“True. Do I need to go on, Ego? Rosie, Elyse, Cassi, and Carli all have magic. Then let’s not forget all our ghostly friends, including my brother.”
I jabbed him in the chest. “You.” Jab. “Are.” Jab. “Not.” Jab. “Special.”
His face fell, and he deflated backward, falling on his butt on the floor. “That’s true. At least not anymore.”
What did he mean by not anymore? Everything about Ego’s behavior right now was worrisome. Lysandro side-eyed me again, sat on the edge of his wingback, leaning forward. “What do you mean, not anymore?”
With his temple resting on his knee and his hair obscuring half his face, Ego murmured, “Everything’s ruined. I can’t tour looking like this. People will wonder why I’m not making daytime appearances. Plus…I’m not a sound witch anymore.”
I didn’t even wait to see what Lysandro had to say to that. “But you’re still making beautiful music.”
He scoffed. I dropped down in front of him, sitting cross-legged. “It’s true. I’ve been tuning into Dead Air since you started the channel. I watch your newest song every night before I go to bed.” I threw my arms out to my sides. “That’s how I ended up here. I recognized the shadow of the pillar in the background from Jetty’s website where he has pictures of the reconstruction of your house.”
“You’re just being nice,” Ego said.
It was my turn to scoff. “Since when have you known me to be nice?” Theto youwent unsaid.
“I think you’re lovely,” Lysandro said.
I cocked my eyebrow. “For a human?”
He scrunched his nose. “For any being. Personally, I don’t discriminate. Doesn’t matter what species you are, what color, what sex, there are good and bad everywhere. What matters is what’s in your heart and how you treat people.”
“For vampires, too?” Ego asked.
“Especially for vampires.” Lysandro joined us on the floor. “Now tell me more about this Dead Air.”
I didn’t want to discuss Dead Air or Ego’s popstar career or anything that had to do with music, but I could tell how much it was affecting Ego to think he wouldn’t be a sound witch anymore, so I pulled out my phone and went to Dead Air’s channel.
What I really wanted to discuss was Ego avoiding the people who loved him. Then I wanted to learn more about vampirism, but getting that tragic expression off of the fledgling’s face had to take precedence. I never wanted anyone to feel like I had after Stevie died, so if reassuring him about his aptitude for music would help, then Dead Air it was.
Chapter 9
Scotty
Runningup the stairs to the library, I hoped I’d made it before Lysandro left for Ego’s. Considering it was another hour until sunset, I assumed he’d be here, unless he was taking advantage of the daylight hours to get some rest, too.
My heart sank when I approached the desk at the main hub and was greeted by a white-haired older woman I’d never met as she put on her jacket. Benji, the teenager sorting through books behind her merely glanced at me.
“Hi. Um, is Lysandro here?” I crossed my fingers behind my back, hoping against hope that he was.
“He sure is, sweetie,” she replied with a hurried smile, obviously ready to end her shift and head home. “He’s down in the basement.”
“Oh. Can I?—”
“I’ve got this, Miss Irene,” Benji said, stepping around her.
“But he can’t go down there,” she replied.
He bobbed his head, sending his lanky blond hair fluttering around his head. “I know. I’ll have him wait at a back table while I run and get him. This is a friend of Lysandro’s.”
Miss Irene smiled. “Oh, how nice. He needs a life outside of this place.”
The kid grinned at her and patted her arm. “He does. See you tomorrow?”
“You sure will. Bye now,” she said to me before heading out.
Benji gestured me toward the other end of the long desk, so I met him there. “Thank you so much,” I said.
