Page 17 of Threads of Crimson 2

“You wanna make out?” I teased, waggling my brows.

The words were no sooner out of my lips when my back hit the bed, and my beast devoured my mouth like he’d die without it. I’d call that a win.

Chapter seven

Lysandro

As reluctant as Ego still was to feed, he’d finally expressed interest in other parts of his new nature. Outside of giving him his blood, Ego’s Sire’s most important job would’ve been to train him and teach him about the abilities he’d inherited.

This was one of the many reasons why I’d never created my own fledglings. It was easier to ignore the parts of my past that filled me with resentment if I lived in the here and now.

Mentoring Ego meant having to confront the flashes of my own time as a fledgling. Having to confront the terror and loss in the beginning, as well as how much my beast came to love the blood and carnage.

“Lysandro, have you lost your mind?” Scotty yelled after I blew a hole in the back of Ego’s thigh with my rifle. He kept fussing at me while babying Ego, and I blocked them out.

I’d already explained my methods once. If Ego had any chance of survival when he undoubtedly encountered another of our kind, he needed to understand how to move his body and control his fear. That hole in his leg would knit together and be unblemished by the time I packed up and walked out the door.

It was easy to leave Ego in Scotty’s capable hands to clean him up and help him regulate, but I found myself blurring back to the library with unexpected urgency.

There was no reason to since I’d told Benji to go back to Belflower Lane tonight. He knew my plan to inflict pain on Ego so that he could see how resilient his new body was. I also didn’t need to feed. Somehow, Benji had spent the night in my bed in the basement every night since that first time. He needed space and time to relax. My office without windows was no place for a mortal.

Benji had been here every night, but for some reason tonight, I fluctuated between hoping he’d left and hoping he hadn’t. My emotions were all over the place, and I didn’t want him to see me like this. I also didn’t want to be alone. Damien would laugh his ass off if he could see me now.

As I cracked the door, I hesitated when I heard giggling. Benji was here. He’d stayed, and…I was thankful. Stepping inside, I watched as he lay on his stomach, swinging his feet, and talking to Rafe on a video call.

Not wanting either of them to say something accidentally that they didn’t want me to hear, and because Benji was enjoying himself too much to have heard me come in, I cleared my throat.

He jumped, then spun, and a huge smile spread across his already happy face. “Lysandro, you’re home.”

I forced a smile that must’ve fallen short because his eyebrows scrunched, and he hung up with Rafe within thirty seconds. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“Okay, well, you’re lying. You just gave me one of those big, goofy grins you give people in the library and now you’re just standing there, so something’s wrong.”

“I…don’t know what’s the matter with me.”

He huffed and rolled off the bed. “Come here,” he said, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me into his arms. “Hug me back.”

My arms felt like dead weight as I lifted them and clasped them around him loosely. Benji put his head on my chest, rubbing soothing circles on my back and rocking us. “Tell me what happened.”

“You know what I was doing today,” I murmured.

“Was it that bad?”

“Awful, but not for Ego,” I admitted. “Maybe a little bit for Ego. He wasn’t exactly psyched that I hit him, stabbed him, and shot him.”

Benji pulled back and peered at me. “Seriously?”

“Of course,” I said, baffled that he was having the same reaction as Ego and Scotty. Benji had been around my kind for years at this point. “He’s a vampire.”

He shook his head, laughing. “I think it’s been too long since you were human.”

His words made all my conflicting thoughts from this evening rush to the forefront, and my shoulders drooped.

Benji pushed right back in like he wanted to hold me up. “Wrong thing to say?”

“No.” I kissed his temple and moved to the chair, pulling him along behind me. He was always up for kissing and petting, and he adored snuggling—whether he knew that or not, I wasn’t sure—but I’d fall apart if we stretched out on the bed together.