...Morton continued down the alley toward the place he usually met Graham. So far, there was no sign of his lover.

The men turned to look at him, noticing his approach. They eyed him up and down.

“Well, what have we got here?” the biggest one asked. His two friends snickered.

“Looks queer to me.” One of the two others took steps toward Morton. “You a fag, boy?”

“Why? Are you interested?” Morton asked, as they surrounded him. He wasn’t too worried about it though.

“He even sounds queer.” They laughed.

The second man shrugged. “I’ve heard fags like you like to suck cock. You wanna suck mine?”

“Tempting, but, no.”

One thing vamps could do was move very fast. Which he did now, moving out of their circle and to the other side. He faced them.

“Fuck,” the first guy swore. “How’d he do that?”

“Who knows? Some sort of trick. Give us your money, mister.” The third guy’s hand was in the pocket of his open soiled coat and Morton figured either he had a gun or was pretending to have one. Didn’t matter either way, he’d go for that one first.

“These pants are really tight. I don’t have any room for money.”

The guy came at him, but Morton was ready. His polished black fingernails lengthened into sharp claws. He slashed across the guy’s abdomen, ripping through his shirt. The dirty gray fabric instantly turned crimson.

The man screamed and dropped to his knees. “He’s got a knife,” he groaned, wheezing.

The security guard appeared at the far end of the alley. “Xavier, are you okay?”

“I suggest you take your friend and get out of here. Now,” Morton said. “I’m all right, Ralph. These guys were just leaving.”

The two uninjured men took their friend and hurried down the alley in the direction Morton himself intended to go to meet Graham.

“I’ll be back inside in a few minutes, Ralph,” Morton assured the guard. He didn’t want Ralph waiting for him or, worse, coming down the alley to escort him back inside. He waited until Ralph was out of view again before turning to continue on his way. The men had disappeared now and his senses already picked up the presence of an immortal.

But he wasn’t worried. He knew this immortal well.

“Graham?”

Graham dropped down from the top of the nearest building, landing near him, on his booted feet. His lover wore jeans and a purple buttoned-down shirt. One of Morton’s favorite parts of living many hundreds of years was getting to try all the different fashions of the time. Things were definitely casual these days.

Pushing his shoulder-length blond hair behind his ears, Graham smiled his welcome. Morton found himself up against the wall, with Graham’s lips ready to take possession of his.

“Wait.” He stayed Graham with a hand on his muscular chest. “You’ve been here all this time, haven’t you?”

“Mmm.”

“Why didn’t you help me with Larry, Curly, and Moe?”

Graham’s smile turned wolfish as he leaned in close in spite of Morton’s attempts to keep his distance. “You could handle those three. I knew you could.”

“And if I couldn’t have?”