7. Chapter Seven
Chapter seven
Lysandro
As reluctant as Ego still was to feed, he’d finally expressed interest in other parts of his new nature. Outside of giving him his blood, Ego’s Sire’s most important job would’ve been to train him and teach him about the abilities he’d inherited.
This was one of the many reasons why I’d never created my own fledglings. It was easier to ignore the parts of my past that filled me with resentment if I lived in the here and now.
Mentoring Ego meant having to confront the flashes of my own time as a fledgling. Having to confront the terror and loss in the beginning, as well as how much my beast came to love the blood and carnage.
“Lysandro, have you lost your mind?” Scotty yelled after I blew a hole in the back of Ego’s thigh with my rifle. He kept fussing at me while babying Ego, and I blocked them out.
I’d already explained my methods once. If Ego had any chance of survival when he undoubtedly encountered another of our kind, he needed to understand how to move his body and control his fear.
That hole in his leg would knit together and be unblemished by the time I packed up and walked out the door.
It was easy to leave Ego in Scotty’s capable hands to clean him up and help him regulate, but I found myself blurring back to the library with unexpected urgency.
There was no reason to since I’d told Benji to go back to Belflower Lane tonight.
He knew my plan to inflict pain on Ego so that he could see how resilient his new body was.
I also didn’t need to feed. Somehow, Benji had spent the night in my bed in the basement every night since that first time.
He needed space and time to relax. My office without windows was no place for a mortal.
Benji had been here every night, but for some reason tonight, I fluctuated between hoping he’d left and hoping he hadn’t. My emotions were all over the place, and I didn’t want him to see me like this. I also didn’t want to be alone. Damien would laugh his ass off if he could see me now.
As I cracked the door, I hesitated when I heard giggling. Benji was here. He’d stayed, and…I was thankful. Stepping inside, I watched as he lay on his stomach, swinging his feet, and talking to Rafe on a video call.
Not wanting either of them to say something accidentally that they didn’t want me to hear, and because Benji was enjoying himself too much to have heard me come in, I cleared my throat.
He jumped, then spun, and a huge smile spread across his already happy face. “Lysandro, you’re home.”
I forced a smile that must’ve fallen short because his eyebrows scrunched, and he hung up with Rafe within thirty seconds. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Okay, well, you’re lying. You just gave me one of those big, goofy grins you give people in the library and now you’re just standing there, so something’s wrong.”
“I…don’t know what’s the matter with me.”
He huffed and rolled off the bed. “Come here,” he said, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me into his arms. “Hug me back.”
My arms felt like dead weight as I lifted them and clasped them around him loosely. Benji put his head on my chest, rubbing soothing circles on my back and rocking us. “Tell me what happened.”
“You know what I was doing today,” I murmured.
“Was it that bad?”
“Awful, but not for Ego,” I admitted. “Maybe a little bit for Ego. He wasn’t exactly psyched that I hit him, stabbed him, and shot him.”
Benji pulled back and peered at me. “Seriously?”
“Of course,” I said, baffled that he was having the same reaction as Ego and Scotty. Benji had been around my kind for years at this point. “He’s a vampire.”
He shook his head, laughing. “I think it’s been too long since you were human.”
His words made all my conflicting thoughts from this evening rush to the forefront, and my shoulders drooped.
Benji pushed right back in like he wanted to hold me up. “Wrong thing to say?”
“No.” I kissed his temple and moved to the chair, pulling him along behind me. He was always up for kissing and petting, and he adored snuggling—whether he knew that or not, I wasn’t sure—but I’d fall apart if we stretched out on the bed together.
But I needed him close, so I pulled him down onto my lap. He immediately looped both arms around my neck and leaned his head against mine. “What do you need, Lysandro?”
He didn’t know it, but I couldn’t have handled all of this stuff without him, without his presence.
Navigating spending time with him had prepared me for a fledgling I’d never intended to mentor better than anything or anyone else could have.
His willingness to let me rant about how fucked this situation with Ego was, and then help me make plans to fix it was something I was coming to depend on.
He was like a healing balm to a soul that had been shattered so long ago. I knew he cared deeply about me, and I knew I wasn’t a good bet, but I’d been a selfish man in life, and apparently, I’d become one even more so in death.
I’d hold on to every bit of affection and companionship he gave me for as long as he wanted to be here.
And maybe even beyond. In the comfortable silence that followed, he let me hold him without demanding any answers, which was exactly what I needed.
By the time he fell asleep, my nerves had calmed, my beast had settled, and I felt in control again.
Benji
I’d received another stupid letter, and this one was creepy as fuck. Pulling it out of my back pocket, I read over it one more time.
Benji,
You are a walking vision. I picture you spread out before me like a vixen, ready and waiting for me to feast upon your lips. I know the distance between us is hard, my darling, but your absence is only making my heart grow fonder.
Until we can be together again,
Your true love
What was wrong with this person? I’d put off telling Lysandro for too long.
It was silly to hope whoever this was would just go away.
I knew Lysandro had been so leery about bringing me here in the first place, and if it was one of the vampires from Velvet Vein following us, I hadn’t wanted to give him a reason to send me away.
We’d grown close enough now that he probably wouldn’t. Maybe.
“Hi, Benji,” a soft voice said.
Spinning around, I found Scotty, so I shoved the letter back into my pocket. “Hey. How are you?”
He shrugged. “Okay, I guess. Do you have a few minutes to chat?”
“Sure.” Not wanting to disturb anyone else, I led him back into one of the study rooms. “Is everything okay?” I asked.
Scotty and I didn’t know each other all that well, but since he’d become a part of what was going on with Ego and had been coming by to pick up a thermos of Lysandro’s blood fairly often, we’d both been making more of an effort to chat.
He slid into a chair and exhaled harshly. “I guess. I’m freaking out about this whole Dreamveil thing.”
Sliding into the chair next to him, I quirked an eyebrow. “Dreamveil?”
He groaned. “Ugh, I was hoping Lysandro talked to you about it last night. I’m so scared, and I could tell that Lysandro was, too, so I didn’t want to burden him with my fears.”
Lysandro was scared? Nothing scared him.
He got cranky and pissed, but never truly worried.
If there was a new thing going on with his fledgling—because that was definitely who Ego was, whether Lysandro created him or not—then now wasn’t the right time to bring up the creep sending me letters. Dammit.
His words hit me, and my eyes widened. “Oh. You mean you’re here for me?”
“Is that okay?” He scrunched his nose. “I figured since I’m kinda Ego’s person right now, and you’re Lysandro’s donor, that maybe we could…” He trailed off.
“Be friends?” I asked hopefully. “I left my best friend, Rafe, back in New York, so it’s been a little…” It was my turn to trail off.
“Lonely,” he volunteered. We exchanged knowing smiles before he continued, “That’s one of the reasons I used to like to study here.
The guys at the manor are amazing. They’ve really made me part of the family since Chance gave me a job there, but I was kinda looking for a friend of my own. ” He frowned. “Does that sound bad?”
“Not at all,” I said with a laugh. “I know exactly what you mean.”
“Yeah, and Lysandro’s great, and I’m glad we’ve gotten closer, but now he feels like—”
“Ego’s,” I said, cutting him off.
Scotty covered his face with one hand. “Ugh. I’m the worst. I sound like I’m in elementary school.”
I kicked his leg gently, and he looked up.
“No, you don’t. It’s hard. Lysandro told me a little about your story and how you lost your brother.
It’s hard being the new guy. That’s pretty much the story of my life.
” I paused, thinking. “I can’t imagine all of Ego’s changes have been easy on you, either. ”
“The worst.” He leaned toward me, whispering. “Did you know I didn’t even like him before? Then the next thing you know, I’m the holder of all his secrets. His cousin and the rest of the family know now, which is good, but I wasn’t prepared.”
Propping my elbow on the table, I leaned on my hand. “Well, I’m here for you now. It’ll be nice to have a local friend.”
“It really will. So let me tell you about the Dreamveil.”
“Were you not going to tell me about this Dreamveil?” I asked Lysandro as he came into his office and shrugged out of his jacket. I wanted to get up and help him with that, maybe give him a little kiss, but strange things were happening with Ego, and Lysandro was holding out on me.
He startled. “How in the world do you know about the Dreamveil?”
“Because my friend, Scotty, told me.”
Lysandro’s lips twitched. “Your friend, huh?” he teased.
“Yes.” I knelt in the center of the bed with my arms crossed over my chest. “We’ve decided you and Ego can have each other, and we’ll be friends.”
Shaking his head, he sat on the edge of the mattress and took off his shoes. I couldn’t believe how much more comfortable he was getting with me in his space. He hadn’t even tried to convince me to go back to his house.
“Sure you have. Better be careful, or Rafe will get jealous.”
“As if.” I rolled my eyes. “I told Scotty all about Rafe. He can’t wait for the opportunity to meet him.”
He ignored me, which I knew he would. He’d already explained to me that once Ego started feeding, he’d only need Scotty.
But I still thought Lysandro owed it to Ego to take him to Velvet Vein and see how others lived and where they got their nourishment.
I had no doubt I’d talk him into it eventually.
“Anyway, don’t change the subject. Tell me about the Dreamveil.”
He sighed and leaned back on his hands. I tucked in next to him—because he was right there and he was hot—and waited while he parsed his words. Lysandro was so thoughtful that way. Never a wasted breath.
“So you know Kingston is a Dreamwalker and Sky is his tether, right?” he asked.
“I’d heard that, but I didn’t really know what it meant. Scotty tried explaining it better, but I’m confused about how Ego might play into that.”
Lysandro hummed. “That makes sense. Where King and Sky go are the places that monsters or malicious spirits go to haunt human dreams.”
“But Ego’s not human.”
Lysandro kissed the side of my head. “No, he’s not, but there’s a pocket dimension within the Veil that allows Makers to connect to their fledglings as they slumber. I’m still researching what’s happening with Ego, but have no doubt, I’ll get to the bottom of it.”
He got up and walked around the bed, sitting back down to lean against the headboard. Having no shame when it came to him, I crawled over and sat pressed as close as I could get.
“Is Scotty worried?” Lysandro asked.
“Yeah.” I didn’t think I was breaking Scotty’s confidence, and Lysandro needed to know. “I think he really cares about Ego.”
Lysandro snorted, mumbling so softly I almost didn’t hear, “It’s almost like we’re having the same experience.”