn’t it make more sense if Sky was his anchor?
They were related. I mean, he was already a tether. What was one more thing, right?
“And an anchor is?” I asked.
Lysandro sat in the other wingback, crossing one knee over the other, and clasped his hands in his lap. “Well, an anchor helps a newly-turned vampire keep hold of his humanity while he’s learning to control his nature.”
“Which means what exactly?” Sky asked, sounding fascinated when all I felt was petrified.
“An anchor has the ability to keep the fledgling from falling into blood lust or hurting someone—including himself. He can soothe where no one else can.” He grinned impishly.
“Without ever having to worry that the fledgling will rip his anchor’s throat out.
It’s impossible for a vampire to hurt his anchor in any way. ”
“Sounds kind of like a fated mate,” Sky said, gaze darting between me and Ego, likely trying to discern how we felt about this.
My own concerns were subsiding as my fear for Ego grew. He’d gone still as a statue, that way that usually foretold a depressive meltdown or a vampy rage. I knew he’d be mortified to do either of those in front of Skylar. I wasn’t sure how exactly I knew that, but I did.
Lysandro tilted his head back and forth. “It’s kind of like fated mates, yes.”
“So we’re, like, destined to be together?” I asked hoarsely.
Ego’s gaze shot to mine. “No,” he growled. “Absolutely not.” Feeling slightly offended, my hackles rose until he continued. “I’m not subjugating Scotty to this hell. He didn’t sign up to live in this prison, and I won’t make him.”
“You didn’t sign up for this either,” Sky said immediately, coming to his cousin’s defense. “This is no one’s fault.”
“Indeed,” Lysandro said. “And honestly, it’s not a punishment.”
“It is!” Ego slammed to his feet. “I will not—”
“You will,” I cut in softly. All three of them looked at me, but I only had eyes for Ego.
“You will let me be this anchor or whatever it is.” He opened his mouth to argue, and I held up my hand.
“At least until you’ve had some training.
For fuck’s sake, Ego. You need to at least be able to leave the house without worrying you’re going to hurt someone. ”
He crossed his arms over his chest and pouted. “I don’t plan to ever leave again.”
Sky gasped. “What about your career?”
“It’s over.” He licked his lips. “I told Delaney to shut all my stuff down. Break all contracts or whatever she has to do, and find herself a new breadwinner. The popstar known as Ego is gone.”
I rolled my eyes. “So dramatic.”
Sky looked about one second from bursting into tears. “I know you’re worried about losing your sound magic, but I don’t think that means you have to…throw your whole life away.”
“Seriously, Dead Air,” I said. Confusion crossed Sky’s face. “Go to YouTube and search for Dead Air. You’ll see what I mean.”
While he did that, I got up and crossed to Ego, yanking on his elbows until he dropped his arms. Grabbing his hands in mine, I said, “Let’s hear Lysandro out. I’m not abandoning you here if I can help in some way.”
Both he and Sky gasped. When I glanced between them, I saw Ego give Sky a slight shake of his head. I didn’t know exactly what that was about…but they’d alluded to enough that I had a suspicion. I turned back to Lysandro.
“What would I need to do for him?”
He shrugged. “Nothing really. Your presence will do most of the heavy lifting. From there, follow your gut.”
“My…presence?” I asked slowly, wondering if this was why I’d felt drawn here tonight.
Lysandro nodded. “Mhm. It would be best if you moved into the mini-castle. Do you think Chance will be okay with that?”
“But I have a job,” I said, trying to remain calm for Ego’s sake more than my own.
“I can help out at the manor,” Sky volunteered. “And isn’t Archie there a few afternoons a week, anyway? The kid would live there if we let him, so we’ll get you covered.”
“Um.” I felt heat gather at the base of my neck and in my cheeks. “You said the first twenty years. I can’t not work for that long.”
Lysandro laughed. “Of course not, Scotty. The sooner he embraces more of his nature, the less he’ll need you. But the longer you can be available to him over the next twenty years, the better.”
I didn’t want to be a dick, but that sounded a lot like the fated-mate romances I read, and I wasn’t sure I was ready to be linked for the next twenty years to someone I couldn’t even stand three weeks ago.
Hell, I doubted he wanted to be chained to me.
I’d been so mean to him for as long as I’d known him.
Plus, he hadn’t tried to like…I don’t know, talk privately or anything since we had our little one-night stand.
For all I knew, he was a one-and-done kinda guy, which meant, me lurking around would drive him nuts.
Ego cleared his throat. “I can, uh, pay you for babysitting, if you want. I don’t want you to be out of money on my account.”
I dropped my head back and took a deep breath.
I’d told him enough that I was pretty sure he understood how important a steady income was for me.
The room Chance gave me at the manor as part of my salary saved me a lot, but it was the funds deposited into my account twice a month that let me breathe.
I moved seventy-five percent to my savings each pay period to build my little nest egg.
To guarantee that I’d never be close to unhoused again.
“You shouldn’t have to do that,” I murmured.
Lysandro clucked his tongue. “No, he really shouldn’t.”
Ego said, “But I have the money.”
At the same time, Sky exclaimed, “But Ego has the money.”
Lysandro shook his head. “That’s not the point.
In a true fledgling-anchor pairing, it would be the new-turned vampire’s sire who’d be responsible for taking care of the anchor.
It’s considered an honor when an anchor is bestowed on someone’s child.
” He sighed. “Well, I’ve taken on most of the other duties, so I’ll be responsible for that, too. ”
My eyes widened. “Lysandro. You’re a librarian. I’m not taking—”
His burst of laughter cut me off. “I’m hundreds of years old. I can assure you that I’m probably the wealthiest person you know.” His gaze cut to Ego. “Yes, that includes you. I’ve accumulated what you’re worth ten times over.”
I was happy to see my jaw wasn’t the only one that dropped. Although, it was a good distraction from all…this. Sky started laughing so hard, he clutched his belly and bent over.
“What?” Ego and I asked, both of us sounding discombobulated and on the edge.
“Lysandro’s paying Ego’s dowry. Are you sure the money shouldn’t go to Chance or Jetty since Scotty lives with them?” He hiccupped. “This is sounding more and more like a fated-mate situation to me. Sorry, not sorry.”
As much as I hated to admit it—I agreed with him. I’d never say that, though. Nor would I ever confess to another soul—living or spirit—that Ego and I had gotten freaky. It made me wonder if we’d really wanted to fool around or if some fated magical stuff had led us to touching dicks.
One look into Ego’s frightened eyes confirmed he was having the same thought. I blew out a breath and focused back on him, blocking out Sky’s merriment and Lysandro’s attempts at not dissolving into laughter, too.
“We can work on the smaller details later, but if I’m going to be staying here with you so that you stop losing your shit, you have to make me one promise.”
“What?” he asked, then warmed my heart when he followed that up with, “Anything.”
“You will listen to Lysandro, Ego. It’s time.”
He stared at me, ghostly white, cool to the touch, without moving a muscle for several seconds before he gave me one stiff nod.
With a reverence to his voice that I’d never heard before, Lysandro said, “We begin tomorrow at sunset.”
Once Ego agreed—albeit reluctantly—I ran back to the entryway and retrieved the bag I’d dropped by his sudden appearance at the door. Feeling a little ridiculous since Sky and Lysandro were watching, I shoved it into Ego’s chest.
Ego’s scowl melted as he gazed at the brown paper bag like it was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. “You brought me a gift?”
“Just open it,” I grumbled.
Then I hid my own small grin as a luminous smile spread across his face when he pulled out the golden goblet I’d bought him to replace the one he’d crunched.
Lysandro cocked one elegant brow at me. “Huh, you are indeed his anchor.”