“There’s nobody!” Eddie lied.

“Lying doesn’t become you. Besides, you’re not very good at it.” Luther motioned his head to indicate the prison around him. “If I weren’t tied up here, I would have taught you. Instead, I had to leave you to Scanguards. To continue your education there.” He gave a crooked smile.

“You promised me to make me strong, invincible. This wasn’t part of the bargain!”

“No, it wasn’t part of the bargain, but that wasn’t my doing. Can’t you get that into your stubborn head? Guess not! Because as a vampire you’re even more stubborn than as a human.

Whatever traits you had before, they only intensified as a vampire. That’s how it works! You were able to suppress whatever feelings for men you had when you were human, but now as a vampire, you can’t do that anymore. Your desires are stronger, and they’re growing stronger every day. Just give in and come out of the closet.”

“No!” Eddie screamed. He couldn’t accept this. There had to be another explanation.

Frustration howled through him. His fangs descended and his hands curled into fists. He watched himself as he slammed his right fist into Luther’s face, whipping his head sideways.

“You did this to me!”

Luther pushed him back into the middle of the room then came after him. “You wanna fight?

Let’s do it. But it won’t change the facts!” His sire swung and landed a right hook under Eddie’s chin.

Eddie tasted blood as his fangs pierced his own lip. It only made him angrier. Grabbing Luther by the shoulders, he catapulted him into the wall several feet behind him. Then he jumped at him and pounded his fists into him. But Luther was no willing punching bag. He fought back, attacking with his claws, slicing deep grooves into Eddie’s chest and arms.

The scent of blood filled the room, and loud grunts mingled with the sound of breathing. It echoed in the nearly-empty room, bouncing off the walls.

“So who is your lover then?” Luther provoked him.

Narrowing his eyes and clenching his jaw, Eddie swung, aiming a blow at Luther’s temple.

His knuckles cracked at impact, but he ignored the pain and continued punching his sire, even though he knew beating him wouldn’t change anything about the way he felt. It wouldn’t eradicate the feelings he had for Thomas.

“Is he a vampire?”

“I’m gonna shut your fucking mouth for you if you can’t do it yourself!” Eddie answered, and aimed for Luther’s mouth to ram the words back down his throat. But Luther sidestepped him and instead landed a blow to Eddie’s side, making him stumble.

Luther’s taunting didn’t stop. “Is he any good?”

Furious, Eddie fought to gain his balance back and threw himself onto Luther, tackling him to the ground.

“Are you taking it up the ass or is he?”

“Fuck you!” Eddie yelled and pinned him to the floor.

Luther grinned through the blood that ran from his cracked lip. “No, fuck him! Because that’s what this is all about, isn’t it? You wanna fuck him, but you need an excuse, because you can’t admit what you are. You wanna blame somebody else for what you feel.”

Eddie pulled back, breathing hard, his heart racing. But the fight was leaving him, deserting him like rats deserting a sinking ship. He was losing this battle.

“I heard they assigned you a mentor. Why didn’t you ask him? He could have told you the same as I did. Would have saved you a trip.”

Eddie avoided his gaze and rose. He wiped the blood off his face with the back of his hand, breathing hard.

Then a short laugh burst from Luther’s lips. “Ah, now I see. You couldn’t ask him, could you? You couldn’t ask Thomas, because it’s all about him. He’s the one you want.”

“Fuck you!” Eddie hissed and pressed the button next to the door to be let out.

A moment later, he left Luther and the prison behind. Was Luther right? Had he always had gay tendencies as a human? Eddie remembered his early childhood and his friends from back then. He and Nina had lived with foster parents, but his early years in foster care had been nothing out of the ordinary. He’d been just like other little boys: curious. Didn’t all kids like to play doctor and examine each other’s bodies? He and another boy had sometimes played like that, curiously touching one another. Of course, that had stopped when his foster mother had caught them and sent the other boy home. He wasn’t allowed to visit again. And Eddie hadn’t been allowed to watch TV for a week. That had taught him, and he had never done it again.