Several weeks earlier Eddie marched along the corridor, heading for the conference room on the executive floor of Scanguards’ Mission headquarters. Some major shit was going down, and he wasn’t going to miss out on the juicy action. He loved this job, the camaraderie with his fellow vampires, the friendship with his mentor, and the admiration of his sister. Nina was finally proud of him, of everything he’d achieved after taking the gamble of becoming a vampire. Finally, everybody was happy: Nina was bonded to Amaury, a major player at Scanguards, and from what Eddie could see, he was going totally gaga over her. He’d never seen a man so in love with a woman. That fact had erased all of Eddie’s doubts about whether a human-vampire relationship could work in the long run. Nina and Amaury made it look easy. They seemed made for each other.
As he walked along the hallway, his nostrils suddenly flared. Somewhere on this floor was a human. And that was a breach of security.
“Who else knows?”
Eddie recognized Blake’s voice. Even though Blake was Quinn’s grandson, and Quinn was a director at Scanguards, it still didn’t explain why the human had been allowed onto this floor. It was his duty to check it out and get the situation under control.
“Thomas. But he isn’t talking either. I already tried. Unfortunately he isn’t gonna tell you either,” Oliver responded, his voice coming from the alcove that housed a refrigerator and some shelves.
“But he might tell Eddie.”
At the sound of his name, Eddie stopped in his tracks. What would Thomas tell him? What secrets were these two talking about? He couldn’t help but remain where the two couldn’t see him and listen in on their conversation. He knew it was bad form, but something was fishy, and he’d find out what it was.
“Eddie? My god, you’re right. Why didn’t I think of that? Thomas would tell Eddie anything.
Everybody knows he’s got the hots for him.”
All air rushed out of Eddie’s lungs. His vision blurred, and his heart stopped beating. He couldn’t move, couldn’t react, though he must have made a sound, because Oliver suddenly took a step out from the alcove and snapped his head toward him.
“Oh shit!” Oliver cursed.
Blake let out a heavy breath, shooting him a shocked stare.
“Thomas . . . he . . . ” Eddie shook his head.
No, this couldn’t be true! Thomas couldn’t be attracted to him. This couldn’t be happening!
His mentor of over a year, the man he shared a house with, wanted to jump his bones? Fuck no!
Of course, Eddie had always known that Thomas was gay. Hell, everybody knew. Nobody had ever made a secret of it. And everybody accepted Thomas as he was: a generous man with a big heart, a brilliant mind. Nobody ever treated him any differently from any of the others.
Neither had Eddie. He’d instantly felt comfortable with him when he’d first met him and been told that Thomas would be his mentor and help him get to grips with being a new vampire.
“Listen, Eddie, forget what you heard,” Oliver tried to calm him.
The cords in Eddie’s neck bulged. “How the fuck can I just forget that?” Nobody could take back words like that, words that shattered his cozy home life with Thomas. They’d lived alongside one another in Thomas’s view mansion on Twin Peaks like the ideal roommates, sharing their love for motorcycles and tinkering with anything electronic.
“Believe me, Thomas is an honorable man. He’ll never act on his feelings since he knows they’re not reciprocated.”
He tossed Oliver a furious glare. “God, I wish I’d never found out.” Ignorance was bliss; Eddie realized that now.
“I’m sorry.” Oliver put a hand on his shoulder.
The touch infuriated him even more, and he pushed him off. He didn’t want to be touched, not by any man! “Don’t touch me!”
Eddie turned on his heels and ran to the nearest exit.
He’d always looked up to Thomas, admired his intelligence, his street smarts, as well as his absolute loyalty to Scanguards. He’d never once questioned Thomas’s motives for taking him in, for rearranging his own life to show a new vampire the ropes. But all this was different now. Had Thomas accepted the assignment Samson, Scanguards’ owner, had handed him simply because even back then he’d wanted to get into his pants? Had his motives not been as altruistic as Eddie had assumed?
He couldn’t help but wonder about all the incidents when he’d seen Thomas only half-dressed. Had his mentor done it on purpose to entice him to switch camps? Had Thomas tried to seduce him, and he’d just been too thickheaded to see it?