She held up a hand, cutting me off. “Don’t worry. I covered for you. I’ll have to rearrange your schedule from here on out.”
“Why?”
She smiled sadly. “I’m afraid your days in the sunshine are over.”
“What does that even mean?”
“Oh, Ego.”
I woke againfrom the sound of the door opening and closing softly behind it. I hadn’t really been asleep, just resting, trying to retrieve all the fractured memories from last night.
“It’s a good thing you didn’t have a concert tonight,” Delaney said. “But you have one tomorrow, so we need to get you sorted.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
She smiled brightly, but it was fake. “I know you don’t. But I’m going to explain it all to you.” She sat at the end of the bed.
That’s what she’d promised before she’d rushed out of here earlier, after her ominousyour days in the sun are over.
“Ego, I hate to tell you this, but you’ve been turned.”
Affronted, I reared my head back. “Turned? What does that even mean? Turned into what? Did something happen? Did I get dragged on social media or something?”
Delaney rolled her eyes. “This has nothing to do with your career, my boy. I’m saying that a vampire changed you.”
My brain scrambled, trying to make sense of her words. I knew there were vampires. I’d met one back in Willowhope, and he was pretty much the sweetest guy ever. But I’d never told Delaney that. I’d never told her anything. She didn’t know about the paranormal—that I was a witch, and I sure as hell hadn’t told her about vampires. She’d have thought I was off my rocker.
She reached forward and grabbed my hands, clasping them between hers. “What I’m about to tell you is going to sound unbelievable. Fantastical, even. But the truth of the matter is, the supernatural exists. Paranormal beings walk this plane.”
I narrowed my eyes at her.
“I know you don’t believe me,” she hastened to add. “But it’s true.”
“But how do you know? It’s a secret,” I said. “I’m not supposed to talk to anybody about magic or witches or vampires or anything.”
This time, her eyes narrowed at me. “Since when do you believe in all of those things?”
I averted my gaze. “I…”
“Ego,” she said sharply. “It’s very important right now that we’re on the same page. I need to know what you know.”
“So, it just so happens that…mmm, remember how I told you about my cousin, Skyler? The one who lives in Willowhope?”
She gave a sharp nod. “The reason you bought that absurd mini-castle in that small town on the Jersey Shore?”
I nodded briskly. “Exactly. It just so happens that, well, I’m not really supposed to say.”
Delaney stood abruptly, planting her hands on her hips. “Ego, you’re a motherfuckin’ vampire. At this point, you can’t hide anything from me.”
A vampire?How the hell could I be a vampire? I was a sound witch. I just found out that I was a sound witch, and now this? It didn’t make any sense.
I shook my head furiously from side to side. “No, no, no. How is that possible?”
Delaney sank down on the mattress next to me. “I’m so sorry, Ego. This is the reality of the situation, and I can’t help you if you don’t tell me everything you already know.”
My gaze snapped to hers. “Why aren’t you freaking out? How do you know vampires are real?”
Delaney sucked in a deep breath. “There’s something I should probably tell you.”
