9. Chapter Nine
Chapter nine
Benji
Why was it so fuckin’ hot watching Lysandro kill someone? It sent shivers down my spine—and not the bad kind. He’d come dressed like he was headed to Velvet Vein tonight, not like the quirky librarian, and I was here for it.
As he swayed on his feet, I ran up to help support him. “You came after I told you not to,” he said, sounding fond and not at all surprised.
He turned back to Ego, informing him that with his Sire gone, he was now his. The pop star who’d been so sulky about his new status positively glowed.
“So should I call you…Master?” Ego asked.
“Absolutely not,” Lysandro snapped.
Ego looked crestfallen, and I pinched my grumpy vampire’s side. He was generally so good with people in this town—especially these people—but he got so bitchy when it came to anything from his own vampiric community.
Lysandro side-eyed me, then moved closer to Ego. “You may call me Father.” He paused. “If you wish.”
Ego fell into Lysandro’s arms, so I moved to anchor the ancient one from behind. He thought he was a real badass, but the interplay between him and his brother, with the killing afterward, had obviously taken it out of him. I didn’t think it was physical, but rather emotional.
Scotty grinned at me, and I returned it. Now that this menace was gone, maybe now we could all figure out where we went from here.
And I still needed to tell Lysandro about those damn letters.
“Why are we here?” Lysandro asked after King, one of the Scooby-Doo crew, dropped us off in front of the home on Belflower Lane.
“Because you need a good night’s sleep in your own bed.” Keeping one arm around him, even though he was less shaky now, I maneuvered him toward the front door.
He hesitated with his foot hovering over the first step to the porch. “But…”
“No buts, Lysandro. You can’t keep living in the basement of the library. I don’t care how nice it is; it’s not your home.”
He stared at me, and it was like the early years in Velvet Vein. I had no idea what thoughts were going through his head.
“If you won’t come in with me, then I’ll go back to the library and sleep in your office cave. Hell, I’ll move in there. It doesn’t make any sense—”
He leaned down and pressed his lips to mine. “No, you’re right,” he said after kissing me senseless. “We’ve been sleeping together every night. It’s unreasonable to make you run back here each day to change.”
I huffed. “You silly vamp. This is your home, not mine.”
His lips tipped up at the corners. “It’s definitely yours, as well.”
Giddy delight made me want to dance a little jig because I was pretty sure I was getting my way, but I didn’t want to put the cart before the horse. There was still the matter of getting him to share a bed with me. With us being in the same house, who knew what barriers he’d try to erect?
“Are you hungry?” he asked as we crossed the threshold.
“Not really. I kinda ate my way through every snack I had earlier.” I shrugged. “My nerves got the best of me.”
He nodded once, then grabbed my hand and led me upstairs to the room I’d been occupying. To his room. I braced for him to turn around and walk out, but instead he moved to his en suite. “I’m going to shower this disgustingness off of me.”
“Do you want company?” I asked, trying to play it cool, but even to my own ears I heard the plea.
Instead of answering me, he started dropping clothes right where he stood, exposing his beautifully pale body to me for the first time.
I feasted on every bit of exposed flesh.
Turning, he crossed into the bathroom, his ass muscles flexing with each glide of his feet.
Looking over his shoulder, he asked, “Well, are you coming?”
I didn’t think I’d ever scrambled out of my clothes so fast. He stepped into the shower, then held a hand out to me, pulling me in so we were facing each other under the warm spray—all vestiges of Vesper rinsing off him and swirling down the drain.
“I’m not up to any kind of sexy time tonight,” he admitted. “I’m tired.”
Looking up at him from under lowered lashes, I admitted, “I want to do all the things with you, but right now, I just want to clean you. Is that okay? Can I just be here for you while you process? I can’t imagine how it felt to see your brother come through the Veil or how it feels to have a fledgling now, but I want to support you through it all. ”
His gaze moved to the side as he nodded his head. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he looked bashful. Pumping soap into my palm, I rubbed my hands together until I had a nice lather. Stroking over his surprisingly soft skin, from his shoulders down his chest, I sighed. “This is my idea of heaven.”
He chuckled. “You and this concept of heaven again.” Cupping my chin and pulling my eyes up to meet his and off his dusky pink nipples, he said, “You, Benji Parker, are my treasure.”
I didn’t know what our futures held next. Lysandro would have to deal with the outcomes of killing Vesper, and I still needed to tell him about the letters. But those were issues for another time. For now, I would love on Lysandro as much as he’d allow, and I’d bask in being his treasure.
Lysandro
“Are you sure about this?” Benji asked, stroking a finger down my cheek. The sun had risen a few hours ago, and luckily for me, he was exhausted and ready for sleep, too.
“It’s what I must do, my treasure. I can’t just abandon those whom Vesper created.” I kissed the palm of his hand. “I came to terms with the possibility of that before Ego pulled Vesper from the Dreamveil.”
“Okay, then.” He pulled back the covers on my bed—well, I guessed it was his bed now—or maybe, maybe it could just be our bed. I didn’t hate the thought of that. In fact, I thought I might just love it.
“Can you…will you leave your clothes off?” I asked him, desperately needing to feel his soft skin.
He waggled his eyebrows at me. “Ohhh, so you do wanna have a little sexy time?”
Chuckling, I shook my head. “That would certainly relax me, but I think I need to deal with this first. They’ll have already felt the break with their Sire. I don’t want to leave any of the fledglings adrift.”
Steeling my resolve, I continued, “I can’t leave any of his children who seek the comfort of a Master without one.”
Dropping the bathrobe he’d put on when I insisted he have breakfast before bed, he wrapped his arms around me. “You’re such a good man. I know this isn’t what you wanted, but you’re doing it anyway.”
Squeezing him tightly, relishing the heat of his skin under my hands, I admitted, “The High Priestess was right. It was silly of me to ever think I could escape my destiny.”
Pushing him back, I waved at his underwear. “Take those off, too.”
Benji promptly pushed them down his legs, then stood and put his hands on his narrow hips. “You need to get naked, too. I need skin on skin, Lysandro.”
The hint of vulnerability on his face reminded me that my actions hadn’t just changed my life.
Becoming Ego’s father would impact Scotty and Benji, as well.
While the three of them liked each other, there was no telling who might come out of the woodwork once I sent out an all-call through the Veil.
Holding his gaze, I undid the sash of my satin robe, letting it drop at my feet. Then I pulled him back into my arms and slotted our lips together in a soft kiss. “I don’t want you to worry about anything, okay? No matter what happens or who comes looking for me, I’ll keep you safe.”
He sighed, resting his forehead on my chest. “I know you will.”
He climbed into bed, and when I went to lay down next to him, he opened his legs and patted the mattress between them. “Let me hold you while you do this.”
“But you won’t—”
“I’ll be more comfortable if you’re in my arms. I promise. You going into this Dreamveil kind of freaks me out.”
He wasn’t kidding. It made me a little nervous, too. I’d heard stories about the Veil, and I’d had brethren who talked about it like it was going for a trip to the grocery store. My Mother had never had a use for it, though. At least not with me. I’d always been close, right where she wanted me.
Giving in to Benji, hoping it would ease both of our nerves, I crawled onto the mattress and sat between his legs, letting his warmth envelope me. He kissed the side of my forehead, mumbling, “Have sweet sleeps. I’ll be here when you come back.”
“I…thank you, my treasure. I truly don’t know how I’d have survived this without you.”
Benji hummed contentedly, and I closed my eyes.
Okay, this was wild. I didn’t know exactly where I was, but it didn’t look anything like what Ego had described. There was no stone bed or river, and it didn’t feel ominous.
It was actually quite lovely. Standing at the outer edge of a meadow, I glanced behind me and saw a mansion, rivaling the size of Ego’s mini-castle in the distance.
The large structure was the only view obstructed by fog.
Turning to face what lay before me, the rest of the meadow was surrounded by trees.
To the west, the moon hovered right above the horizon, as the navy and indigo sky began to brighten into pink and gold to the east. As I turned that direction, I heard the waves crashing against the shoreline and smelled the ocean in the breeze.
It was so peaceful that I wanted to bring Benji here. I’d really been missing out.
Benji. Knowing that he waited for me, worried for me, propelled me to get down to business. I wasn’t sure exactly what to do, so this was where I had to believe that nature would take over.
“Children of Vesper. Those who called him Master, Maker, Creator, and Sire, I have news.”
It was as if those words were an incantation of their own. Silhouettes began to appear all along the tree line. Remembering I went to bed naked, I lifted my arms and looked down at my chest, relieved to see that I was in my Velvet Vein wardrobe—black on black.
I waited, hoping that all would answer the call.
I knew from my own experience that they each felt the severing, but I wasn’t sure if they’d all felt the new connection as easily as Ego had.
For all I knew, it had been our proximity or the fact that we’d already started developing a bond—even before I’d wanted that.
After a few moments, I scanned the area, completely horrified by the numbers. It had to be close to a hundred, if not more. Had all of these poor souls been turned without their consent? The thought of it made me sick to my stomach, and I wanted to bring Vesper to his final death all over again.
“Thank you, dear ones, for answering my call. I am Lysandro Moretti. Vesper, the one who turned you, was put to his final death by my hand. He confessed his dark wishes, his dreams of building an army with you all to dismantle the world as we know it.
“I promise you that cannot be done. He was surely sentencing you all to a most unpleasant second death. Unlike him, I do not wish to control or coerce you for my own evil intent. You are free, children. Free to go where you desire, free to find your own brand of peace.
“Since I took your Sire’s life, I’ve taken on his mantle.
I might not have made you, but I will be here for you.
If you should need to seek me, follow the cord that connects us.
Let it bring you to me, and I will be here waiting.
I will never act as your Master, but I shall be your guide. I shall be your friend. Forever.”
As the last words left my mouth, dozens of bloodlines snapped into place between me and those assembled.
I didn’t expect to ever meet most of them again—if one could even consider this actually seeing someone—but I would come to the Veil and check in regularly.
Make sure that they knew I meant it. Knew that I would always be here.
I woke with a start, finding Benji’s head propped on my shoulder as he slumbered. Moving a little, I kissed his temple. “And now we wait, my treasure. Now we wait.”