Chapter 17
Ego
As the first rays of dawn touched the sky, I made sure all of the drapes were in place around the house. It had been an exhausting night, and I was ready for bed.
Sky had looked up Dead Air—thanks to Scotty—so that had been a whole conversation, while Scotty and Lysandro sat in the wingbacks discussing what I’d need from Scotty as my anchor. I should’ve probably paid attention, but I was low-key panicking about Scotty being in my space at all times.
This was very much starting to feel like one of those romance novels I’d liked reading when I was biding my time on the tour bus. As much as Lysandro assured us that the fledgling-anchor bond was fated but not like mates—as in no pull to sex or a forever/marriage type relationship—it felt that way.
Lysandro’s insistence that it would be best if Scotty lived here with me and stayed with me at all times—unless there was an emergency—was also like…
forced proximity. Hello. Men in those books were always falling in love when they were confined to spending all their time with the one person they’d just met or had hated since the beginning of time.
As much as I’d liked Scotty since the first time I’d laid eyes on him, I didn’t want to ruin his life. This all felt so unfair, and I didn’t know what to do.
My eyelids grew heavy, and I knew if I didn’t get into bed in the next few minutes, I’d fall asleep on my feet and fall where I stood.
It had happened too many times to count in those initial first few weeks when I was still touring.
Luckily, Delaney had been keeping an eye on me, so she’d cover me up and stick a pillow under my head.
The first time, I’d expected to have a crick in my back for the whole day, but apparently those little aches and pains were a thing of the past, which I could admit now, didn’t suck.
Damn, I felt like such a dick. Scotty had driven Chance’s truck home, and Sky would drop him back off tomorrow, and I felt bad for Scotty being stuck with me.
I really, really did. But…gah. I was such a dick.
I had to admit to myself that I was excited about this.
About the whole romance novel set-up of it all.
We’d be living our days together in a refurbished mini-castle, with the pillars and the ancient air of mystery surrounding us.
There were still so many drafty rooms, just waiting to be furnished, and we’d have nothing but time on our hands, so we could sit up and browse websites together, and he could help me fill this place with warmth.
Just the thought of it was so appealing that it already didn’t feel like such a prison anymore.
And tonight—well, morning for the rest of the world—would be the last night for years that I’d be going to bed alone.
Not that Scotty would be in here sleeping with me, and there were plenty of rooms for him to choose from, but it was so lonely crawling into bed knowing that there wasn’t another soul under my roof.
It would be nice to hear his heartbeat from another room in the house.
Getting to my room, I unclasped the chain from around my neck and set it on the nightstand so I wouldn’t rip it off in my sleep. Stripping naked, I slid into my silk sheets, luxuriating in the softness, and for the first time in as long as I could remember, I closed my eyes with a smile on my face.
Blinking, I sat up, taking in the fog that rolled on the ground and the tall trees surrounding me. This had to be a dream, which I hadn’t had one since I’d been turned. Actually, that wasn’t true, I’d had plenty of nightmares while wide awake of the night that…
Whatever. There was nothing to be done about that now.
I was too excited to be in dreamland to waste time on that night.
Looking down, I realized that I’d been lying on a large stone box.
I snickered. Was I waiting for Scotty to come and kiss me awake?
Maybe make all my dreams come true and transport me back to the days of being Ego, the sound witch. That would be cool.
“I can’t believe you made it,” a male voice said. The tone and timber prickled at the back of my mind, but I couldn’t quite place it. “I didn’t expect you to.”
“Hello,” I called, squinting through the fog and trees.
“Child, do you not know your Master?”
Fear crawled up my spine. I knew that voice. Whipping my head around, eyes wide open, I searched for the asshole who’d done this to me. “You’re not my Master. You’re nothing.”
I clasped my hands over my ears at the horrific chuckle that sounded all around me—from inside me—like it was part of my soul.
“Stop it!” I screamed.
“You have so much to learn, young Ego. I have so much to teach you,” he said, a silhouette appearing off in the distance.
I had no way to tell how far away he was since I could tell that my vampiric sight had kicked in of its own accord. “I don’t need you to teach me shit. Stay away from me.”
“Never.”
The creepy way he drew the word out made me shiver. This sucked. Was this just a nightmare, or was he really here?
“Sleep now, child. You’ll need your strength to cross to me.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you.”
That maniacal laugh surrounded me again. “Of course you are. I made you. You’re mine until I say otherwise.”
He took a few steps backward, fading into the dense fog, until he was gone.
“Shit,” I panted, waking with a start, and scooching back on my bed with the sheet clutched firmly in my hands. I looked around my room quickly, making sure that I was alone. Reassured when I saw no fog, no trees, no shadow lurking, I let my head fall back against the headboard.
As I came all the way to wakefulness, the normal hunger registered, along with the steady thump of a heartbeat.
Scotty’s heartbeat. I ran from my room, skidding to a stop in front of the bar where he stood with Lysandro, who was in the process of draining his blood into the new goblet Scotty had so thoughtfully brought me yesterday.
“You’re here,” I said to Scotty.
He peered at me in confusion. “As promised. Why are you…uh…” He waved a hand up and down my body.
Looking down, I realized I was naked. “Oh shit,” I said, covering my penis with both hands.
Lysandro shook his head like I was a disobedient child. “Good grief. Go put some clothes on.” I turned to trudge back to my room when he added, “Your lesson starts now. Be back in under a minute.”
I whipped my head toward Scotty with wide eyes, and he gave me a shooing motion. “Better hurry. You know the deal. If I’m going to be your—”
I left the room.
When I came back, Lysandro looked at the watch on his elegant wrist. Geez, I’d noticed that he was colorful in his apparel before, but had he also always been so elegant? The way he held himself, the care he took, and the precision of each of his moments told me that he probably had.
He clucked his tongue. “Sixty-five seconds.”
“That’s pretty good, right?” I asked, feeling proud of myself and reaching for the goblet.
He pulled it away from me, disappeared, then reappeared in what felt like two blinks. “I just went to your room, took my clothes off, put them back on, and made it back down here without spilling even a drop of blood. So not impressive at all.”
Scotty covered his mouth and snickered as Lysandro handed me the goblet, which I drank slowly while glaring at them both over the edge.
When I finished, Lysandro clapped. “Knowing that Scotty’s your anchor is helping already. Good.”
Scotty and I exchanged a glance, then he asked, “What do you mean?”
Lysandro pointed at my neck. “He forgot his amulet and didn’t go into a blood frenzy with you here—even though he hadn’t eaten yet. And he finally consumed his meal like a civilized adult instead of guzzling it like some kind of…” He trailed off with a shiver.
Huh. I hadn’t noticed. I was very aware of Scotty’s blood rushing through his veins, of the scent of baked bread, cedar, and old books that he carried with him, but those were all part of his essence. Normal.
Familiar.
Comfortable.
Lysandro nodded. “Yes, I see you’re starting to understand.”
“Understand what?” Scotty asked.
There was no way that I was going to admit that his presence made me feel comfortable in my own skin, so I asked the old vampire, “What next?”
He glided to one of the large windows and pulled the drapes open. “You’re going to come over here and tell me how many heartbeats you hear in the yard.”
Scotty barked out a laugh. “He’s going to what? There’s no one out there.”
I started to agree, then listened—like truly listened for the first time. I heard the faint pulse of what sounded like hundreds of different pulses. “I can hear…” I blurred to the window and looked out. “Some of them are so slow.”
“Mhm,” Lysandro confirmed. “Many insects pulse so slowly that…”
I turned and picked him up and shook him. “I can see them, too. Dro, did you know that I can see them? There’s a freaking grasshopper out there that must be fifteen feet away. I followed one of the heartbeats right to it.”
Lysandro wiggled, trying to get out of my arms. “Do put me down.” I set him carefully on his feet, kinda surprised that I hadn’t even noticed holding him.
Like, I knew I’d picked him up, but like Scotty the other night, he was so light that it didn’t really register that I was holding up a full person.
Scotty crossed the room with a perplexed expression on his face. “Can you really see that far? And you followed it by the sound of its heartbeat? Get the heck out of here.”
Lysandro snorted. “Of course, he did. He’s had the ability the whole time if he’d given himself half a second to figure it out instead of hiding on the couch.”
He clapped his hands. “Okay, Scotty, I brought your books for you so you won’t get bored watching us.”
“Why would he get bored?” I asked, tracking a fox dashing through the brush at least thirty feet away. “I can point out where the coolest things are.”
“Yes, and unless he also turned into a vampire last night, which I know for a fact he didn’t, he won’t be able to follow.
” He turned, then was back with a notebook in his hands.
“I’m going to give you heartbeats to find and animals and insects to track.
We’ll be at this window most of the night.
I’m pretty sure that won’t be at all enjoyable for Scotty. ”
“Oh. Probably not.” I looked over my shoulder at the young man in question. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that you wouldn’t have anything to do. Um.” I didn’t want him to leave, but I also didn’t want him to hate being here. “Do you want to go back to the manor?”
“Nope.” He popped the P. “Chance, Jetty, and I had a nice talk today. Until we get a clearer picture of what you’ll need, they’re leaving my room open for me, and Chance and Archie are going to handle all customer service.
The kid will be psyched to get more hours.
Sky’s going to come hang out with you periodically so I can sleep in my room and hang out with my brother. ”
I opened my mouth to protest, but he held up a hand, stopping me. “Don’t worry, Ego. I’m not doing anything I’m not choosing to do. If Lysandro says my presence will help you, then…” He shrugged.
“It will,” Lysandro said. “But when Scotty’s not here, you must remember to wear your amulet. Okay?”
I felt my bare neck. “Should I go put it on?”
He shook his head. “The bonding started sometime when I wasn’t paying attention. It’s progressed much further than I would’ve expected.”
Scotty’s cheeks went rosy and red, and I wondered if he was thinking what I was. Maybe we triggered something when we got intimate. I wasn’t sure, but that seemed likely, and I didn’t regret that for one moment.
Clearing his throat, Scotty moved toward the wingback chair that I’d started to think of as is. “You two do what you need to do and don’t worry about me. I took a nap today, so I’ll be fine to stay up.”
“You don’t have to.” Then it hit me. “I can get a room ready for you first.”
He shot me a cocky smile. “All done. Sky and Jetty hooked me up while you were asleep.” The thought of people coming in and out of my house while I was quite literally dead to the world was a little daunting, and the set of his lips softened. “But I came with them to watch over the process.”
To watch over you, went unspoken, but I saw it in the tender expression in his eyes, and I decided to let it go and trust him. “Then you should go to bed when you’re tired.”
He shook his head. “Hell no. I can’t wait for another front row appearance of Dead Air.” He pumped his eyebrows. “You’re lucky I love your new stuff.”
It appeared he liked everything about the new me—my music, my vampirism, and maybe even me. Had I been that bad as a pop star? Had my personality been that underwhelming?
“Are you ready?” Lysandro asked.
“Yeah.” Rubbing my hands together, I asked, “What do you want me to find first?”
He clapped his hand on my shoulder. “Well, first, I want you to never call me Dro again.” As I stifled a laugh, he continued, “Oh, yes, I heard you. And also, before we start, is there anything you want to know about specifically?”
“Yeah, actually.” I leaned into his touch just a little, seeking comfort as I thought about my dream from earlier. “How often should I expect to have nightmares about the dickhead who bit me?”
His hand tightened on my shoulder, hard enough that I thought it should probably hurt—would probably have crushed Scotty’s bones—then asked, “What do you mean? You had a…nightmare?”
“Yeah.” I scrubbed a hand down my face. “It was intense. He was all, I didn’t expect you to make it. Like, what an asshole, right?”
Lysandro’s lips tightened. “Right. Was that all?”
“Pretty much. He said he had a lot to teach me. I know that was just my brain being dumb, but will it happen a lot, you think? It kinda sucked.”
He gave me a strained smile. “Between your anchor being here and our training, I’m sure we can get rid of those pesky nightmares before you know it.” His hand fell away from my shoulder. “Now, we really must begin.”