Ego dropped the pillow, crowding into my space and gripping both of my hands in his tightly. “No. The two of you together. Who knows how many people you’ll get to rescue? That’s so much cooler than what I do.”
It was my turn to get intense. “That’s not true. You help people every day.”
He pffted.
“I mean it, Ego. Your music touches people. Your lyrics mean something. Behind the glitz and glam, there’s so much depth.There’s strength, survival, hope. You have no idea how far your message goes.”
A tear slipped down his cheek. “You think so?”
“I know so.”
He sniffed, pushing back the moisture glistening on his eyelids, then shook his head. “A soulmate, huh?” he asked, waggling his eyebrows.
This was his way. When things got too heavy, when I got too close to the foundation of where his music came from, the heartbroken muse of his inner-child, he joked around. It was okay. I got it. Besides, all this supernatural stuff was mind-blowing and intoxicating in its own right, but it was King that stole the show for me.
So pulling Ego back next to my side, I snuggled in for a giggly gossip session about my man—the one who made my heart skip a beat, the soulmate who’d been chosen for me at birth, the person who’d stolen my heart, and I hoped more than anything that he planned on keeping it.
We talked until dawn, knowing the new day would be long, but it was worth it for both of us. Then he did yoga with my found-family and me, which was incredible, having him and his energy there by my side. It felt right somehow.
When the car arrived to drive him back to NYC, I prayed that the next time I saw him I’d have even more revelations for him—like what it meant to be a Reign descendant.
Chapter 14
King
Yes,I felt awful that I hadn’t told Sky anything about the whole Lorewarden gig, but there hadn’t been time last night. First of all, we’d dealt with everything Ego, and I’d left them to have a sleepover and talk over all the things.
Secondly, I’d still been turning it around in my head. It seemed like ever since Chance moved to Willowhope, one magical thing after another had revealed itself. Answers I’d been seeking were found, but this? In no part of my imagination had I ever pictured having to explainThe Vault. And I could. Malcolm told me that, unlike him, I was allowed to share with my family.
He’d never been able—with the exception of his wife before she’d passed on from cancer since there were times he’d had to answer calls at all hours. Considering what we did, town records and permits and such…it hadn’t made sense to her for him to rush out of the house in the middle of the night for an emergency. He’d gotten permission—not that he’d told me from who—and he’d been able to share this remarkable honor with her.
He still hadn’t been able to bring her into The Vault. Nor would I be allowed. It kind of sucked after all these years of spending time alone in my dreams, seeing things aroundWillowhope, now that I finally had Sky along for the ride with me, there was something new that I’d be left to do alone. After Malcolm finished my training, anyway. Which sucked. With Sky by my side, I’d come to realize how lonely I’d been all these years.
But that wasn’t atodayproblem. Apparently, my Lorewarden training had begun with all the years of Malcolm watching me, studying me, making sure that I was made of the stuff he thought I was. He knew who my grandparents were, and he’d witnessed my mother’s pull away from our family heritage firsthand, so I’d had that going for me. No secrets. But he said my grandparents weren’t what had caused him to choose me, to hire me as a clerk, and keep an eye on me. He said I’d stood out to him, like my image was in 4D. Whatever that meant.
He’d laughed at my confusion and said that he’d felt the very same way when the Lorewarden before him told him why he’d been chosen. Unfortunately, their training time had been cut short when the woman before him had died in a tragic car accident. Malcolm felt like she’d waited too long to start officially working with him anyway. He’d already been forty years old, and she’d been watching him for twenty years.
He wanted us to have more time together. He didn’t plan to retire for another ten years, so for at least that time, we’d be working side by side. Lorewarden and apprentice. Finally, I’d be doing something where someone planned to show me what the hell I was supposed to do. It would be a nice change from what Sky and I had gotten from my grandparents.
Although Sky had told me he had a lot to share about what he’d learned from Gran yesterday morning. We obviously hadn’t gone into that last night in front of Ego, either. That poor guy had enough on his plate with my grandfather’s ghostly revelation. I blew out a breath.
So on the one hand, it worked out because I wasn’t faced with telling Sky about The Vault—or having to make the decision about what to tell him regarding his family having a Grimoire out there somewhere—but it also sucked since I didn’t know what Gran had told him about that dreadful voice from the Dream-veil.
I’d planned to have her fill me in, but she’d been in bed, snoring softly when I came back from giving Sky and Ego a ride to the manor. Then she’d been gone this morning when I woke up. I’d been alarmed until I’d arrived at the B&B to find her, Sky, Chance, Elyse, and surprisingly enough, Ego, all head down, ass up, doing yoga.
We also hadn’t been pulled into the Dream-veil last night, which on the one hand was great for Sky and his sleepover, but sucked for that poor guy who’d been tortured by that faceless voice. I had no doubts that just because we hadn’t been pulled in, he hadn’t still endured a night of suffering.
“Good, you’re here,” Malcolm said as I walked briskly toward my office.
“Sorry, I’m late. I got a little lost in my head this morning.”
He waved me off. “Put your stuff down and follow me.” Obediently, I did as he said, then we went through the same process as the day before, ending up in The Vault. He rubbed his hands together gleefully. “First things first.”
As he scrambled around the room pulling thick tomes off the shelves, I asked, “Do you need help?”
He grunted, holding far more of those huge ass books than it looked like he should be able to carry in one arm, and pointed toward the table. “Go sit.”
Again, I followed his direction and sat on one of two high-backed stools. Huh. I wondered where he’d pulled these from. Malcolm walked around the other side of the table, placing the books in front of me. The top one had a symbol on the cover thatresembled a snake wrapped tightly around what looked like a crow or raven or something. Malcolm tapped the image. “House of Crowley.”
