Chapter 20
Ego
“Rise, my child. Rise and come to me.”
I woke up in my dream with a start. I was starting to hate bedtime even more than I had before Scotty moved in.
I hated watching him go to what they designated his room and watching him shut the door.
I wanted him in my space, in my bed. But it wasn’t fair to ask for more now that he’d been forced into my proximity for who knew how long.
“Child. Why do you not greet your Master?” the dickhead who bit me asked sharply.
Waking up on the stone slab again, I turned my head in his direction. His outline grew clearer and closer every day. I didn’t know why my brain was doing this to me. Obviously, this wasn’t really the guy who turned me. How could he be here with me in my dreams?
My subconscious was probably trying to tell me something, but I couldn’t figure out what. Or maybe this had something to do with my abandonment issues. Did I really want a parent—of sorts—to choose me so badly that I’d conjure the beast who’d violated me?
“Fuck off,” I mumbled to my stupid brain.
“Do not speak to me in that manner,” he said, the words cracking across me like a whip. For a moment, a torrent of anger struck through me like lightning, making it hard to breathe.
I rolled to my side and glared at the silhouette of the man through the fog. “Why won’t you let me sleep?”
“Because you’ve made me so proud,” he said in a syrupy-sweet voice.
For the first time, I felt truly alarmed. I was used to my mind attacking me, diminishing me, and making me feel small. The only happy thoughts I’d ever had were in regard to my music, which I’d lost now.
“Proud of what?”
“Of you.” He held out his arms toward me. “You’ve not only survived, but I can feel how you flourish. You grow stronger every time you meet me here.”
“I’m not meeting you anywhere.”
“But you are. You’re here with me in the Veil, ready to come home to me.”
See, I knew this was a sick and twisted dream. I knew plenty about the Veil since King and Sky had started dreamwalking. There were plenty of scary monsters in the Veil, and they’d even faced one, but they’d never mentioned seeing a vampire. This really was my brain screwing with me.
A growl of displeasure reached my ears. “I sense an anchor bond. Is this what keeps you from joining me? What keeps you bound to that spot instead of crossing the river to my side?”
I’d never seen a river, but now that he’d said it, I saw the way it wound around like a snake, glistening between us. It was a ways from me, but he stood on its bank on the other side. Had he always been that close?
“Come to me, my child.”
“No.” I rolled to my back and crossed my arms over my chest.
The last thing I planned on doing was answering to a cranky, old vampire in my sleep the same way I had to heed the call of an ancient, eccentric vamp in my real life.
If Scotty hadn’t made me promise to abide by Lysandro’s training, I might’ve already kicked him to the curb and gone back to blood bags.
“But you need my blood,” he said sternly. “I’m not sure how you’ve survived this long. I’m amazed, really, but I’ve felt your wounds. You need your Maker’s blood to come into your full power.”
“I’m gonna pass on that.”
“Don’t make me come to you, Ego. You will not like what happens when you meet me again if I’m displeased. If it is the anchor who blocks me, then I will remove the obstacle.”
I jumped, landed in a crouch on my feet and hands, and hissed. I didn’t care if this was my own brain. I didn’t care if this was some weird occurrence in the Veil. I would not have Scotty threatened. “He is mine.”
“Then you know what you must do, or the consequences are dire for your anchor.”
I woke with a start. Pushing a hand through my hair, I blew out a ragged breath. Yeah, yeah, I didn’t need to do that, but it felt better somehow. From down below, I heard Scotty’s heartbeat and wanted nothing more than to be wrapped in his scent.
As I entered the great room, I finished tugging my shirt over my head. “Hey, sleepyhead,” he called from his wingback.
Lysandro sat in his chair next to him and pointed to the bar top. “Your nourishment is ready. How are you feeling this evening?”
Yawning, I stretched my arms over my head. “Good, I guess.”
“I didn’t wear you out too much last night with your training then?” He rose, approaching gracefully.
“No.” I moved my leg back and forth and grinned. “Good as new.”
“Are you sure?” Lysandro flipped open his pocket watch and tapped the face. “The sun rose nearly half an hour ago.”
That was weird. Since Lysandro started donating his blood to me, I’d been waking right as the sun set.
It probably had something to do with having another weird-ass dream, which I wanted to discuss with him, but not in front of Scotty.
I didn’t want to freak him out since the reference to him as my anchor had been part of it.
The last thing I wanted him to think was that I was subconsciously trying to get rid of him.
If anything, I wanted to figure out how to make our relationship closer.
“Drink your beverage. We’re running out of time.”
The goblet—which was my favorite thing in the whole castle since it was from Scotty—was halfway to my lips when I noticed all the smells infiltrating the air around me.
Pausing, I glanced around and noticed finger foods on silver trays on every surface, including a long table. “Uh, what’s happening?”
Lysandro frowned. “I must’ve pushed you too hard last night. You were more aware of your surroundings when you first arrived. Please forgive me, fledgling.”
He looked so crestfallen I wanted to reach out and hug him and assure him I was fine. But I’d never intentionally touched him that way, and I wasn’t sure how he felt about that since I couldn’t remember seeing him and Scotty touch too much either. I didn’t want to cross his personal boundaries.
“Go ahead. Drink up,” Scotty said, rising from his chair in one fluid motion.
“The whole Willowhope crew, plus Cassi, Carli, and Booker should be here any minute. I expected you to be up by now.” He stopped and gave me a quick look up and down.
“You might want to…” He made a circular motion, indicating my whole person.
“What?” I asked, putting the cup to my mouth and humming in appreciation of the nourishment Lysandro kept providing me. I really needed to thank him for that.
“You kinda look a mess.”
I looked down at my black t-shirt and sweatpants. “I look like this every day.”
He snorted. “Yeah, you do now, but before you were turned, you were as fashionable as Sky.”
I gasped. “I beg your pardon. I love my cousin, but I most definitely was the better-dressed of us.”
A gasp erupted from the hallway before my tiny spitfire of a cousin stalked into the room. “I beg your pardon, Oliver George Everett Reign.”
I narrowed my eyes at him over the rim of the goblet, hoping he felt the fire I was shooting from my eyes. When I was done with every last drop, I lowered the cup slowly and stalked toward him. “What did you call me?”
“You heard me,” he sassed, jutting his chin out.
To the side of me, I heard King ask, “Did my boyfriend really just full-name Ego?”
With laughter in his voice, Scotty replied, “Yep.”
“What’s wrong with that?” Lysandro asked, sounding completely baffled, then followed it up with an exasperated, “Go freshen up. I’ll give you ninety seconds since you need to find something more presentable to wear for company.”
As much as I wanted to make Lysandro proud of me, which meant I shouldn’t waste a second, I sped by with wiggling fingers to tickle Sky’s side before shooting up the stairs.
After shimmying into skinny jeans with one of my favorite sheer blouses, I was halfway back down the stairs with thirty seconds to spare when I screeched to a halt. What did they mean by everyone was coming? When had we decided that? Had I even been consulted?
“Come on down, Ego. You weren’t consulted because this is your training for tonight. You need to be able to be around people. At least your found family, if no one else.”
I heard him as if he was standing next to me, but given the proximity of the heart beating beside his voice, I knew he was still in the living room. Reaching up, I touched my throat and realized I hadn’t put the chain with the amulet on.
With that realization came the smell. The enticing aroma of fresh blood pumping through the veins of multiple people. My canines elongated, and I gulped.
Frozen with panic, I knew I needed to run to my room, but I was so scared that if I moved from this spot, I’d run downstairs instead of up.
What if the beast that I’d become took over, and I went into bloodlust and hurt people I loved?
My breath caught in my throat, and though I knew it wasn’t true—I didn’t even need it—I felt it catch in my throat as the beginning of a full-blown panic attack hit me.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I willed myself to calm down, but I knew it was no use. They were all too close. There were too many of them. Even if I shut myself in my bedroom, I’d be able to smell them—their blood, their personal scents, their fear, and excitement. I’d react to it all, and—
Warmth seeped into my back as a hand landed heavily on my shoulder blade. No, not a hand, but Scotty’s familiar touch. He began rubbing soothing circles over my shirt, which was sheer enough that it was as if I could feel his skin connecting with mine.
“I’m here, baby vamp,” he whispered, leaning into my side.
The way he gave me his weight shook me out of my stupor enough to curl an arm around his waist, somehow coherent enough to recognize we were on the stairs, and I didn’t want him to fall and hurt himself. I would heal easily now, but he wouldn’t, and wasn’t that a total mindfuck.
“There you go. Come all the way back to me.” His other hand lifted, resting over my unbeating heart. “I knew this would be hard for you, and I know it sucks we didn’t warn you, but isn’t this so much better than having your leg shredded by a bullet?”