“Considering the concerns we’re having about this,” Gabriel continued, “I’ve assigned everybody who’s not protecting a client to the patrols, including management. You’ll all be patrolling in pairs. I don’t want any of you out there on your own. That’s a strict order. You don’t stick to it, you might as well pack your things. Is that understood?”

Everybody nodded.

“Report anything suspicious immediately. And make sure the newcomers don’t know they’re being watched. We have no idea how they’ll react. I’ve posted a patrol schedule out on the board in the hallway. You’ll find the name of your assigned partner on it. Questions?” Gabriel swept a look over the employees, but nobody spoke up. “Dismissed.”

Eddie got up from his chair as the crowd started leaving the room. He headed for the board, eager to find out who Gabriel had paired him up with. He sure hoped it wasn’t Oliver. Even though he normally liked the guy, at the moment, he couldn’t stand being with him, because Oliver’s presence constantly reminded him of what he’d overheard.

Eddie squeezed through the vampires crowding around the board and searched for his name on the two sheets of paper.

Please let it not be Oliver, he prayed silently. Even Zane would be better than Oliver. At least Zane didn’t talk much. In fact, the guy was as taciturn as they came. And that suited him just fine right now.

His eyes moved down the list of names until he finally found his own. Then he shifted his gaze slightly, reading the name of his partner next to it: Thomas.

“That’s just great!” he grumbled to himself, not bothering to hide his displeasure, and whipped around only to bump into Thomas.

His mentor looked at him, startled, then let him pass, and approached the board, scanning the list of names himself. When he turned seconds later, there was an odd look on his face. He looked back at Eddie, who still stood there as if frozen to the ground. Their eyes met.

Eddie knew then that he’d hurt Thomas. And he felt like shit because of it. Thomas had never done anything wrong, never treated him badly. He didn’t deserve how Eddie was treating him now. This was exactly what he’d been afraid of ever since overhearing Oliver and Blake: that he’d overreact and in the process hurt Thomas’s feelings. He didn’t want their relationship to change. He liked having Thomas as a friend, but how could he continue as before, knowing what he knew?

He ran his hand through his hair. How was he going to make it up to Thomas? He had to somehow apologize, but he didn’t know how.

10

He and Eddie were scheduled for their first patrol the next night. Thomas pulled on his boots and tied them, sitting on his bed. His mind went back to the night before when the assignments had been handed out. Eddie had looked less than pleased about being paired up with him. Not just not pleased, he’d looked positively pissed off.

Thomas searched his memory to figure out whether he’d said or done something to insult Eddie, but couldn’t find anything. Everything was as always. They hadn’t had any confrontations or disagreements. In fact, they rarely ever disagreed on anything. They both enjoyed the same things: riding their motorcycles and working on their computers. Eddie was a great student when it came to anything related to computer software. He particularly liked hacking into systems, and Thomas enjoyed teaching him.

Thomas rose from his bed and snatched his leather jacket from the closet. He couldn’t fathom why there suddenly was tension between him and Eddie, when over the last year they’d lived together like the most agreeable roommates. Shaking his head, he walked out of his room and knocked on Eddie’s door.

“You ready?”

The door was opened immediately. Eddie appeared, dressed in leather pants, a black T-shirt and a leather jacket. Involuntarily, Thomas had to smile. His colleagues often remarked that they looked like twins with the way they dressed. Only today Thomas was wearing a white T-shirt instead of a black one.

“Rock n’ roll,” Eddie said and brushed past him, barely looking at him.

Thomas nodded and followed. “We’re assigned to the Castro, so there’s no point in taking the motorcycles. We’ll walk.”

The Castro was just down the hill from Twin Peaks. It wouldn’t take them long to get there on foot. And once there, it would be easier to patrol, not having to worry about where to leave the motorcycles.

“Fine by me.”

In silence, they left the house and hiked down the hill until they entered the Castro. It was still early and relatively quiet. The bars were half empty, and the shops were just closing up.