Chapter 9
TOBIAS
When it came to danger, Tobias wasn’t usually one for flight.
He preferred fighting instead of running away like a coward.
But last night, when he woke from his nightmare, he almost broke.
He’d woken to Alexander looming over him, his face just like his father’s.
If he hadn’t left, Alexander would’ve been dead because Tobias would have ripped his heart out in a panic.
And that would’ve ruined years of careful planning, patience, and effort.
It had been a long time since that particular nightmare had plagued him.
Cursed fates, it returned the night he had stupidly fallen asleep on his enemy’s son’s shoulder.
After he stormed out of Alexander’s apartment, it took everything in him not to go on a rampage through Oxford’s streets.
His bloodlust was nearly uncontrollable.
Being back in that moment when Vladimir Damianos attacked him, and the carnage that followed, made Tobias feel as though he was in the process of being made all over again.
By some miracle, he got himself home without hurting anyone.
His body was on fire, blistering beneath his clothes.
He’d stood beneath a freezing cold shower and didn’t leave it until the feeling subsided.
Tobias thought he’d got it under control until Alexander turned up at the library the following day with a bag full of books.
In a moment of blindness, Tobias had agreed to go out dancing with Alexander.
He had to do it to make up for his reaction.
He’d almost ruined his chance of infiltrating the Damianos family by behaving erratically last night.
It was a miracle Alexander didn’t think he was crazy and standoffish. Perhaps the heir liked those qualities.
The unprompted invitation from Alexander had provided the perfect way back into his good graces. It was agreed that Tobias would meet Alexander outside the Red Lion pub at eight.
Kate cornered him as soon as Alexander left. “Spill the tea, Tobias.”
“Now isn’t the time to give me another lecture on why sleeping with a colleague is bad,” Tobias replied, cringing in anticipation of a dressing-down from his boss, who had already warned him about Alexander.
Kate nearly choked on a gulp of tea from the paper cup she was holding. “You’re sleeping with him already? God, the devil works hard, but apparently Professor Damianos works harder.”
Although there had been no sex yet, Tobias didn’t want to correct her.
“In other words, I should text Alexander now and cancel?” Tobias asked, fingering the handle of the Blackwell’s bag. “Is my job at risk?”
Kate sighed. “I’m still hung up on the fact you’ve already slept with him. Any chance I’ll get the juicy details?”
“I’m still waiting for your follow-up warning.”
Kate huffed a laugh. “I hardly think that’s going to have any effect now. You might as well tell me all the details, and make this boring day a little bit more exciting.”
“Not much to report, to be honest,” Tobias replied, trying not to think about what Alexander was like in bed, because it made his core ache, which wasn’t a feeling he wanted to entertain when he didn’t have to.
“Although, if I don’t come into work tomorrow with a limp, I suggest you fire me for underperformance. ”
Kate laughed. “No wonder you’ve got the professor stuck in your web. That man is smitten, clearly, just by the way he looked at you. And not to mention the books!”
That made him perk up, because if that was the way Kate saw the situation, it meant everything was going to plan. “You think so?”
“The bag of books and this request to go dancing? Yeah, I’d say you’ve really got him in the trap. From what the staff say, and the students, getting through to Professor Damianos isn’t an easy task. He’s rather closed off.”
“Perhaps I’ve just located the right button to press to open him up,” Tobias said. “But now I think it’s time for me to get back to work.”
It was 7:56 pm when Tobias arrived outside of the Red Lion, and Alexander was already waiting for him.
He was propped up against the outside wall, phone in hand, cigarette hanging from his lips.
Alexander had yet to notice his arrival, so Tobias took a moment to study him from the shadows, drinking in every detail.
He wore a loose pair of jeans in an acid-blue wash.
A white button-down was tucked into his waistband, cinched with a belt.
But what really captured Tobias’ attention was the fact that Alexander had left three buttons undone at his neck.
He caught flashes of a sculptured chest coated in a brush of dark hair.
His first thought was fuck me. Literally. Sleeping with the enemy wasn’t so bad when the enemy looked that good.
Then his mind went to the idea that they’d be going out, in public, and other people could see Alexander – and suddenly he had to push down the jealousy that coursed through him. He hadn’t expected that, not when Alexander was nothing more than a means to an end.
Tobias’ breathing became laboured, his emotions close to impossible to control.
He took a deep breath and chastised himself.
His feelings were clearly all over the place, just like they’d been when he was first turned.
It must have been the stress of it all, the idea that he was finally so close to vengeance, but it didn’t mean it was any more acceptable. He couldn’t afford to lose focus.
Before he completely lost himself to his inner turmoil, Tobias steeled himself and stepped forward.
“You look really nice,” Tobias said, drawing Alexander’s attention from the screen of his phone.
Clearly, from the pinch in his brow and the way he worried the butt of the cigarette between his teeth, whatever he was reading concerned him.
But all that tension faded to nothing when Alexander’s gaze landed on Tobias.
“And you look–”
“Different?” Tobias answered for him, knowing the skinny black jeans, long-sleeved shirt, and white trainers were certainly not his style at work. It had been worth it to dash home and change.
“Different, yes, but good all the same.”
Tobias shuffled awkwardly. “Thanks.”
Alexander smiled, a hopeful grin that brought some humanity back to his otherworldly features.
He was the type of handsome that came with being a Greek god, or something akin to that.
No one actually looked that good in real life.
It was almost a punishable offence. “I’ve got two Bloody Marys waiting for us at the bar inside, then I thought we could head straight out. ”
“What’s the rush?” Tobias asked, stepping closer. He was immediately overwhelmed with the scent of sandalwood and burnt maple. Why was everything about this man intoxicating? “The clubs don’t get busy for a while. From what I’ve learned, being the first in is never a sign of a good night.”
Alexander opened his mouth to say something, but whatever it was, he chose to bite his tongue. “There’s something I need to do when we arrive, then you’ve got my attention for the rest of the night. And I promise, I’ll be on my best behaviour.”
Tobias leaned in, snatched the cigarette from Alexander, and took a long drag. He made a show of biting his lip before handing the cigarette back and pursing his lips to exhale.
Once the smoke blurred the space between them, Tobias replied, “Don’t make promises you can’t keep, professor. And you really shouldn’t smoke these. They’re death in a stick.”
“Oh, I think I’ll survive. It’ll take a lot more than that to kill me off, darling.”
No shit. Like when Tobias drove a stake into his father’s chest and subsequently destroyed him, and all of the other born vampires that belonged to the Damianos clan. But instead of saying that, Tobias smiled, fluttered his eyelashes, and said instead, “Like a cockroach. How fascinating.”
He sauntered into the lively pub, Alexander chasing at his heels, unable to stop smiling to himself.
The night was going well until Tobias stood beneath the neon lights of Panic – Oxford’s one and only LGBTQ+ nightclub.
It was in that moment that he felt entirely unprepared.
Not because the idea of dancing with Alexander was staring him in the face, but because the last time he had been to Panic, it was to feed on someone.
A girl, he remembered, who’d hardly put up a fight.
That was the thing about Tobias’ normal feeds – he never wanted to cause the victims pain.
He made sure he was fast, and that they were left with more than enough life in them to walk away, nothing more than woozy.
He was a monster, yes, but not evil. That’s what he told himself to take the edge off the guilt.
His unnatural thirst was Vladimir’s fault, and retribution for all the attacks would happen when Vladimir himself was taken down.
Tobias was also uneasy about the task Alexander had alluded to. He hadn’t bothered asking what it entailed, because it could’ve been anything. But instinct had the hackles down his spine raising and worry creeping its unwelcome way into his head.
He felt, and not for the first time, like he was a step behind. Tobias thought he knew everything about Alexander, but it turned out he was completely and utterly wrong.
“Here, take my card and order in a couple of drinks,” Alexander said as they entered the packed room.
Flashing lights flickered over a large dance floor, and music pulsed.
Smoke twisted across the room like fingers, reaching for the ankles of the crowd that were already dancing to the throbbing beat.
The bass was heavy – Tobias felt it more than he heard it. “I won’t be long.”
“Do you have to leave me?” Tobias whined. He’d grown so used to the guiding hand on the small of his back that when Alexander pulled back, it felt wrong. “What if another man sees me, and makes the most of the opportunity to flirt with me? Who’ll stop him?”