“You four will continue to support them, to guide them, to love them. You will continue your journey of assembling this family as you have until this day.
“Thank you, my children, my daughters, for all you have done for this land,” she concluded as her voice floated away.
Chapter 7
Ego
“Ego, are you listening to me?”Lysandro asked sharply.
No, actually, I wasn’t because I’d heard it all before. Lysandro had been coming every evening for the last two weeks, giving me his blood and lecturing me on the same things over and over.
You need to get off the couch, Ego. You have to test your new abilities, Ego. You should call your cousin so he can support you, Ego. You need to drink from my wrist, Ego.It was the same song and dance every damn night.
“Ego,” he rasped, a darker hint of his vampire nature coming through.
There was a time that would’ve scared me, but not anymore. First of all, no matter how frustrated Lysandro got with me, he was too nice a guy to hurt me. Truth be told, it was hard to picture him hurting a fly. He was the polar opposite of the dickhead who turned me.
Secondly, and by far most importantly, he’d be doing me a favor if his agitation with me led him to take me out. This nightmare would be over once and for all. Sky would mourn me, maybe even some of his found family, but that would be better than him having to deal with what I’d become.
And last but not least, I really just didn’t care. Eventually, he’d get sick of feeding me or he’d deem me ready to drink from a human—as if—and he’d quit coming around, and I’d go into that comatose state he kept warning me about.
Whatever. It didn’t matter. I didn’t know if I’d been born under a bad sign or what, but my life had always been less than picture-perfect. More like a horror film, to be honest, so it made sense that right when everything actually seemed to be going my way, it would all be ruined by an attack that shouldn’t have even been real.
“Dro, listen?—”
“Please quit calling me Dro,” he said, cutting me off. “I’ve told you before, it sounds weird.”
“Lys?” I asked, finding mild amusement at the affronted wrinkle of his nose.
Not dignifying my attempt at a nickname with an answer, he sat down primly in the chair across from me. “Ego, I’m being serious. I’m worried about you.”
Squeezing my eyes shut to block out the genuine concern on his face, I shook my head. “Maybe you shouldn’t waste your time on me. I know this isn’t?—”
Loud pounding at my front door, followed by the Westminster chimes going off repeatedly as someone jabbed at my doorbell, cut me off. Wide-eyed, I stared at Lysandro.
“Did you tell anyone I was here?”
Affronted, he sat up straighter, which hadn’t actually seemed possible. “Of course not. You asked for your privacy, and I’ve respected that, even though I think you’re wrong.”
“Is your car parked out front? Is that why whoever it is thinks someone’s in here?” I asked, panicking as the person continued their pounding.
Lysandro rolled his eyes. “This is why you need to pay attention to me. Why would I drive here when it’s quicker to run?”
My brain stuttered. Quicker to run? Was he serious?”
He shook his head, clearly irritated. “You need to learn about your nature. You can’t keep yourself…” He trailed off as the banging on the door increased in volume. “Oh my. Someone certainly wants to get in here.”
“But why?” I asked, feeling panicked. My place was set so far off the main road that most people didn’t even know it was here. Lysandro said he hadn’t told anyone I was here, and I most certainly didn’t, so who was out there? And why were they being so aggressive?
“Could it be…you know?” I asked softly, a little scared and glad that I wasn’t here alone.
“Your Master?” Lysandro asked. He went still as a statue, tilting his head in that curious way that he had. After a moment, he shook his head. “No, there’s a heartbeat. Although, there’s something familiar…”
Like he’d forgotten I was even here, or that this was my house, he got up and wandered slowly out of the room.
“Lysandro,” I hissed repeatedly, but he didn’t look back.
Unsure what to do, and now more worried that it was my cousin, Sky, out there, I crept across the room and out into the hall to hide behind the pillar, much like I did on Lysandro’s first visit.
