by Tina Folsom
“You overheard somebody?”
“Long story. Doesn’t matter anymore. It happened, and I’m glad for it now. But I screwed up, Nina. I screwed up royally.” He sighed heavily, bringing his hands to his face, holding back the sob that wanted to escape from his chest.
Nina reached for him and stroked his cheek. “Screwed up how?”
He met her eyes and saw concern there. And something else: acceptance. How could he have ever doubted that she would still love him?
“Thomas wanted me to come out and admit that I’m gay. I couldn’t do it. I rejected him, Nina. I hurt him. That’s why he’s gone over to the other side. He’s joined those vampires who are committing those crimes all over the city. Because I was too much of a coward to stand up and tell everybody that I love him. Hell, I couldn’t even tell Thomas that I love him.”
“But you do love him?”
Eddie nodded. “With all my heart. I can’t lose him, Nina. I can’t.”
Nina wrapped her arms around him. “Then you’ll have to do everything in your power to get him back.”
He hugged her closely to him.
“Whatever you need, I’ll be there for you,” she whispered.
“Thank you.” Reluctantly he released her. Then he opened the door to the hallway. “You should go home now. We have a lot of things to take care of tonight.”
She nodded and followed him out into the corridor. “Call me as soon as you hear something.”
“I will. And I’m sorry I made you look for apartments.”
She smiled in response, and he watched her walk toward the elevator.
Behind him a door opened. “Eddie! You’re here.”
Eddie turned to see Gabriel motion him to his office, his face grim. “Just got back.”
“Good. Before you do anything else, you’ll need to reactivate my password. The idiots in IT
said they don’t have access, and I can’t do anything without going into our systems.”
Eddie marched past Gabriel and fell into the chair behind his desk, opening up a new window on the monitor. “I should be able to get in. Thomas gave me access to the management profiles.”
“That’s the best news I’ve heard all night,” Gabriel replied, looking over Eddie’s shoulder.
Eddie logged into the control system and navigated to the correct screen, scrolling down the list of names to find Gabriel’s. “Here you are,” he murmured to himself and selected Gabriel’s profile. A new screen popped up and Eddie started typing. He hit enter, but the line he’d been filling in didn’t populate with the new password. Instead, a beep sounded.
“What the fuck?” he cursed and typed the password again. Another beep sounded.
“What’s wrong?” Gabriel asked.
“I don’t know.” Eddie felt perspiration running down his nape and disappearing under the collar of his T-shirt. Suspicion crept up his spine like fast-growing ivy and curled around his neck like a boa constrictor. He minimized the window and opened up a different one, then logged into it. He clicked on the first icon that popped up and tried to open it, but a pop-up told him ‘access denied’. The sight made his blood freeze in his veins.
“Shit! Shit! Shit!”
He clicked on the next icon and tried to open it, but the same thing happened.
“Eddie, what’s going on?” Gabriel asked, his voice now more agitated than before.
“My access to the data nodes was revoked.”
“English please!” Gabriel barked.
“I can’t do anything in our IT system anymore.”
“But you just logged in!” Gabriel protested.
Eddie clenched his teeth. “And now somebody’s thrown me out.”
“Who?”
Eddie turned to look over his shoulder, staring straight at Gabriel. “Thomas.” More beeps made him look back at the screen. More windows popped up, all saying ‘access denied.’
“He’s revoking everybody’s access. Gabriel, he’s shutting us down.”
“Oh, fuck!” Gabriel cursed. “What is he planning?”
Before Eddie could answer, a deafening alarm bell started to ring. It was accompanied by strobe lights in the hallway. He knew instantly what it meant.
“He’s locking us in.”
“Stop him!” Gabriel yelled.
Eddie jumped up. “I’ve gotta get to the servers in the basement.” As he ran into the corridor, others came running from their offices.
Samson charged out of his office. “Who’s doing this?”
“Thomas. He’s shutting us down!” Eddie replied as he ran past him and pushed the door to the stairs open.
He knew the elevator would already be disabled. His heart stopped for a moment. Had Nina made it down in time and exited the building? Concern for his sister made him run faster. The server room was the only place where he could get into the system via a backdoor and immobilize Thomas.
Eddie reached the basement and grabbed the handle of the door that led to the hallway, but was flung back against the wall instantly. An electric shock had catapulted him back. The door was electrified.
“Fuck!”
He labored to regain his breath and lifted himself up on shaky legs, bracing himself with his hands on his thighs for a moment. Things were worse than he’d expected. Thomas was using all weapons at his disposal.
Eddie rushed up the stairs again, reaching the executive floor a few moments later. Gabriel, Samson, Zane, and several others congregated in the hallway. They turned their heads to him as he charged in, their eyes full of questions.
“Thomas is in the building!”
“Did you see him?” Samson asked.
Eddie shook his head. “He sealed off the basement. The access door is electrified. He must be in the server room.”
Curses bounced against the walls of the hallway.
“He’s got us by the throat,” Samson said, his mouth set in a grim line.
Suddenly loud banging could be heard from the direction of the elevator, coupled with a faint voice. “Help! Help me!”
A bolt of panic shot through Eddie as he ran toward the elevator, just as Amaury came running from the other side.
“Nina!” Eddie called out, but his voice was drowned out by Amaury’s.
“Nina! Chérie! We’ll get you out!”
40
Thomas looked over his shoulder, watching as Kasper instructed his men to sweep all rooms in the basement and guard the electrified door leading to the stairs. Xander stood close, waiting.
With all of Kasper’s disciples assembled in such close proximity, Thomas sensed their powers more intensely now. In fact, he could almost isolate which strand of power belonged to which vampire as if they were colored ribbons hanging around a maypole. The power flowing from Kasper was by far the strongest, and his own power was drawn to it as to a magnet.
Thomas had used his keycard to gain access to the building via the parking garage, making sure, by remotely logging into Scanguards’ intranet, that his access had not been restricted. Not that he would have had to worry about that: there was nobody in the entire company who would have been able to shut him out. Nobody had a higher IT clearance than he. Besides, he’d surprised them by attacking where they thought they were safest. They hadn’t seen this coming.
Kasper had planted the idea in him that a clean takeover would be best for all involved.
“It’s time to issue our demands,” Kasper said now, turning to him. “Everything is in place, isn’t it?”
Thomas nodded slowly, looking back at the surveillance monitors in front of him. He checked all entrance points and verified that they were locked. Nobody would be able to enter or exit the building without his permission.
“Everything is set. Nobody moves without me knowing about it.”
“Then let’s get this show on the road.”
Thomas typed a command into the keyboard in front of him, then pulled the microphone close to his mouth.
“Will Samson hear yo
u no matter where he is?” Kasper asked.
“The intercom broadcasts into every room in this building. Everybody will hear what I’ve got to say.”
“Do it!”
Thomas pressed the button at the base of the microphone. He inhaled slowly. “By now, you probably all know that I’ve taken over this building.” He exchanged a look with Kasper, before continuing, “Samson, I’ve finally found my way back to my roots. I am what I am. And Kasper has shown me the way. I can’t deny the power in me any longer. And now, with Kasper by my side, I’ve claimed that power. I will no longer hide from it.”
Thomas closed his eyes for a moment, feeling a strange feeling in his gut that was trying to work itself up into his chest. Using his dark power, he forced it down.
“I’ve helped you build this company, and I realize now that none of you are worthy to run it.
I’ve proven that today. You’re my prisoners now. Had you bothered to curb my authority and put checks and balances in place to stop me from overstepping my domain, this would have never happened. As it is, you let me implement fail-safes that I am now using against you. You shouldn’t have trusted me.”
Because trust was a dangerous thing. He’d trusted Eddie to keep his heart safe, and Eddie had tossed it to the dogs. Eddie had betrayed him in the worst possible way. The pain, still fresh and ever-present, sent another painful spear through his heart. He’d hoped that by claiming his dark power and exercising it, the pain would vanish, just as all other feelings of concern for his fellow vampires had vanished. Where he’d been a caring man before, there was simply a void. He felt nothing. Nothing but the pain of Eddie’s betrayal. Nothing could ever stamp it out.
“I won’t bore you any longer. Here’s what you’ll do, Samson. You’ll sign Scanguards over to me. Amaury and Gabriel will do the same with their interests in the company. You have ten minutes. I’m opening up the intercom in your office for you to respond.”
He was about to press the intercom button to switch off the microphone when Kasper stopped him and bent to it. “I’m afraid my dear Thomas is far too nice. This is Kasper, his maker. And I am a little less patient than he is. Sign the company over to us or the human currently stuck in the elevator dies.” A grin spread on his lips, then he pressed the button, muting the intercom.
Thomas’s glance shot to the monitors in front of him, searching for the video feed that showed the interior of the elevator. Nina’s blond locks were easy to distinguish against the dark lining of the interior.
Stunned, he looked up at his maker. Kasper had assured him earlier that nobody would die tonight.
***
Eddie exchanged a frantic look with Amaury.
“Shit!” Eddie cursed. “We’ve gotta get her out now!”
His brother-in-law’s fingernails had already turned into claws, and he now tried to jam the sharp edges in between the two doors to try to pry them apart. His neck muscles tensed and he breathed heavily.
“Where’s the fucking manual release?” Eddie cried out, rushing to Amaury’s side, falling to his knees and trying to do the same as Amaury, lower down. But the doors didn’t move.
“There’s a panel somewhere,” Cain answered from behind.
“Find it!” Amaury ordered.
Eddie heard Nina’s panicked voice from inside the elevator. “Get me out of here, Amaury, please! Before he does it!”
Eddie had nearly forgotten that the intercom could be heard in the elevator too. Nina had heard every single word of Kasper’s threat.
Amaury’s expression was gloomy. “It’ll be all right, chérie. We’re nearly there,” he lied.
Then lower, he whispered to Eddie, anguish in his face. “I can’t lose her.”
His last word was drowned out by Samson’s voice coming over the intercom. “Thomas, stop this madness. We know this is not your doing. You’re being manipulated. Whoever this man is who claims to be Kasper, you know it can’t be he. Kasper is dead. He has no power over you anymore. We can work all this out. We’re friends. You’d never hurt your friends.”
Then Thomas’s voice cut in again. Eddie felt his heart bleed as he heard it, cold and emotionless. “You’re wrong, Samson. Kasper is very much alive. He and I belong together. He can give me the love I need. The love that I deserve.”
Eddie knew instantly that the last words were meant for him, not for Samson. Thomas was craving his love, and it was Eddie’s fault that he now turned to an evil man like Kasper. How Kasper could still be alive when he’d seen him die in front of his own eyes, Eddie didn’t know.
But what he did know was that Kasper was evil. Thomas had said so himself after his mind control fight with him a few months earlier. Thomas hated his maker.
“Check the printer in your office, Samson,” Thomas’s voice continued over the intercom.
“The contract is there. Sign it, you, Gabriel, and Amaury. When you’re done, let me know.”
There was a click, and silence descended on the floor. All Eddie heard was Amaury’s heavy breathing as he continued to try to pry the doors apart.
“The elevator doors won’t open,” Kasper’s voice suddenly sounded over the loudspeakers.
“There’s no use in trying. And the manual release you’re looking for has been disabled.”
Then a loud sound from the elevator, coupled with a shriek from Nina, tore through the hallway. Within a second, the sound stopped, but Nina’s crying could be heard through the doors.
“Sign the fucking papers, or next time I won’t just drop her half a floor. I’ll drop her all the way to the basement,” Kasper announced.
“I’m going to kill that fucking bastard!” Amaury screamed.
“I’ll sign the papers,” Samson’s voice came over the loudspeaker.
Eddie charged to the open door of Samson’s office, watching as his boss took several sheets of paper from the printer. “Don’t!”
Samson spun around. “You heard him. He’s going to kill your sister if I don’t give in to his demand.”
“And he’ll also kill her once you sign. If this man is really Kasper—and I have no idea how that’s possible—but if that man in the basement is Thomas’s maker, then he’s evil to the core.
He will kill any and all of us just because he can. He’s toying with us, don’t you see that? He’s enjoying the power Thomas gave him over us. We’re the mice, and he’s the cat. The only person who can stop him is Thomas.”
Samson slammed his fist on the desk. “Thomas is under his thrall. I could feel it when I confronted him at the house earlier. He’s not himself. He said he’s got nothing left to lose.
Thomas won’t help us. We’ve lost him. All we can do is try to save Nina ourselves.”
Eddie gave a slow shake of his head. “There’s one other way.” He walked around Samson’s desk and reached for the microphone. “I’ll bring him back to us. Because I’m the reason he left us.”
Samson stepped aside, a look of curiosity on his face. When Eddie looked past him, he noticed his colleagues at the door.
“What’s going on?” Zane asked.
Eddie sat down in Samson’s chair and leaned over the microphone, then pushed the button.
“Thomas, it’s Eddie. I know you probably don’t want to listen to me right now, but there’s something I’ve got to say to you and to everybody here at Scanguards.” He paused, collecting his courage. “I’m gay, and I’m not ashamed of it anymore. Because of you, I’ve finally found who I really am.”
He noticed the surprised looks on his colleagues’ faces, but continued concentrating on his speech. “Thomas, I’m sorry for what happened at Oliver’s party. I was wrong to reject you. I was afraid. But I’m no longer afraid. Thomas, I love you. Not just as a friend. I love you as my partner, my lover, my forever. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I beg you to forgive me. You once said that for the right person, you would fall on your knees. Thomas, if you’ll come back to me, I’ll fall on my knees. Because you’re the only person I ever wanted
and needed. I love you.”
Eddie clicked the button to mute the intercom and looked up. He sensed moisture in his eyes, but felt no embarrassment when he looked at his colleagues. With understanding in their eyes they looked back at him.
41
“. . . I love you.”
Eddie’s words echoed in Thomas’s mind, ricocheting inside him like a stray bullet. Was he hallucinating, or had he really just heard Eddie confess his love for him in front of all of Scanguards? Eddie had to have known that the intercom would broadcast his words into every room in the building. Still, he’d said them. He’d come out publicly.
“You can’t possibly believe what he’s saying!” Kasper sniped next to him. “It’s clearly a ploy to get you to surrender control over Scanguards.” He pointed his finger up to the loudspeaker from which the words had echoed. “He’s lying to you. As soon as you give up, he’ll recant. His colleagues probably put him up to it since they know how you feel about him. It’s all a lie. He doesn’t love you. Not like I do!”
Thomas recognized desperation when he smelled it. And Kasper was desperate to save the day. It meant Kasper too had heard the sincerity in Eddie’s words. They were true. Thomas felt it in his heart. As it warmed and pushed against the dark power that surrounded it, he suddenly felt an invading force. It was subtle, yet he recognized it: Kasper had slipped into his mind and was hiding within the layers of Thomas’s dark powers. He recognized it so clearly now, almost as if feeling Eddie’s love had opened his eyes and lifted the veil that had hung over him for the last few days. Just as Eddie’s love now gave him the strength to push the dark power away.
There was only one thing he could do now.
“You’re right, Kasper. It’s a ploy. And I’m going to tell him just what I think of that.”
Kasper grinned with a self-congratulatory smirk. “That’s my man.”
Thomas pressed the button for the intercom and chose his words carefully. “That was a nice speech, Eddie. Congratulations. If only it were true. Even if it were, it’s too late. Because, you see, you computer genius, the key was always I love Eddie. You can have that now, I won’t need it anymore. So I’m gonna let you mull that one over, you IT wannabe. Because this is the last thing you’ll hear from me until this is done.” He switched off the microphone.
