“Everything is fine, thank you.” I quickly hang up my rucksack, grab my lab coat from the rack and put it on as I shuffle over to sit at my desk. “How was the blood draw?”

He’s holding Haruka’s hand, of course. He smiles, warm, golden and open. “Great. The doctor in Italy says my father is getting stronger every day. Between my brother’s blood and mine, he thinks we can relax a little and start sending blood every other month.”

“That is excellent news!”

“Yeah, we appreciate all your help.”

“It’s my pleasure.” I bow again. It really is. Helping them with anything is incredible. Even having them sitting here—I’m probably one of very few doctors throughout history to have worked with purebred vampires. Doctors are just not something they typically need. Their bodies naturally regenerate and have self-corrective biological components. Even if Nino hadn’t come to see me a few months back, it might have been a much harder road, but he would have been fine eventually.

“Haruka, are you well?” I ask because he’s been totally silent, and he’s not nearly as easy to read as his mate.

He smiles politely and nods. “I am. Thank you, Doctor.”

If Nino is like a bouncy, excitable and friendly dog, Haruka is a slinky, reclusive black cat. I have no idea how these two ended up together, but their adoration for each other is palpable. When Nino had been in the hospital a few months ago, Haruka never left his side. I’d walk in and he’d be running his fingers through Nino’s hair and holding his hand, or at the end of the bed massaging his feet and legs.

They’re unashamed and open about their love, as if only the two of them reside in this world—in whatever world they’re part of. In vampire culture, they don’t have labels and strict parameters around romantic relationships and identity like we do as humans. Love literally is just love, and you are who you are.

These two are so deeply enamored with each other, sometimes I think I should look away to give them privacy. I can’t even fathom having a bloke and being like that—perfectly comfortable and carefree. The world I live in doesn’t allow me to.

“Sora said the two of you wanted to talk to me about something?”

Nino’s eyes shift over to Haruka. He gives his mate’s palm a little squeeze as their entwined hands rest in Haruka’s lap. Haruka takes a breath. “We are interested in expanding our family in the future. As such, we were wondering if you knew anything about—”

“Surrogates.” I gasp, smiling. “How—Did someone tell you I want to do this? Wait, no… I haven’t told anyone here.”

They’re both blinking at me like I’m insane. “Sorry. I… I’ve been thinking about this topic for a while. Considering the steady decline in the purebred vampire population.”

Haruka nods. “Yes. It is a matter of concern within our culture. Although the recent discovery of the Socotra population has put the masses at ease, for now.”

“Right,” I confirm. News of the Socotra purebreds has been covered in all the major human media outlets lately. It’s incredible to know that there are more purebreds in the world than we originally thought, but still. This discovery is a temporary fix for a bigger, deeper issue.

“I… I was thinking that if we had a reliable surrogate program in place—perhaps a database of willing donors and carriers? It would help with the population issue. It’s extremely difficult and time-consuming for same-sex vampire couples to find appropriate matches on their own. If we had a database available, it would be much easier. We have these kinds of programs more and more in human culture. They’re very successful.”

“Is there currently such a program in place for vampires anywhere?” Haruka asks.

“No. Not that I know of. It’s just my idea for now. I lack resources… contacts and funding. I’ve thought about putting a proposal together, but I haven’t even been here six months.” It’s a lot to ask for—a new database for keeping detailed records of vampire biology. Ranked-vampire records. Which creates added layers of privacy and cultural implications. No ranked vampire would willingly hand over their biological information to some weird human doctor.

If it were a purebred running this kind of database, though? If it were Haruka and Nino? Absolutely they would. There’d be no question about a ranked vampire’s willingness to participate.

“Maybe we could help?” Nino asks, then looks at his mate. “You’ve been in the house so much lately, Haru.”

Nino said the latter part in English. This is another funny thing. Whenever they speak directly to each other, they always use English. Otherwise, everything is Japanese. Do they think I can’t speak English?

“My love, this program doesn’t exist,” Haruka reasons. “I cannot help with something that has not been established. There needs to be a written proposal submitted to the hospital board. That is the first step.”

Nino turns to me again, switching back to Japanese. “If you write the proposal and get it approved, maybe we could help you? It would be hard for you to get other vampires to comply. They would do it for us, though.”

I nod, excitement bubbling in my chest. I’ve been thinking about this for years. It would be brilliant, and I could learn more about vampire biology and become even better at my craft. How long would it take me to write this up? Where would I even start? Who would I present it to? The department head? Board members? CEO—

“Now that I am paying attention…” Haruka is speaking in English, his deep, velvety voice smooth and calm. “There is something unquestionably vampiric about his nature.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” Nino agrees. He narrows his eyes. “But why? You’re human, right?”

They’re both staring at me with their owly eyes. I’m staring back at them, utterly confused. Do they know I speak English or not? Am I supposed to respond? Of course I’m human.

There’s a knock at the door. Sora pokes her head inside. “Your next appointment just arrived. She’s in the waiting room.”

“Yes, thanks, Sora.” Dammit. I wish I could talk to them about this more and flesh out the details. “I’m going to start working on the proposal, but there will be some details that I… It won’t be easy to organize and work out on my own. I’m not sure how long it will take me.”

Nino smiles. “Haru can help.” Haruka’s shocked eyes widen and shift over toward his mate as he continues. “He’s not busy these days, so it’ll be a good project. I’ll help too, where I can. But he’s the Historian. Historians in our culture have tons of connections and information at their disposal.”

I look at Haruka, feeling apprehensive about the mood I’m suddenly picking up on. “That would be great, but… is that okay with you, Haruka?”

He nods, his composure recovered. “It’s perfectly fine. I am willing to help. If you have questions, make an appointment with Asao as you’ve done in the past.” Nino lifts his and Haruka’s clasped hands from his lap and closes his eyes. He presses his lips to the back of his mate’s knuckles. The moment is so tender and sweet that I’m wondering if I should look away.

“Doctor Davies?” Nino says.

“Y-yes?”

Nino is talking to me, but he’s staring at his mate. Haruka is looking off and away, as if he doesn’t want to acknowledge whatever is about to happen. “I know you need to go, but… with the Socotra purebreds being discovered and The Great Vanishing solved, we’ve received a lot of attention lately. And… we have been very reluctant to leave the house for the past couple weeks. I was wondering if you had any recommendations? Ways to cope with this loss of privacy? What we’re doing now, I don’t think it’s healthy for us.”

I can’t read Haruka’s blank expression, but clearly this is about him. His and Nino’s faces have been plastered everywhere the past couple weeks. I’ve even seen people wearing pop-art T-shirts with Haruka’s face on them. Knowing Haruka the little bit that I do, I’m sure this situation is a nightmare for him.

“Hm… Try leaving the house for something you really like.”

Nino nods. “Okay, for example…?”

“For example, if you really like playing tennis. At least leave the house once a week to do that. If there’s an ice cream shop you love, go there a couple of times a month? Try to think of something you truly enjoy, so that the reward outweighs the risk. Plus, you have a direct objective to focus on. That could be a good starting point?”

Nino looks directly at his husband and speaks in English, his voice low. “I think that sounds good. Can we please try, tesoro? Mm?” He lifts his hand again, but this time he flips Haruka’s palm up, sprinkling kisses on the inside.

I look away and take a deep breath because they’re making my gut all shifty and weird again. I have an urge to clear my throat, but who am I to interrupt century-old bonded and internationally celebrated purebreds making out in my office?

Gay vampires. Bloody hell.

Four

Junichi

Dios mío, ahí viene la misma vaina. My mother always used to say that whenever she heard my father shouting through the halls of the house—arrogantly posturing his purebred aura, flaring it outward and generally being a dick. Here we go with the same shit.

It’s exactly how I’m feeling right now.

“Haruka’s hair is growing out again.”

I briefly glance up from my sewing machine to look at the pompous little vampire sitting on my couch. He’s perched there with his legs crossed. His long white-blonde ponytail is slicked back tightly against his head. He’s holding a cup of hot tea. The way the steam swirls up from the surface only adds to the ridiculous drama of his overall demeanor.

Hisaki lifts his chin. “We had him over to the house for brunch last month. Mother was pestering him about rehabbing the Socotra vampires and what he thinks happened to the British purebreds. That’s all everyone in the aristocracy talks about lately. Why does it matter what happened to them? They’ve been gone for decades. So boring.”