“No,” Chance said, interrupting Sky’s protest. “Scotty’s just getting home, and I imagine he’s hungry.”
“Must be nice.” Sky crossed his arms over his chest. “I haven’t had an appetite in weeks. You know, since my cousin fell off the face of the Earth.”
“Sweetheart,” King said, wrapping his arms across his boyfriend’s shoulders. “You’re being a little?—”
Sky’s finger shot up in the air. “Don’t you dare tell me I’m being dramatic. You don’t know…” His voice trailed off, then he cleared his throat. “Ego’s story isn’t mine to tell, but he’s been through a lot. And so much of it’s bad…like really, really awful. And no matter what, he’s kept in touch with me.
“When we were both too busy to chat, I could always see what he was up to onYouTube, but he’s gone there, too. Do you know how scared I am? My cousin’s like aYouTubefiend. I’ve teased him a million times that he needs to seek help for his addiction, and all of a sudden…nothing. It’s been months. Something’s?—”
“He’s at his mini-castle,” I said quickly. “He’s been home almost a month.”
“What?” Sky shrieked. “Why didn’t he tell me? How do you know? What the actual fuck is going on?”
I’d known since before I’d fallen asleep last night what today would hold, but doing it was harder than I imagined. Deciding to rip the band-aid off, I gazed slowly around the room, meeting every eye, then said, “Ego’s a vampire.”
Tellingthem had gone about like I expected. Which is to say, there was shock, disbelief, outrage, grief, and then silent acceptance. No one else had been as psyched as me, which was either because they’d already known vampires were real or I was just a total dick. Hopefully, it was a little of both.
Maybe.
Okay, there was a possibility I should’ve given Ego a little more grace for his reaction. Although, in my own defense, I would go nuclear if I ever came across the piece of shit vampire who turned him. The lack of consent and abandonment were both equally disgusting, and he needed to pay.
It was just after sunset now, and Lysandro arrived earlier to feed Ego before we came. I’d heard the relief in the old vamp’s voice when I’d called to inform him that Ego had given me permission to tell his people about the change. He’d promised to come, let Ego know, and keep him calm until we arrived.
Sky hovered over me as I entered the code into the keypad. He choked back a sob, and I paused with my hand on the door handle. “What’s wrong?”
“He used a combination of our birthdays for the code.”
King tightened his grip on his boyfriend’s shoulders and kissed the top of his head. “See, we all told you he still loves you.”
Sky’s eyes glimmered with tears, so I turned away quickly. Ego’s situation sucked in so many ways, but I was happy that he and Sky had each other. From all I’d picked up, neither one of their parents were worthy of the title, but they weren’t alone.
I wasn’t alone either since we’d come to Willowhope, and Stevie had appeared to me. I guessed technically, I’d never been alone. His spirit had been following me since the minute he’dpassed away, but I hadn’t known it. And even now, with the revelation of how different our existences were now with me still breathing and him dead, I keenly felt the loss of a blood relative, but…
I blew out a breath. This wasn’t about me. If I wanted to lay in bed and feel sorry for myself later, I could, but first, I needed to finish the handoff and put Ego into Sky’s care.
As I led Sky and King across the vestibule to the room Ego essentially spent all his waking hours in, I was a little surprised at how slowly Sky was following me. Vampire hearing was extremely keen, but I wasn’t sure Sky realized that, so I went back and whispered, “What’s wrong?” in his ear.
“Are you…are you sure he wants me here? I don’t…” He wrung his hands together in front of him.
Lysandro blurred into the room and smiled kindly at Sky. “He’s nervous about your visit, but he was more scared you wouldn’t show.”
Sky’s eyes widened, and a look of fierce determination settled on his face. He pulled away from King and stormed into the other room. “Why in the hell wouldn’t I come?” he yelled at his cousin.
King snorted, clearly amused, but I wasnotamused. At all. I’d explained what a big deal it had been for me to reveal Ego’s secret to them. Sky couldn’t just go around yelling at him. I didn’t care if they were family.
Rushing in there, I stopped short behind Sky. Ego was half-curled under a blanket in his favorite spot, paler than I’d ever seen him and still as a statue. It wasn’t the unnatural stillness that alarmed me, though. It was the sheer panic frozen across his face, and the way he clutched at that damn amulet.
Pushing past Sky, I ran to the couch, settling half my butt cheek onto the cushion next to him and curling my hands around his cold ones. “Ego, what’s wrong?” I asked softly.
When he didn’t respond, not even a twitch of his eyes, I smoothed a hand through his hair. “Ego, are you okay?”
Under my touch, I began to feel a tremor wracking his body. Glancing over my shoulder at Lysandro for help, he stayed where he was and merely nodded toward me in a go-ahead gesture. Well, damn. Why wasn’t he helping?
Moving my gaze to Sky, I found him huddled into Kingston, looking distraught. I cleared my throat and turned back to Ego. “What do you need?” He exhaled softly, just enough for me to smell the coppery scent of Lysandro’s blood. “That’s it, Ego. Come on. Tell me what I can do. I can’t read your mind, so you have to give me a hint.”
He turned the hand clutching the amulet over, so we were palm to palm, and he squeezed my hand. “Stay here, okay?” he whispered so quietly I had to bend over and put my ear near his mouth to hear him.
“Of course.” Not wanting to keep my back to the others—but also wanting to retain my hold on Ego—I crawled over him, twisting and sitting on the back of the couch. “Why don’t you guys sit in the wingbacks?” I said to King and Sky.
