Chapter 23
Ego
“Leave me alone. Please leave me alone,” I whined.
The taunting, cajoling, and mocking had been going on for hours and hours, in a never-ending loop. I’d been so sure this was my own mind playing tricks on me, but it was time to face facts. I’d known from the beginning that this was my attacker, and he was back.
He was here in this in-between place with only a river between us, and I was alone with him, just like that horrible night.
And just like then, I was scared to death that he was going to change my life forever.
Right when I’d started to adjust to my new normal.
Right when I’d found some happiness. When I’d found Scotty.
“Ego. You don’t know what you’re missing. I can tell you’re living on more than blood bags. More than on a mere mortal. Another vampire has found you and fed you, which you shall be punished for, but not until after you feed from me.
“You’ll never know pure ecstasy until you drink from your Maker.
From me. Cross the river, Ego. Come to me.
Come to me, my pet, and let me teach you.
Let me show you how strong you are. You’ll have the world at your feet when I’m done with you.
Come to me and drink the nectar of your God.
It will fulfill you like nothing you’ve ever tasted. ”
My mouth salivated of its own accord at the idea of sinking my teeth into my Maker and drawing his blood into my body. Instinctively, I knew it would be sustenance like I’d never had. It would make me powerful. But there’d be no Lysandro where he was at. No Scotty. No Sky.
Like he’d done so many times tonight, he got mad and lashed out. “Don’t make me come get you. I will gut all of those who have kept you from me. I will rip out the throats of those who make you deny me. You need me, and I will have you.”
I felt heart-sick at the idea of him coming to Willowhope. Of him being anywhere near my anchor, who I was falling in love with, or my mentor, who’d become my friend, or Sky, my cousin, who was more like a brother. I didn’t want him anywhere near them ever.
“Come to me, Ego, or I’ll hurt them. You know I will.”
I rolled off the stone structure, and my feet sank into the moss beneath me. It was the first time I’d stood, so scared of him and getting too close to the river, but I couldn’t let him hurt the people I loved. I couldn’t let him come to Willowhope.
He stood on the riverbank, his silhouette much clearer now, and I choked back a sob. He was handsome, and his suit was designer, but the malice in his eyes stood out more than anything. Once he had me, his cruelty would know no end.
He threw back his head and laughed like an eighties movie villain.
That usually made me laugh, but not this time.
Not when my undead existence would be in his hands.
“You’re going to have such fun with me. The money you have as that stupid pop star will pale in comparison to what you’ll be able to take under my tutelage.
You’ll have whatever you need and give me whatever I want. ”
I swallowed hard. I didn’t want to go with him.
I didn’t. But he sounded so sure in his place in this world.
Like he knew exactly who and what he was, and I still felt so lost sometimes.
Not like in the beginning, and I loved the family that I’d found, but they weren’t sure what to do with me either.
Would it be better for them, for me, if I went with the psycho who’d turned me?
“You…you have to promise to never come here and hurt anyone I love.”
He sneered. “I don’t care about them.” Then he held his arms open. “I only care about you, child. My fledgling.”
I took one step, only one, and found myself suddenly on the edge of the riverbank, right across from my Master. One more step, and I’d be with him forever. I glanced over my shoulder toward the stone slab, my resting place each time I came to this strange nowhere.
“Don’t look back. Look only at me,” he demanded.
Turning back to him, my gaze snagged on his stormy irises. It was as if clouds and lightning moved through them, dazzling me. “Ego, my child. It’s so good to see you again, face to face,” he said silkily.
“Yes, Master,” I agreed.
Why had I been fighting the draw for him? His voice was so beautiful, and his eyes were like a storm beckoning me to come play. He’d take care of me. He’d know what to do with the darkness inside of me.
“Ego,” came a far-off voice. “Ego, dammit, wake up.”
I glanced over my shoulder again, knowing that voice, but I didn’t remember quite why. I’d never heard it sound like that before.
“Ego, look at me—”
I blocked out my Master’s words, trying to locate the other voice, the familiar one, when I heard my name said on a heartbreaking sob. Was that Scotty? My Scotty? What was wrong? Had someone hurt him?
“Ego,” Master snapped, and I turned back to him. “Cross the river and let me pull you through the void. My other children long to meet you.”
“Your…other children?” I asked, confused.
“Of course. Don’t you want to meet them?” he asked with a kind smile.
Wait. No. It wasn’t kind. It was cruel and manipulative.
“Look into my eyes, Ego.”
I did. I stared into that abyss, shaking my head. They weren’t cool or mesmerizing. They were cold. They didn’t have the same warmth as Lysandro. “You left me,” I said slowly.
“Oh, Ego,” he cooed. “Good children don’t need their sire. They prove themselves. That’s how you earn my time and attention. Just like you did.”
“Ego!” Scotty screamed from outside of this wasteland, jerking me the rest of the way out of this trance my attacker had drawn me into.
I took a step back and spit in the river between us. “You’re no sire.” Then I turned and ran.
My eyes opened as I gasped, clawing at my throat. Phantom liquid clogged my throat, drowning me.
“Ego,” Scotty cried, pulling me up and wrapping me in his arms.
Gasping, I clutched at his arms. “Scotty.”
“Are you okay? You were whimpering in your sleep and kicking your legs for the last two hours.”
“How long has the sun been up?” I asked, feeling my waking hunger beginning to claw at me. The blood rushing through his veins called to me, but the steady thumping of his heart soothed my inner-beast, keeping me from biting into his neck and taking what I needed.
“Half an hour. I didn’t know what to do, and I left my phone in the other room, and I was scared to leave you, so I wasn’t able to call Lysandro. I thought he’d be here by now, though.”
“I am here,” my mentor said, gliding into my room. His sharp eyes gauged the situation quickly before he handed me the goblet.
I took it with shaky hands, and Scotty helped hold it as I guzzled the nectar of life down, relishing in the coppery taste.
Lysandro sat at the end of the bed. “I think it’s time you tell me what’s going on.”
Letting the cup fall to the floor, I stumbled through an explanation of the dreams and what I’d been experiencing. Scotty’s grip on me tightened as I continued. By the time I was done, he was rocking me gently in his arms.
“It’s all real, isn’t it?” I concluded.
Lysandro pursed his lips, then nodded. “Yes, I’m afraid so. You’ve been in the Dreamveil.”
“Like King and Sky?” Scotty asked.
“In a way. There’s a pocket dimension within the Veil for vampires,” he said. Then he explained all the missing parts, how my attacker was able to see me and talk to me. How he was able to draw me toward him.
“He can’t have him,” Scotty said angrily after Lysandro was done.
“No, he can’t.”
Calmer now, I sat up, staying close to Scotty and his warmth.
“But I can’t let him come here, either. He said if he had to come to me, he’d deal with my anchor.
” I stared into Scotty’s warm, compassionate eyes.
His concern was so visible in his expression that a protective fierceness rose in me that I’d never experienced in my life. “He won’t harm Scotty.”
Lysandro rose gracefully. “No, he won’t. I assumed something like this was coming, so I met with your people.”
“My people?” I asked.
Scotty huffed out a laugh. “He means the Scooby-Doo crew.”
That drew a small smile from Lysandro’s pinched lips. “Indeed. I gathered everyone who was here the other night to discuss what I thought was happening. Rosie’s goddess, Hecate, joined our conversation with the use of Carli.”
“No shit,” Scotty and I said at the same time. I received an extra squeeze from that as he mumbled, “Twinning,” in my ear.
Lysandro moved toward the door. “I will need you two to meet me at the manor a couple of hours before sunrise so we can deal with this so-called Master Vampire together.”
“Uh, how are we going to do that?” Scotty asked.
Lysandro stared hard at him. “As a family.” His gaze moved to me.
“I won’t be able to feed you again tonight, but I’m worried you’ll need more sustenance for the battle ahead.
Since you refuse to drink from a human—even though it would give you more power—I need you to consume a blood bag before you come. ”
I licked my lips. “I’m not sure I want to leave here. I’ve, uh, I’ll feel more comfortable here.”
“In your self-imposed prison?” Lysandro quirked one perfectly arched brow.
There was a time not too long ago I would’ve really appreciated his style, but those days were behind me.
“No, you can’t do it here. Whether you consider this small castle your home or not, it’s yours, and that disgrace for a Master sired you.
The threshold might acknowledge his claim over you once he’s here, and that would give him an unacceptable advantage. ”
“Once he’s where?” Scotty squeaked.
“You and Ego shall be drawing him to Willowhope Mansion.”
“How?” I shook my head. That was irrelevant. “I won’t have him anywhere near Scotty.”
“Too bad,” Lysandro said. “See you soon.” Then he blurred away.
“What the hell?” Scotty asked.
Moving around on the mattress, I pulled Scotty into my arms and cupped one of his cheeks. “It doesn’t matter. We’re not going. I won’t risk you.”