Chapter 26 #2
“How do you feel?” I whispered when we had a moment alone.
“Exhausted. Relieved. Hopeful.” He stared at me from beneath his half-lidded eyes and continued with, “In love.”
I felt my cheeks flush, but I didn’t shy away from the truth. “Glad we’re on the same page.”
“Yeah?” he asked.
“Oh yeah.” I leaned in, kissing him gently. “I am so in love with you, baby vamp.”
Lysandro let out an exaggerated sigh. “Thank goodness you both finally realized it. I really wasn’t sure how to handle telling you that you’re fated mates when I couldn’t quite tell if you even knew that you liked each other.”
Both our mouths dropped open as we stared at him. “Fated mates?” I asked weakly.
“Well, of course. It’s part of the vampire-anchor bond.”
Sky cackled with laughter, and I…well, I was just glad I’d finally found a home. Not a house. Not a town. But an extremely interesting, extraordinary, sound witch vampire man.
“We should do the official ceremony as soon as possible,” Lysandro continued.
A ceremony? Excitement jolted through me. That was so cool.
Ego’s head tilted as he regarded me skeptically. “I heard your pulse spike. You actually want that? Something to make this official?”
I bit my lip, trying to downplay how cool I thought it was, but Ego winked, smiling knowingly. “Tomorrow night?” he asked.
“Sure, whatever,” I said as casually as possible.
“You could do it now,” Lysandro said.
“Absolutely not,” Sky snapped, inserting himself into the conversation. “Look around. We are not doing it surrounded by all this blood.”
I looked around at all the blood and gore. He had a point, but…this was it. This was my life with Ego, and I was here for it.
The ceremony was happening as soon as everyone arrived.
Lysandro had informed us that it was our choice who came, but we needed at least two witnesses.
He wouldn’t be one of them since he’d perform it.
If he’d told us about this from the beginning, we’d have one hundred percent known that this was a fated mates thing.
“I hope they get here soon,” Ego growled. My poor baby vamp was a little cranky. Drinking the goblet of Lysandro’s blood and feeding on me yesterday meant he hadn’t woken up quite so hunger-starved, but the longer he was awake, the more I felt like he was looking at me like a juicy piece of steak.
Lysandro breezed through the door at the same time the sounds of tires sounded outside. “Sorry we’re late. Harry and Rosie insisted that we have a reception afterward, so there was a lot of last-minute scrambling to get everything together.”
He hadn’t been kidding. As our family walked in with big smiles on their faces, they all carried trays of food.
Sucked to be Ego and his aversion to spitting out ash because I was going to enjoy every bit of this.
The worst thing about not living at the manor was missing out on Harry’s and Buck’s food.
I didn’t mind cooking, but it wasn’t as much fun preparing meals for one.
Ego slipped his hand in mine, and I side-eyed him.
Yeah, who cared about any of that? This vampire-witch was mine, and he was worth any mild inconveniences that might crop up.
He was worth everything. As everyone bustled around us, getting everything set up, I felt Ego’s rising impatience. He needed blood.
Stepping forward, I clapped my hands together once—loudly. “You can finish the rest of that up later. We need to get this show on the road.”
Lysandro’s gaze moved to Ego, and his face pinched. “Yes, yes. Let’s not forget why we’re here. All of this can wait. Everyone, gather round.”
Ego and I followed him to the center of the room, and all assembled, including our ghost family, gathered in a half-moon behind us.
“Ambiance, please,” Lysandro said.
Rosie, Elyse, Sky, Chance, and Booker raised their hands and the lights dimmed, the room taking on an ethereal feel and a hum of energy vibrated around the room.
“We’re sealed off in our own bubble,” Delaney said.
When I looked over to smile at her, I noticed Benji hovering behind the fae. He grinned, giving me a little wave, and I couldn’t help but smile back. I was glad he and Booker had come. They were new faces, but welcome all the same.
Lysandro cleared his throat, so I focused on him.
His gaze slid back and forth between Ego and me, growing as he stood there.
“This is such an honor. After never finding my own anchor, and not siring any of my own fledglings, it’s not something I ever thought I’d get the pleasure of being a part of.
“Scotty, since the minute you came to the library, I knew we’d be great friends.
Your warmth and sincerity have been a balm to an old vamp’s heart.
And, Ego…” He trailed off, shaking his head and chuckling.
“I had no idea what I was setting myself up for when I agreed to train you in our ways, but I couldn’t be more pleased with the results.
“I started feeling like your Father long before disposing of your Maker. I want you to know that.”
“Thank you,” Ego said. He sounded so emotional that I felt tears come to my own eyes. He needed this. I thought, perhaps, Lysandro did, too.
Lysandro smiled softly at Ego, then did that thing where it felt like he straightened his already perfect posture to stand impossibly taller. “Ego, take Scotty’s wrist, please.”
He’d explained what we’d need to do last night, but I wasn’t sure what the others knew. I hoped my brother didn’t freak out when Ego sank his fangs into me.
My vamp cradled my right wrist gently in his hands.
Those long, elegant fingers caressing across my skin.
“Ego Reign, an anchor is a great responsibility. It will be your job to protect Scotty Grisham like he’s the most precious person on this planet and any realm you come to frequent.
He’s also your attachment to your humanity, and your guard from the darkness.
For this reason, you are to obey when it feels against your vampiric nature so that you can exist in the same space as mortals. Do you understand your role?”
Ego stared into my eyes as he said, “I do.”
Lyandro hummed, then continued, “Scotty Grisham, just as your vampire protects you, it is your responsibility to keep him from slipping into bloodlust or madness. He will partake of your blood as his primary sustenance, so I need to know now. Are you here of your own free will?”
“I am,” I answered honestly.
“And do you understand that as he feeds on you and your bond grows, your lifespan will lengthen to match his, giving you an unlimited amount of time together?”
“Yes.”
“Has there been any coercion or charisma from Ego in the course of your relationship?” he asked.
“There has not.”
“If at any time you want to be released from this bond, you understand that it is your responsibility to give Ego, my fledgling, into my care?”
“I won’t.” Ego’s eyes widened. “I mean, I won’t ever want to give up this responsibility. Ego Reign is mine.”
I heard Sky awing in the background, but I wasn’t saying it to be sweet. His cousin was mine, and I might not be a vampire, but I dared anyone to try to separate us.
“You are mine, too, Scotty Grisham. From now until the end of time.”
I heard a woman’s sniffle, but I knew what was coming next. I wondered how they’d all take it.
“I am satisfied with your vows to each other and to the vampire-anchor bond. It is time to seal it in blood.”
Ego lifted my wrist at the same time he bent down, opening his mouth. His fangs flashed in the light right before he struck true, piercing my skin. I heard my brother’s outraged gasps over the ripple of pain before I sank into pure bliss, and my eyes fluttered shut.
The gentle pull of my vampire drinking my blood was intoxicating, and I wished we weren’t having a reception after this. Would it be rude for us to sneak away long enough to deal with the hard-on I was sporting now?
Ego gently disengaged, and I opened my eyes and stared into his as he licked over the bite mark, using his saliva to seal and heal my skin. “I really freaking love you,” slipped from my lips.
He pressed a soft kiss to my lips before standing and gathering me into his arms and whispering in my ear, “Not nearly as much as I love you. I thought I’d lost myself with the change, but it brought me to you, and there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”
Congratulations erupted around us, and we were dragged apart for hugs and conversations, but I felt sure in my place in the world. In my place with my mate.
That’s good, because you just promised I didn’t ever have to let you go, sounded in my head, and I knew the bond was complete.
We’ll never let each other go, I responded back in my own mind, knowing that it was true and never feeling happier than right now.