“What if this is personal?” Sam said.
“What?”
“All this.” Sam stared at the picture like he’d stared at Shaw’s body. “What if it’s someone who knows you? Another vampire, maybe even the one who made you.” He whirled to face Ed with a wild expression in his eyes. “What if it’s her?”
Ed laughed. He didn’t mean to, a terribly insensitive thing to do when Sam was so distraught, but the idea was so much more absurd than he realized. “Sam, she can’t be Midnight.”
“Just because they’ve been saying ‘he’ doesn’t mean—”
“It can’t be her because she’s not the one who made me.”
“She isn’t?” Sam said, looking back at the picture like he’d been so sure he’d figured it all out.
“She died, human, a long time ago. That’s Hypatia. My wife.”
Sam whirled around even faster, and Ed couldn’t blame him, since he hadn’t told him any of this yet.
A few charged moments passed before Sam finally said, “But you’re gay.”
Ed laughed again, offering a small, somber smile that didn’t quite carry as much of the sadness as it once would have. “So was she.” He moved past Sam to stand in front of the picture he’d drawn so long ago. “She was my best friend. Times were different then, so marrying kept us safer.”
“Then?” Sam pressed with a tentative edge.
“Mid-eleventh century,” Ed said, even though this was hardly a date, but he knew it was silly to wait any longer. “Last March, I celebrated my nine hundred and ninety-eighth birthday.”
He let that sink in before glancing back at Sam to take in his reaction. If Ed was being honest, Sam looked relieved to finally know the last of what had remained unsaid.
“We never consummated the relationship,” Ed continued. “Everyone assumed she was barren and felt pity for us, which made it easier for them to leave us alone. We both had lovers over the years and kept each other safe.”
“Lovers?”
“Not love, but partners. Pati was my love, just platonically. When she died, I wasn’t as careful about hiding what I was. Luckily or unluckily for me, my last lover as a human ended up being the vampire who made me.”
“Who was he?”
“Ødger,” Ed said, with a hint of his ancient accent. “I suppose he looked like Pati. Maybe that’s why I was drawn to him at the time—blond hair, blue eyes. Not my type,” he added quickly with a fond look at Sam’s darker coloring and curls, “and not someone to love or that good of a partner, but we speak from time to time still.
“He would have no reason to wish me ill like this. We had our time together. We’ve had our time apart. It’s amicable. I’ve said before that I have my regrets, but I was always grateful for what he made of me, and he knows that. I didn’t have to be afraid anymore of someone discovering what I was. If they did, I was something else too, something much more dangerous than what anyone might accuse me of.”
“I don’t know why I thought it would have been easier back then,” Sam said softly.
“It could be in some places, but in others it was considered unnatural and the laws of the land upheld that. Vampires never really cared, though. After I became one, I… experimented with women of my kind, but I maintain my preferences.”
Sam laughed lightly but eventually frowned again. “Are you sure… Ødger… doesn’t feel differently?”
“I am, but I can contact him if you’d like.”
“Maybe. I just can’t imagine anyone having you and not going crazy living without you.”
“W-well….” Ed tried miserably to keep from stuttering, meeting Sam’s adoring gaze. “He was never like you.”
A thousand years and too many of them spent alone, but of all the men Ed had been with when he was human, all the vampires he’d been with since, all the people he’d met over his lifetime, no one had ever affected him like Sam did.
Sam was still the one who’d been wronged and threatened tonight, whose expression held an edge of sorrow like he was close to breaking, so stuttering fool or not, Ed crossed to him when there was nothing left to say.
He remembered how scantily clad they both were as he gathered Sam against him but ignored the way it made his skin flush to feel Sam all down the length of his body. Instead, he kissed him, holding Sam too tightly maybe, as a rush of possessiveness overcame him.
“I-I get it!” Sam gasped in Ed’s hold. “You can’t imagine life without me either.”
Ed really couldn’t.
He kissed Sam once more, gently. “Come. I’ll make you some tea and put you to bed.”
IT AMAZED Sam that tea and being tucked into Ed’s bed was all it took to put him right to sleep.
He’d already been so exhausted, but he’d feared Shaw’s lifeless eyes and bloody wounds would haunt him into his dreams, along with the looming unknown shadow of Midnight. Sam didn’t dream, though, maybe because Ed lay down beside him and stayed there until he fell asleep.
The messages waiting on Sam’s phone in the morning were just Mim and Gerry teasing him again about spending so much time with “Mr. Simons.” There was nothing from the Cramers. They likely didn’t know about Shaw yet.
Part of Sam wanted to stay with Ed, to hide with him and just wait for it all to blow over, but he still worried about Mim and Gerry and asked for the day off to see if Midnight’s message would be followed by any obvious demands. He’d expected a text or call from Lara, but so far there had been nothing. They were letting him sweat, and if that was the case, he’d rather sweat where he could keep an eye on his friends.
“I can come with you—”
“No, it’s fine. You’d have to stay in hiding all day. Or meet my friends. Both of which sound like torture for you right now.”
Ed laughed but clearly didn’t want to let Sam out of his sight.
“I’ll be fine,” Sam assured him. “They wanted to scare me. They probably expected I’d stay with you last night. But eventually, Lara or Midnight will have to contact me. I’ll let you know as soon as they do.”
Sam’s bike was still back at the hotel, so he called a Lyft. It was still early when he entered the suite.
“Lover boy returns,” Mim said, lounging like usual on the sofa and not looking in any hurry to do anything but dawdle on her phone.
Gerry was at the desk on his computer. Neither seemed like they knew the place had been a murder scene last night. “Hey, Sam! I feel like we’ve barely seen you for weeks.”
“Does this mean you’re skipping ‘work’ today?” Mim tipped her feet back to the floor. “Coz neither of us have any hours either.”
“Not until I see Lara,” Gerry said.
“You consider that a job too?” Sam griped, since it brought up a fresh gurgle of bile.
Mim laughed.
Gerry scowled. “No. The benefits are way better than a paycheck.”
Urg. “Listen, Gerr….” Sam trailed off before he could think of what to say.
He couldn’t tell them what was going on. If Gerry ended things with Lara, Midnight would know they were in on this, and then they’d be in danger for sure.
“Do you even know her last name?” Sam asked instead.
“Uhh… well….”
“Seriously?” Mim spun toward Gerry with another laugh.
“It hasn’t been important!”
“Wow.”
“What do you like about her, anyway?” Sam pressed, continuing into the room to drop down on the sofa beside Mim.
“We have a lot of the same interests.”
Lies.
“She loves listening to my ideas and rants. Even about tech stuff.”
Pandering.
“And she’s uhh… not too bad in other ways.”
That… might be true, but considering how seldom Gerry got any, maybe she was only mediocre.
Regardless, Sam didn’t want to think about it. He didn’t want to think about any of this. He’d asked for a day off and that’s what h
e wanted. “Do you guys want to get out of here? Get some breakfast? Something good for once.”
“Hell yes,” Mim agreed only too easily.
“But I was going to work on that firewall again. I am this close.” Gerry held his thumb and index finger a millimeter apart.
They needed that account, maybe now more than ever since Midnight obviously knew everything about Sam, but he couldn’t face the threats against them if he wasn’t calm and centered. He needed a break—and coffee. “You can do that later. Come on.”
They were at the Hilton, so finding a nice place to get quality breakfast within walking distance wasn’t hard. All their years together scamming people, stealing food when needed, meant they weren’t the frivolous type. Today, though, Sam didn’t care, even if the inevitable check they had coming would have normally made him turn up his nose.
He was pretty sure Gerry’s fruit parfait alone was twenty bucks, and that was just for starters. All Sam wanted was coffee, but he upped it to a latte and ordered an omelet too.
“To what do we owe the pleasure of your presence, anyway?” Mim asked once the food was served and they were digging in with gusto.
“Like you said, I’ve been working nonstop. I missed you assholes.”
She snorted. “You gonna give us a timetable, then?”
“A few weeks yet, but if Gerry can narrow down that last account, maybe sooner.”
“And then we’ll hit the road like we planned?”
Sam froze with his fork dug into a bite of omelet. He’d been trying not to think about that either.
“You want to stay, don’t you?” she said. “With him.”
Gerry paused in his eating too, the whole table going suddenly still.
“I get it,” Gerry said, never one to enjoy a comfortable silence, let alone a tense one. “I don’t want to leave anymore either with Lara here.”
Sam set down his fork and stared at his half-full latte.
“Sammy,” Mim said, more hushed across the table, “I obviously don’t want to know anything about how that creep Fitz ended up dead, or however the rest of them are going to be following, but I don’t trust Simons. You’re wrapped up in some much heavier shit than we ever planned on.”
“I trust him,” Sam said, having expected this conversation, just not at breakfast. “Even if you don’t, I do. With my life.” He looked up unwaveringly to meet Mim’s stare. “I want this over with and all our threats gone, but Ed isn’t one of them.”
“So, it’s all about him now?”
“If you still want to leave town, I won’t let that mean things are over between us. You’re my best friends. And if you choose to stay, I’ll still want to do everything we planned, just here. With Ed part of the equation too.”
“You love him, huh?” Gerry said with a soft smile.
“I didn’t say—”
“Sam.” Mim stared him down.
He sighed. “Yeah. I think I do.”
“Fuck.” She dove back into her pancakes. “So much for a final haul from the mall. Maybe I’ll keep the job even after we’re rolling in dough. It’s kinda fun kicking brats out for shoplifting. And letting a few get away with it if they do it with enough style.” She grinned as she took a large bite.
Sam smiled back at her, because she knew love wasn’t something any of them admitted to easily. They’d spent too much of their lives with a very limited amount.
“Then we’re staying?” Gerry bounced in his seat.
“Yeah, Gerr, we’re staying,” Mim droned.
“I can’t wait to tell Lara!”
“Gerry….” Sam’s stomach dropped again.
“I want you guys to spend more time with her. And same with Ed! We have to meet him finally.”
There was an idea—Sam, his friends, Ed, and one of their blackmailers, all enjoying a friendly chat.
“You’ll meet him, I promise.”
Eventually. After all, Ed was charming with the Neu-Ryans; he could be charming with Mim and Gerry, and they never needed to find out what he was.
“So, grooming the next generation of shoplifters.” Sam finally dug back into his breakfast. “What about you, Gerr? How’s the Nerd Herd going?”
It was good to catch up. Mim and Gerry might still be wary of Ed, but even before meeting him, they accepted him and Sam’s feelings for him.
Because Sam loved him. He was in love with him.
Now he just needed to tell Ed that.
They took their time getting back to the hotel. If they were going to stay in Riverside, they’d need to find someplace more long-term, though Sam wondered how much time he’d even spend there once they did, more likely to just stay with Ed—if he was allowed.
“Start working on that account, Gerry. I’m going to take a shower. Whether you make headway or not, how about we catch a movie later?”
“I’m game,” Gerry said.
“And while Gerry does the heavy lifting,” Mim said, dropping back onto the sofa with her phone, “I’ll check showtimes.”
Sam smiled, feeling relaxed and confident again despite the dread that accompanied going into his room for the first time since last night. There was hope and promise and acceptance on the horizon. He could do this, and it started with going into that room for a fresh set of clothes.
The carpet was still clean when he entered, with no sign of anything amiss.
Which was why he jumped so high when a voice spoke from behind him.
“Mr. Coleman.”
Sam spun on his heels so fast, he nearly tripped. He could scream, his door was still open, but then he realized who was there, hidden by the closet in his room’s armchair.
With blond hair and blue eyes.
BLOND HAIR. Blue eyes. Just like Hypatia.
But this was Ed’s sire. He couldn’t possibly be Midnight.
“Hello?” A stranger answered when he attempted to call Ødger.
“Uhh… yes, I was looking for….” Vampires didn’t often use their true names, and Ed wasn’t sure what his sire was going by these days. He’d always known him as simply Ødger.
“Mr. North? Are you a friend of Oscar North?”
“Yes, exactly.” Bit on the nose, but then, Ed hadn’t gone too far from Eadric. “This is Ed Simons, an old friend. This was my most recent number for… Oscar. Is he available, or is this no longer correct?”
“I’m so sorry, Mr. Simons. I’ve been hoping for your call,” the man on the other end said with a genuine drop in his tone. “Almost all of the information for Mr. North’s contacts and associates was either taken or destroyed. I wasn’t sure if I’d get any calls on this phone, but I was hoping to hear from you.”
“Forgive me, I’m not sure I’m following. What’s going on? Who are you to Oscar?”
“I’m Mr. North’s lawyer. And the executor of his will.”
Ed felt the blood drain from his face. “His what?”
WHAT?
It was Cheroneau.
“I’m sure Gerry out there will get everything he needs about my account soon enough, but in case you’re antsy… my real name is Black. You understand why Midnight works so well.”
Sam stood frozen in the middle of his room.
“Best close that and give us some privacy, don’t you think?” Cheroneau—Black, Midnight—gestured at the door, smiling even more unnervingly than he had at the barbecue.
Remembering Shaw and all the other mutilated victims, Sam hurriedly swung his door shut. Black couldn’t be a vampire, Ed would have sensed it when they met, but that didn’t make him any less dangerous.
He’d managed all this because he was a cop.
Slowly, Black stood and approached Sam with that unsettling smile. He wore a neat suit with a long trench coat, very fitting of a detective, especially a partner of Daniel’s, but Sam doubted Daniel had any idea who this man really was.
“Someone’s going to kill you eventually, Mr. Coleman. Or Goldman. But now I know it won’t be Simons. He likes you. I think h
e’d do anything for you. A smart man, even a vampire,” he said with a pointed widening of his eyes, “who didn’t care beyond that pretty face would have let you take the fall for Shaw. Instead, he saved you.”
Whoever Black was, Sam felt the same chilling sense of dread around him as he did around Lara. “Tell me what you want.”
“Leverage. That’s all I’ve ever wanted. Now, I have it.”
“For what?”
His smile widened. “Keep picking your way through the Cramers and their crew. I’m patient. You’re making my job easier. Go ahead and tell Simons who I am too. I know you’ve told him everything else. Make sure he understands that it won’t be easy to take out the detective working a case that mostly points at him. Especially since there are so many ways this could all really point at him—or you—if I’m not feeling generous.
“And if he thinks he can go after Lara, assure him that you will be a lot less recognizable than Miss Shaw if it comes to that. Or I could start with Daniel. Or his wife. Or—”
“I get it.” Sam knew what Black was implying and just how little he cared about collateral damage. “I’ll tell Ed whatever you want.”
“Good. It’s very simple: do as I say, and I swear, once the Cramers are dead, what I want from you and Ed… you can both survive.”
“Are you picking out matching accessories in there?” Mim called from the living room. “Get in the shower! The best movie times are in less than an hour!”
“I’ll be right out!” Sam yelled back through the door. “I got a call!”
“From lover boy? Tell him you’re ours today!”
Sam grimaced, especially since Black looked so smug. “You’re not a vampire, so what are you? Some sort of slayer?”
Black chuckled. “This isn’t cable TV. I won’t be leaping from the window. I’m just a normal human like you. Which means I’ll be making myself comfortable and leave after you and your friends head to that movie. Best behave and go enjoy your shower. And don’t do anything stupid.”
Their Dark Reflections Page 14