It’s a sweet, slow kiss, and it feels like we already have our own rhythm. We’re learning each other. His mouth tastes like peaches and cinnamon to me, even though I know he couldn’t possibly have even brushed his teeth and humans typically have terrible morning breath.

Later in the week, Haruka sends me a text message asking me to come to the estate. This is weird.

Haruka never texts me. Or anyone. Nino says he only texts him back (sometimes) because he’s spent over a year fussing at him about it. The purebred simply doesn’t like smartphones. Something about the light of it bothers his eyes. It’s not an official summons with his family’s seal delivered and written in Asao’s voice, but knowing Haruka, something is up.

It’s Friday when I finally have time to stop by the estate. Being in Europe for two weeks is fantastic, but it creates a backlog of appointments and requests for me at home. I told Jae I would try to come to Himeji for dinner sometime during the week, but I haven’t had time. Maybe I’ll go tonight for a little while? Sundays are just better for both of us because he’s off and usually I am too.

Today’s visit to Haruka and Nino’s home is absolutely different, because when I walk in, Asao tells me Haruka is in his office. “Where the hell is his office?” I ask. “We conduct all our business in the kitchen.”

Asao laughs at this as he guides me down the hallway opposite the kitchen. “Your doctor boyfriend has created a spark of life in Haruka. He’s going to Hong Kong next week.”

I draw back, surprised. “Hong Kong? He’s not my boyfriend.” I’m a hundred and thirty years old and Jae is over thirty. Nobody in this situation is a fucking “boy.”

Asao stops, raising his eyebrow. “Are you sleeping with anyone else right now?”

I lift my chin, indignant. “How do you know I’m sleeping with him?”

“You’re sleeping with him. At home. That in and of itself is telling.”

“Alright, old man. Keep walking.”

Asao laughs and moves forward. I tell him too much. If I’m honest, Asao is a little like the father I never had. Well, the father I wish I had. He tells me what I need to hear, but he’s kind. Thoughtful, in a gruff way. I asked Haruka how it felt being raised by Asao after his own father died. He said he greatly respects Asao and values the role he’s played in his upbringing, but that no vampire could replace his biological father.

I’ve heard that Haruka’s father, Hayato Hirano, was an incredible male—both publicly and privately. Very sharp and notoriously affectionate. Mischievous. Vampires in Okayama are hard-core loyalists to the Hirano Clan in part because of him.

Haruka once told me that when he was little, his father used to hide in the house. When Haruka went looking for him, he’d jump out from somewhere and sweep him up, hugging and kissing him. Haruka said it was both exciting and terrifying.

That story and the image of it stuck with me. I can’t think of one time my father ever played with me like that—or in any way. Haruka’s situation was the exception. Mine was more the norm. Old-school purebred fathers… They’re not playful and affectionate. They don’t typically do hide-and-seek.

Asao slides the door open for me and I walk inside. Haruka’s office is his father’s old office. It’s traditional, with tatami floors, paper doors decorated with elegant sumi-e artwork and a wall of glass windows on the opposite side that show a view of the back garden and koi pond. There are also rows of bookshelves lining the back wall, and Haruka himself is sitting at a low table on a cushion. He’s wearing a casual black robe that I designed for him.

Aside from his clothing, it all feels a little too formal, so when I’m standing in front of him, I lift my palms. “Um, what the hell?”

He’s writing something. He briefly flicks his sangria-colored eyes up at me before looking back down at his journal. “Your lover is a vampire.”

I sit down across from him, folding my legs against the tatami. I quickly decide I’m more comfortable with “lover” over “boyfriend.” I don’t argue it. “He doesn’t feed, so how can he be a vampire?”

Haruka sighs and puts his pen down. He pulls his long fingers up to the center of his forehead and massages. “I’m still figuring that part out. However, he is indisputably vampiric in nature—and ranked. Not low level. It is likely that his mother was vampiric in nature as well, and because she denied her body the resources it needed, she perished.”

Folding my arms, I let that sink in. “These are big assumptions to make. And I don’t think they hold water, given the fact that Jae doesn’t feed. Doesn’t want to.”

Haruka leans forward on his elbow, lifting his hand and holding up a single finger. “One, Jae registers as attractive to our natures. Two, he carries a unique scent. Three, he said lower-level vampires find him displeasing to taste. What he does not realize is that lower-level vampires find all ranked vampires displeasing to taste.”

At this, I sigh. Jae had told me this before. When he reiterated it at dinner, I remember thinking it didn’t help his case. Lower-level vampires find our blood to be too strong, too potent. Like having vodka straight. No ice, nothing. There’s this misconception—more like a fantasy—among some younger low-level vampires that drinking ranked-vampire blood would be this euphoric and life-changing experience. They’re wrong. They would gag.

Haruka has all four fingers up and only his thumb tucked into his palm. “Four, he has never been ill—which is extremely unusual for a human. Five, he said that his body has felt uncomfortable since he’s moved to Japan. ‘Twisty and weird’ is exactly what happens with our natures when we are drawn toward other ranked vampires. Instinctively, he probably moved here because of the pull of his kin. Six—”

“Alright, Haruka, I hear you.” When he pulls his other hand up to count, I’m over it. I get it. “You think Jae is a secret ranked vampire.”

“My theory is that he is repressed.” Haruka folds his arms, sitting up straight.

“You can only repress your nature as a low-leveler. Vampires whose bloodlines are so far removed that they are predominantly human, so they can ignore the remnants of their natures, right?”

“Yes, typically, but… what if a ranked vampire figured out how to suppress his or her bloodline?”

“Why the hell would they do that? We take pride in our natures.”

“Correct. However…” Haruka takes a deep breath, his brow crinkled. “This is conjecture, but Jae is of English descent. We know that British vampires have a particularly violent and bloody past with the clan wars. What if… to escape the immediate threats, the vampires of the past decided to shut their bloodlines down? Turn in on themselves?”

This is a lot to take in, this wild theory. Haruka is more alive and excited than I’ve seen him in weeks. It’s kind of nice. “Again, I hear you. But I don’t see how any of this could be possible.”

“No one thought breaking a bond was possible until it happened to me.”

I nod. “True…”

“And I did not think bonding on the first try was possible until it happened to me. So I feel this circumstance is feasible. Perhaps the details of my theory are fallible. Nonetheless, Jae is a ranked vampire. If you feed from him, it will solidify my claim.”

I rub my hand into the top of my head, fluffing out the tight curls there, and sigh. “I’m not feeding from him. I’m busy. I can’t afford to be locked up in the house for multiple days if you’re wrong.”

He shakes his head. “I am not.”

I roll my eyes.

“Junichi—the fact that he is even closely associated with us is telling. We do not casually consort with humans.”

“I do,” I admit, shrugging.

“This is different. Jae studies vampires, he works in a vampire-owned hospital and is now living in a heavily populated vampiric realm. He is dating an elite first-gen vampire and working with purebred vampires to launch a very culturally significant program. The signs are everywhere.”

“Maybe he’s just a very lucky groupie?” I jest, but I do believe him now that he’s pointed all this shit out to me. It makes me nervous, and I don’t want to think about it right now. “What are you going to Hong Kong for?”

“There is a Historian there, a colleague whose library reaches back further than mine. I contacted her recently, and she has some ancient documents on vampiric suppression. I am going there to read her materials.”

“Wow, you’re really taking this seriously.”

Haruka frowns like I’m being stupid. “Something very interesting and rare is happening within my realm. It is my responsibility to understand and potentially help Jae should the need arise.”

I steel myself and ask the crucial question. “If you think Jae is a repressed ranked vampire, does that mean I shouldn’t be sleeping with him? Am I in danger of accidentally bonding with him?”

Haruka’s face is flat now, but it’s still a look that says I’m being stupid. “Jun. It takes two-way feeding and sex to bond… and I suspect even more than that, now that Nino and I have thoroughly manipulated the Lore and Lust data and spoken to many Socotra purebreds. You refuse to feed from him, and he has no interest in feeding from you. So no. You won’t bond.”

He’s right. That was a stupid question—like I’m a kid asking how babies are born. Except I’m old as hell and know better. I exhale in relief. Sleeping with Doctor Jae was a delicious and fulfilling experience, and I genuinely enjoy spending time with him. I’m looking forward to seeing him again.

I don’t like fooling around with ranked vampires. The larger part of me hopes Haruka is wrong about all of this.

But something inside me knows he’s probably right.