6. Chapter Six
Chapter six
Lysandro
Dealing with Ego was exhausting. I didn’t mind feeding the young vampire, but his stubborn refusal to learn anything about his nature concerned me. The days were passing, and his resolve wasn’t fading.
In a stunning turn of events, my young friend Scotty, who worked at Willowhope Manor, and to this point had spoken less than fondly of Ego when speaking about him on his visits to the library, had become the one human in town—outside of what I’d shared with Benji—who knew of the pop star’s turning.
For a reason that neither of the two recognized yet, he’d become Ego’s biggest champion and spent hours in the evening with the fledgling.
“Scotty,” I said, “it’s important that he learn to use his fangs.”
It was near sunset, and since Scotty and I were both here before Ego arose for the evening, I attempted to stress my point to him once again.
“I know, Lysandro.” He ran his hand back through his hair in frustration.
“I get that he’s icked out by it, but this is who he is now.”
Scotty’s sweet face went contemplative. “I’m not sure it’s the biting that even matters. I think it’s all of it, and this is something he feels like he has control of.”
I understood that. I really did. He didn’t give his consent for this, and he was traumatized, but he wouldn’t be able to ever be around his family again if he didn’t learn how to have some control.
They’d gotten so very lucky that Scotty soothed his beast instead of turning him into a raving maniac with bloodlust.
Delaney had supplied Ego with an amulet to dull the urge, but eventually, his natural tendencies would take over. There was very little magic or anything else in this world stronger than what made us who and what we were.
“Have you had any luck in getting him to talk to his cousin about this?”
“No,” Scotty growled, sounding like a disgruntled kitten. “He’s being so stubborn—about everything. Meanwhile, I see his cousin and everyone else in our family who’s worried about him, and I feel so guilty that I know he’s here in Willowhope, and I promised him I wouldn’t say anything.”
I sighed. Neither of us were having any luck.
This really couldn’t go on indefinitely.
Thankfully, Benji had happily stepped up and taken over some of my duties at the library so I could be here, which was no doubt why I was losing some patience with Ego.
I gave Benji a job so he wouldn’t be bored, and it gave him a chance to meet people in his new environment.
His schoolwork should always come first, though.
Then there was the fact that if I was here, I wasn’t there, where he was. I hadn’t set foot back into my Belflower Lane home since that first morning, so the only place we were together was at the library. Where I should be.
“Good morning,” Ego said, coming into the room and stretching his arms over his head while he yawned—a habit from his humanity. His gaze skimmed right over me, landing on Scotty, and he smiled.
Well, okay then. Compared to the shaggy-haired brunette with the purple stripe in his hair and the twinkling diamond nose ring, I was chopped liver.
“How’d you sleep?” Scotty asked, bustling toward the bar to grab the goblet that I’d fill with my blood.
No wonder Ego was so charmed by this young man. Not only was he easy on the eyes, but he was also so attentive to Ego’s needs.
Sighing, I took the cup from Scotty and did my part.
“Would you like to—”
“I’m not doing anything tonight,” Ego said, slumping into his spot on the couch. If I gave him his way, he’d roll up into his blanket like a burrito and rot the rest of his very long life away.
“Ego, we need to talk about it.”
He shook his head. “There’s nothing to talk about.”
I looked to Scotty, who shrugged.
My temper hovered on the edge of cracking, which wouldn’t be helpful in this situation. “Then I will take my leave.”
Scotty and Ego both startled, but I left without a backward glance. Allowing my beast to rage would only traumatize him. If Scotty thought he didn’t want to share his new truth with his family now, it would be even worse if he saw what he was capable of from my foul mood.
Blurring back to town, I slowed and walked back into the library like a normal person. Greeting the staff and the two patrons I passed on my path to my office, I stopped at the sight of Benji hunched down, stocking a shelf.
After a moment’s hesitation, I approached him. “How are things going?”
He smiled up at me brightly. “Awesome. It’s been a…” He trailed off. “What’s wrong?”
Frowning, I said, “Nothing.”
Benji hummed, standing up. “The look on your face says Velvet Vein Lysandro instead of the quirky, small-town librarian. Let’s go talk in your office.”
“No, you’re busy, and I wanted to…” It was my turn to trail off as he took off for the door leading downstairs.
He opened it, looked back at me, and tipped his head for me to follow. I was older than dirt, and suddenly, my life was being run by twenty-somethings.
“How the hell did I let this happen?” I muttered to myself as I followed after Benji like I had no will of my own.
Benji
I’d received another creepy letter today. This one had expressed the sender’s assertion that there was no love quite like ours. Considering I didn’t have one clue who he was, that wasn’t true.
My plan to finally tell Lysandro about the letters flew right out the window when he walked back into the library. This was hours earlier than he’d been returning, and I would know, since I’d been waiting to make sure he returned safe and sound and didn’t need to be fed.
Going over to the bed, I sat on the edge and pulled my legs up. “So what gives?”
“Nothing.” He shrugged. “I have a lot of work to catch up on, so I decided to leave Ego and Scotty to their own devices.”
“Uh-huh. If that’s all there is, why do you look ready to rip someone’s head off?” Like literally, because he could, and I was pretty sure that wasn’t the reputation he wanted around here.
“It’s nothing,” he growled, stomping toward his desk chair. I’d never seen the man do anything but glide, so it was startling. “I have a fledgling who’s impossible, a rogue vampire out there doing who knows what to unsuspecting humans, and I can’t do a damn thing about it.”
“Can’t or won’t?” I asked curiously. Lysandro was revealing more of himself since Ego showed up than I think he meant to. Or maybe it wasn’t the new vamp showing up, but maybe the fact I’d initiated intimacy during every feeding since he kindly jacked me off had him up in his head.
Lysandro tilted back in his chair and glared at the ceiling. “Both.”
Since his plan seemed to be to avoid me, I got up and sauntered over to him, plopping myself onto his lap. His arms locked around my waist automatically, and I wasn’t sure he realized it, so I bit back a smile so as not to spook him.
“Explain, please.”
“I promised not to interfere in any area of vampire law as long as the council left me alone to live my life quietly and peacefully. They’ve respected that agreement for the last couple hundred years, and I want to maintain that.
If I tread too closely to the line…” He hissed like he was ready to go on the attack now.
Cupping his head, I scratched his scalp. “Why are they so interested in you? Is it your age?”
He snorted. “You’re so impressed by how old I am, but the head of the council is even older than me.”
That made me pause. “Older?”
For the first time since he returned, his lips twitched in amusement. “Did you think I was the oldest?”
“Well…” I hadn’t actually given it any thought at all. “In all my years at Velvet Vein and around Ronan, I’ve never heard anyone mention the council at all until you.”
He smirked, a flash of his extended canines winking at me. It felt like the damn things were winking at me, flirting with me, making me want to get naked and bare my neck to Mr. Cranky.
“Mortals are such interesting creatures. So many thirst for the absurd instead of the things that truly matter. But not you.” He held me a little tighter. “You're smart and inquisitive. You notice little things so many others miss.”
“Probably because of the way I grew up.”
He scowled so hard that I hoped there was no way for him to get his hands on the names of the foster families I’d been placed with. He’d been drawing more information from me about my past since we’d moved to the neck feedings, and he was less than impressed with some of the situations I’d endured.
“Yes, I’m sure,” he stated flatly. He inhaled deeply—a sign that he needed a moment to temper himself since he didn’t actually need the air. “But even you miss it.”
“Miss what?” I asked curiously. I yearned to know more about Lysandro and his life, which meant learning more about the world he was so desperate to stay away from.
He nuzzled onto the side of my neck, and I gasped.
I felt his lip pull into a smile against my skin, and he dragged his fangs slowly across my flesh.
Since he’d fed last night, I knew he wouldn’t tap me again, ever conscious of my health, so I sat for a moment, enjoying the fact that Lysandro was initiating closeness for the sake of being close.
“Are you going to tell me?” I whispered after a few moments.
He chuckled darkly. “My Benji. You never miss an opportunity to research my kind.” He nipped my neck, licking up the side and moaning.
Gah. I wanted him so bad. I wanted to be naked on his bed with his hands all over me. Surely that would put him in a better mood, but now that we’ve progressed past him acting like I was nothing but a donor, I wanted to be more than just a courtesan.
Maybe it was a human construct in my own mind that the title was nothing more than beauty, money, and social standing, but I wanted to be his everything. His person, his boyfriend, his love, or however else we could express the ultimate commitment between two beings.
Wanting to know, wanting to know what he was thinking, I squirmed back, cupped his face between my hands, and stared into his eyes. “Lysandro.”
He huffed and rolled his eyes. “Fine. The council rarely deals with Damien because he’s the head of the most powerful syndicate in our world.”
“Syndicate?” I asked, confused.
He arched a brow. “Think your perception of the mafia.”
I almost fell off his lap. “Damien’s a criminal?”
Lysandro’s face went slack. “You…don’t…think…we’re…all…criminals?” he asked slowly.
“Of course not, silly.”
My words didn’t seem to clear up his confusion, if the baffled expression on his face was anything to go by. I didn’t think I liked that expression any more than the thunder clouds he’d walked in wearing. Maybe he’d had the right idea before, and it was time for a distraction.
“You wanna make out?” I teased, waggling my brows.
The words were no sooner out of my lips when my back hit the bed, and my beast devoured my mouth like he’d die without it. I’d call that a win.