“Oh, very good, dear,” Rosie said. “We haven’t trained you at all yet, and you did that just perfectly.”
“Trained me?” he asked warily.
She smiled at him with such fondness that I felt his body relax back into me even more. “Of course.” She clapped herhands together in front of her chest. “An anchor and a bridge, oh my. That’s some serious magic. You’re going to need to center yourself, and we really should figure out what’s more your affinity.”
She gave a full-body wiggle. “But don’t worry. Elyse, Carli, Cassi, and I are going to start working on a series of videos for baby witches.”
He turned his head, looking at me with wide eyes. He didn’t even have to say what I already knew he was thinking.Videos for baby witches?Oh my.
Lysandro clucked his tongue, drawing all of our attention. “We all need to get in our places. Scotty, I’m sorry there isn’t time to bring you up to speed, but here’s all you have to know. Once Ego’s asleep, the ladies, Chance, and Delaney will help do the spell while you hold Ego’s head in your lap and the compass in your right hand. The compass will ensure that the Veil opens on this side. Once that’s done, Ego will be able to pull his Maker here.”
Confused, I shook my head. “How will I be doing that exactly? I’m pretty sure he’d have crossed that river to get me by now if that was an option.”
Scotty eyed me speculatively. “That’s where his sound witch magic comes in, isn’t it?” he asked Lysandro.
“Sound witch magic?” I asked, feeling that old heartbreak over losing that special gift that connected me to Sky, Chance, and the amazing women around here. “It’s gone. It disappeared when I became a vampire.”
Delaney cleared her throat in that way she did when I’d annoyed her. “Didn’t I tell you I came to sign Dead Air?”
I couldn’t believe she was talking about music right now. “Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?”
She threw her arms up. “Everything, silly vamp-witch. Absolutely everything. You didn’t lose your sound magic. Iwasn’t replacing you, no matter what you thought or said. But then I heard this music calling out to me.” She smirked. “I should’ve known it was you. You have a gift, my friend. You haven’t lost a thing.”
Scotty smiled at me sweetly. “I’ve been thinking that, too. Even when you hum around the castle, it affects the atmosphere. It’s special. Beyond just being talented.”
Were they right? Was that why even as I tried to throw my career away, I immediately started working on something else? Was it more than just a love of singing and strumming my guitar, but something innate inside of me that needed to break out? Holy shit! Was I seriously two badass things at once? If so, I kinda rocked.
“Indeed, it is,” Lysandro picked up like there hadn’t been a whole other conversation happening. “Your Maker doesn’t realize who he’s messing with. Not only are you also a witch, which makes you more powerful, but you have an anchor which keeps you attached to your humanity and can hold back the beast until you control him instead of the other way around, and luckily for us?—”
Elyse clucked her tongue, cutting him off. “Not luck. Destiny.”
Lysandro adjusted his collar and pulled out his pocket watch. Snapping it closed, he said, “Yes, well. Whatever it may be, Scotty’s a bridge, which means the portal for you and your Maker can be altered by him. It’s getting close to sunrise, so Ego doesn’t have much time before he falls asleep on his feet. Everyone needs to take their places.”
I headed toward the mattress, but Booker, standing behind the couch, pointed down. “I made this up for you.”
“Why the couch?” I asked the room at large.
“The mattress is for King and Sky. As soon as we know you’re anchored, they’ll be going to sleep. They can’t go exactly whereyou are, but with the anchoring in place, you should be able to hear them the same way you heard Scotty.”
Scotty and I exchanged dubious glances. I knew they’d worked hard on this plan, but it didn’t really sound all that practical or possible.
Elyse waltzed up to me, smiling sweetly, and held out her arms. I let her pull me into a motherly hug, which, honestly, I needed right now. “Don’t worry, sweet boy. You have this.”
“But I don’t know how to use my magic yet.”
“Yes, you do,” she insisted. “Ego, all you have to do is open your mouth. You can sing or hum or even click your tongue against the roof of your mouth.” She stroked the back of my head. “Or you can always clap your hands or stomp your feet. Whatever moves you in that moment will work with your magic. Just let it out so the vibrations will surround you.”
“Yeah?” I asked, feeling ready to cry.
She pressed a kiss to my temple. “One hundred percent.”
As she let me go, Scotty tucked me into his side for the last few steps to the couch. Once we got there, he pushed my shirt up and off me. “You can’t strip naked in here, but you should at least be comfortable.”
“You, too,” Lysandro said. “You’ll be cradling him, so skin-to-skin contact might help make sure he hears you tell him to come back.”
“What does that mean?” I asked, sliding onto the couch, my back to Scotty’s bare chest. Like always, his warmth gave me comfort.
“You can’t draw him back before sundown. I have a feeling he’s old enough to walk during the day, but you’re not. If you grab him and wrestle him out too soon, you won’t be able to wake up, and he’ll figure out you’re up to something.”
