King snickered. “Good grief. Cousins? You’re more like twins.”
“So dramatic,” Gran said, blowing the steam off the top of her mug—the one that appeared in her hands as she spoke.
Ego’s hand shook as he raised it and pointed at her. “Wha…” His face went paler than it had with Lee’s flickering in and out. “I thought you were alive.”
“I am, dear.” She smiled kindly—sweetly. I’d buy it if she hadn’t just conjured a fresh cup of tea out of thin air. Lifting her mug toward him, she said, “I’m a high priestess.”
Ego’s head spun my direction, and he mouthed,Witch?
I nodded.
He passed back out.
“So what do I do?”Ego asked as we walked up the steps to the manor.
“Act natural. Buck and Stevie have been here the whole time, so?—”
He waved me off, shutting me up. “No. Not them. How do I get Scotty to like me?”
“Oh.” I stopped and stared at him. “I’m not sure that’s possible.”
Ego paused with his hands on the door handle. “Why not?”
“Uh…” I glanced back at King’s vehicle where he waited for us to make it safely inside. I wished he was here instead of there right now. I didn’t want to deal with this. Ego’s feelings would be hurt, and honestly, he hadn’t done anything wrong exactly. Most people considered him even more charming than me, and that was saying something. I was pretty awesome.
“Skylar Reign. Tell me.”
“Wouldn’t you rather talk about the ghosts?”
King rolled down the window and shouted, “You two okay? You need me?”
“We’re fine.” I blew him a kiss.
“Go in then. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Okay.” I waved, then, not being able to resist, I blew him another kiss.” He caught it, and grinning like a dork, I turned back to Ego. “You heard the man. Let’s go in.”
With a pout on his face, he opened the door and ran straight into Scotty. Scrambling to say something before he did, I vaguely heard the sounds of King pulling away.
“Hey, Scotty.” I waved.Ugh. I really was the goofiest goof who ever goofed.
“Hello, Scotty. How are you this evening?” Ego asked. “You’re looking lovely.”
Scotty’s gaze moved up and down Ego slowly—with utter disdain—before he dismissed him entirely and smiled at me. “Hey, Sky. We didn’t expect you tonight.”
Apparently, my cousin wanted to beat me for the title of goof because he rushed toward Scotty, almost knocking him down with golden retriever energy. “We came to see the ghosts,” he hissed quietly. “Isn’t that amazing?”
Unable to ignore him this time, Scotty took a step back and glared at him. “Considering the fact that one of those spirits you’re acting like is a carnival attraction here for your personal amusement is my brother, let me tell you no. It isn’t amazing. What would be amazing is if my older brother hadn’t died saving me. It would be epic if he was still here, for real. Not dead. So no, Ego. It’s not amazing. It’s sad and depressing, and I hate it.” Then he turned around and ran up the stairs.
Buck, Harry, and Stevie all blinked into existence. “Uh,” Stevie said. His gaze went from Ego to the stairs where his brother ran and back to Ego again. “Maybe we can talk later.I have to…” He hitched his thumb to where his brother had disappeared.
“No. Of course,” Ego said, pale again. Poor guy was really going through it tonight. We’d need to do some breathing exercises or something before he went to bed and get his body regulated. Tonight had been a lot. Maybe too much. “Take care of him. I’m sorry I upset him. All of you.” He looked miserable.
Stevie grimaced, then blinked out of sight.
Harry clucked his tongue. “You did nothing wrong, master Ego. Death is a part of life.”
Buck huffed at his man and dropped an arm over his shoulders. “What he means is, don’t worry about it. Scotty is usually happy enough that Stevie is even still here. He must just be having a rough night.”
