“Of course. Don’t you want to meet them?” he asked with a kind smile.
Wait. No. It wasn’t kind. It was cruel and manipulative.
“Look into my eyes, Ego.”
I did. I stared into that abyss, shaking my head. They weren’t cool or mesmerizing. They were cold. They didn’t have the same warmth as Lysandro. “You left me,” I said slowly.
“Oh, Ego,” he cooed. “Good children don’t need their sire. They prove themselves. That’s how you earn my time and attention. Just like you did.”
“Ego!” Scotty screamed from outside of this wasteland, jerking me the rest of the way out of this trance my attacker had drawn me into.
I took a step back and spit in the river between us. “You’re no sire.” Then I turned and ran.
My eyes openedas I gasped, clawing at my throat. Phantom liquid clogged my throat, drowning me.
“Ego,” Scotty cried, pulling me up and wrapping me in his arms.
Gasping, I clutched at his arms. “Scotty.”
“Are you okay? You were whimpering in your sleep and kicking your legs for the last two hours.”
“How long has the sun been up?” I asked, feeling my waking hunger beginning to claw at me. The blood rushing through his veins called to me, but the steady thumping of his heart soothed my inner-beast, keeping me from biting into his neck and taking what I needed.
“Half an hour. I didn’t know what to do, and I left my phone in the other room, and I was scared to leave you, so I wasn’t able to call Lysandro. I thought he’d be here by now, though.”
“I am here,” my mentor said, gliding into my room. His sharp eyes gauged the situation quickly before he handed me the goblet.
I took it with shaky hands, and Scotty helped hold it as I guzzled the nectar of life down, relishing in the coppery taste.
Lysandro sat at the end of the bed. “I think it’s time you tell me what’s going on.”
Letting the cup fall to the floor, I stumbled through an explanation of the dreams and what I’d been experiencing. Scotty’s grip on me tightened as I continued. By the time I was done, he was rocking me gently in his arms.
“It’s all real, isn’t it?” I concluded.
Lysandro pursed his lips, then nodded. “Yes, I’m afraid so. You’ve been in the Dreamveil.”
“Like King and Sky?” Scotty asked.
“In a way. There’s a pocket dimension within the Veil for vampires,” he said. Then he explained all the missing parts, how my attacker was able to see me and talk to me. How he was able to draw me toward him.
“He can’t have him,” Scotty said angrily after Lysandro was done.
“No, he can’t.”
Calmer now, I sat up, staying close to Scotty and his warmth. “But I can’t let him come here, either. He said if he had to come to me, he’d deal with my anchor.” I stared into Scotty’s warm,compassionate eyes. His concern was so visible in his expression that a protective fierceness rose in me that I’d never experienced in my life. “He won’t harm Scotty.”
Lysandro rose gracefully. “No, he won’t. I assumed something like this was coming, so I met with your people.”
“My people?” I asked.
Scotty huffed out a laugh. “He means theScooby-Doocrew.”
That drew a small smile from Lysandro’s pinched lips. “Indeed. I gathered everyone who was here the other night to discuss what I thought was happening. Rosie’s goddess, Hecate, joined our conversation with the use of Carli.”
“No shit,” Scotty and I said at the same time. I received an extra squeeze from that as he mumbled, “Twinning,” in my ear.
Lysandro moved toward the door. “I will need you two to meet me at the manor a couple of hours before sunrise so we can deal with this so-called Master Vampire together.”
