Anger flared up inside Thomas. “You lied to me all this time.”

Kasper shook his head, smiling. “On the contrary. I never did. Keegan was the one who caused you all this pain. He was the one who went out to fuck anything in a skirt. He wasn’t into men, you know. He loved women only. So I can assure you, you only had sex with me, and I was true to you.”

Thomas scoffed. “Yeah, right! You fucked around on me just the same.” He hadn’t forgotten the woman who’d sucked Kasper the night of Thomas’s turning. “You liked women too. You said so yourself.”

“I admit, I swing both ways; however, after I met you, I only slept with you. There were no other men, and no more women. Keegan was the one who flaunted his sexual exploits for all to see, and there was nothing I could do to make you understand that there was no need for your jealousy. He and I had an agreement never to divulge the fact that we were two people.

Everything hinged on it. As one, we were strong; as two individuals, we would have faltered.”

Kasper sighed.

Thomas stared at him, stunned by his revelations. But did it really change anything after so long a time? It didn’t change the fact that the reason he’d left Kasper was because he was cruel and violent, not because he was unfaithful.

“You used your powers to hurt people in the most violent way I’ve ever seen.”

“No. I didn’t. Keegan was the one who couldn’t control his powers. His outbursts were violent. He had no compassion. That’s what made us so different. I had empathy for others; he didn’t have that capacity. It was what ultimately led to his death. I warned him. But he wouldn’t listen, and pursued a path that I couldn’t pull him back from. I tried. I followed him, and then I found you. I couldn’t interfere in the fight between you. It would have exposed me, and I might have met the same end as my brother. But believe me when I tell you, I wasn’t rooting for him during that fight, I was wishing for you to win.”

Thomas felt a shiver run down his spine. Could he trust his ears? Had it really been Keegan who’d committed all those atrocities? Was Kasper blameless? He shook his head.

“Please don’t tell me you were a choirboy. You weren’t a saint back then, and you’re not a saint now! The way Sergio and his mate were killed has your handwriting all over it. Don’t deny it!”

“Ah, yes, a very unfortunate incident. And the one who is responsible for it has been punished. I’m afraid some of my followers still cling to methods that my brother instilled in them. I’ve been trying to retrain them since his demise, but some of these ways are so ingrained that they’re hard to eradicate. I prefer cleaner methods to achieve my goal.”

“Yes, and what is your goal, Kasper?” Thomas asked, still suspicious of his maker and former lover’s motives.

“You know what it is. I told you the night I met you. It is for our kind to be accepted. To be free to live the way we choose, without persecution, without restraints. I thought you wanted that too. That’s why you joined me back then. Has that changed?”

Thomas didn’t answer immediately. His deepest wish was still the same: to be loved for what he was and not be judged just because he was different. “I have the respect of my colleagues.”

“Are you so sure about that?”

Thomas narrowed his eyes. “What are you insinuating?”

“Did you know that Samson held a secret meeting at Zane’s house the other night?”

He didn’t know, but it didn’t have to mean anything. “That’s irrelevant.”

“You say that because you don’t know what was discussed at the meeting. Did you know that Samson told your colleagues about your secret?”

“He would never break his promise,” Thomas protested without hesitating.

“Don’t be so naive. See, that’s your problem. You always assume the best in people when you should assume the worst. Samson betrayed you just like Eddie did.”

“No! You can’t prove that!” Thomas desperately tried to cling to his belief that his oldest friend and colleague was keeping his word.

“Just like I couldn’t prove that Eddie betrayed you?” Kasper let out a bitter laugh and raised his iPhone again. “Care to listen to what Samson told them?”

Don’t do it! a voice inside him pleaded. Don’t listen to it. It’ll only make it worse. Eddie betrayed you. They all betrayed you. You’re nothing to them. Nothing. It was all a lie.

He sucked in a breath.

Feel the power! It’s yours!