A few days later it’s Saturday afternoon. I’m sitting in the front room of my cottage with The Vampire Audrey. Spring rain is lightly tapping the windows and surfaces of the house, and my stomach is full of English breakfast tea and warm cinnamon rolls with raisins. She’s telling me a story about how she once ran naked through Trafalgar Square for a cup of coffee in the 1970s. It is truly a fascinating tale, but I am distracted and officially concerned that I might be losing my mind.
“They didn’t have cameras and all this fancy technology back then, so it was much easier to get away with little things—I reinvented myself over and over, just for the hell of it.” Audrey takes a long sip of tea, then dabs a napkin at her ruby-red lips. “Those were the days.”
“It would be much harder to do that now, absolutely.” I squirm in my seat, trying to get my gut to calm down. It’s not working.
“Oh, it’d be impossible to do it now. Everyone is a walking video camera! My streaking days are over.” Audrey lifts her teacup to her mouth, but then frowns, focusing on me. “Darling, are you alright?”
I breathe in, and everything I’m sensing just feels more and more intense. “I don’t know. I—I think I’m losing my mind.”
“What’s the matter? I’m not an expert in purebred matters, but I can probably help. I know a thing or two.” Audrey is second-gen, and she definitely knows a lot. Much more than me. We met in the city one weekend three months ago when I decided to visit the larger chain supermarket instead of my small local one. She was shocked when she saw me—a British purebred. But she’s kept me a secret like I’ve asked. She’s very kind. Audrey visits me every Saturday unless I’m working. It’s nice to talk to someone that’s not Cy.
“I—Do you remember what I told you?” I ask. “About the vampire that helped to awaken me?”
“Junichi,” she says, nodding. “Of course I remember. He’s rather important.”
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but it’s like I can feel him. I’m not—I wasn’t thinking of him, but it keeps getting stronger, and I can sense and smell him right now.”
I run my hands up and through my hair, clenching my eyes shut and feeling my neck and face flush. It’s overwhelming—like he’s all around me. Why is my body torturing me?
“Is he here? If you sense him this way, he must be…” Audrey sets her teacup down, stands and moves to the front window, her long, silky skirt floating all around her as she glides to peek through the rain-dotted glass. “There’s a black Jaguar pulling into your driveway. Are you expecting someone?”
Whipping my head around, I blink. “No.”
She’s still staring through the window. “Well, someone is here. Oh—they’re getting out of the car… rather tall fellow. Dashing. Sweetie, I think this is your vampire?”
Forty-Three
Junichi
I decided to surprise Jae in Bristol for two reasons.
First, there’s no way he’d be comfortable going to the wedding alone. I didn’t bother asking because I knew he’d tell me no and insist that he was fine. But walking into a major aristocracy like Milan on your own and as a brand-new purebred sounds like hell. Intimidating isn’t even the word. Add to it, Jae has zero practice with being around other high-ranked vampires while being a vampire himself. He needs an escort. Without question.
Second, I wanted some time to talk and be alone with him before the wedding chaos. It’s going to be an absolute circus when we get there, but I need to tell him how I feel. That I’m ready for him—for all of it. Everything… if he still wants me.
I was surprised when he left Japan right after he transitioned. Yes, his awakening and being purebred shocked the hell out of me. He was climbing all over me and his energy was so intense, it scared me—I admit that. But I didn’t want him to leave altogether. I hoped he’d stay at the hospital while I worked through my shit with Ren, and that he’d keep learning from and visiting with Haruka. Our community is a good and safe place for him, so it was weird to me that he just fucked off and started doing all the surrogacy program work remotely.
Before he woke up and when I thought he might be first-gen, I had decided that I would be open to bonding with him. I just… needed some time to adjust. But it seems like in Jae’s mind (and Nino’s too, apparently) I outright rejected him. I didn’t, though, and I tried to explain that to him the day he awakened, but his head was just somewhere else and I couldn’t get through to him.
Maybe I was wrong to push him away at that exact moment. I get Nino’s perspective. I understand. But I can’t go back and change anything. All I can do now is reassure him—insulate him in the knowledge and confidence that he is loved, supported and not alone.
I rented a car at the airport to drive out to Jae’s cottage. The area where he lives is quite a way off from the city—at least twenty miles. It’s beautiful out here. The road in front of me is stretched like a thin line among rolling pastures, and everything is bright green and alive despite the steel clouds blanketing the sky. The wind is starting to pick up too, so the tree branches are bending and swaying in a hypnotic dance.
When I finally pull up the drive to the cottage, I laugh out loud. It literally looks like something out of a fairy tale. Jae is like a prince that lives isolated and in a storybook cottage with mint-green trimmings, ivy-covered brick and a mangle of red rose bushes flanking each side.
It’s too much. Like he’s intentionally set himself up here to be as dramatic as possible.
After I park the car, cut the engine and step outside, the minty-green door to the cottage slowly opens. Jae is standing still in the frame. His hair is a bit longer than I remember—swept back and a little messy like he’s run his fingers through it. He’s wearing his glasses and he has on an off-white cotton sweater that fits his frame perfectly and dark khaki pants.
Across the distance, our eyes meet in an isolated moment. The wind is soft but chilly, still laced with the frosty edges of winter and damp against my skin—whipping my trench coat at the bottom edges. He moves down the walkway toward me, and I notice his ridiculously cute navy-blue leather boat shoes. This whole outfit suits him so well—it doesn’t look like something he pulled off a mannequin.
Deciding to leave my suitcases in the car, the first thing I do is move to the back seat, pull out the large carrying case there and set it down so I can pop open the door. Enough is enough.
Immediately, she swipes at my hand. Ungrateful creature. She’s been acting like this toward me since the day Jae left my house. Her chin is lifted as she slinks out of the carrier, then darts underneath the car and straight toward her target. I watch as Jae bends down, shocked as he pets the anxious cat.
“Lulú!” Jae’s eyes are wide, and the cat lifts her head into his palm, her paws pressed against his knees. Dios mío. You’d think Lulú was his cat. I had to get her a passport, shots and microchip (she was not pleased about either of those), and certificates to get her cleared to enter the UK, plus she’s been bitching at me the entire trip. Now she’s happy as a clam.
Quicky grabbing my second surprise from the passenger seat, I move to meet him in the walkway. Jae stands slowly, looking at me like he’s about to throw up. I have no idea what this expression means or if it’s a good thing. “Hello, sunshine.”
“Wh-what are you doing here?” He’s staring at me with that same expression, but I’m now noticing his eyes. They’re still the same vivid chestnut-brown color, but there’s a thick ring of blue around them that I couldn’t see during our video calls. When did that happen? Also, why is he still wearing glasses? I think he’s very sexy when he’s wearing them, but he told me three months ago that his vision had more than corrected itself.
“The cat gets a nicer greeting than me? If nothing else, I’m the one who brought her here.” I open my arms, revealing the bouquet of flowers I was holding behind my back. It takes a minute, and Jae’s expression stays unreadable, but he steps into me for a very stiff hug. God. We’ve been talking on the phone since he left. It didn’t seem like he was angry with me? “I missed you,” I tell him. “It’s good to see you.”
“You too,” he says, hastily pulling out of my embrace. I hold the flowers in front of my chest. They’re a mix of vivid blue and purple, long and elegant. I like them because they remind me of us.
“They’re delphiniums. Do you like them?”
Jae finally smiles. It’s weak, but it’s there. He focuses on the bouquet. “They’re brilliant.”
“Since you told me bird-of-paradise were your mother’s favorite flower, we’ll have to decide what your favorite is.”
He raises an eyebrow. “Do I need one?”
“Yes. Absolutely. Any cultured, sophisticated male who is confident in his personal style and tastes should have one.”
Jae rolls his eyes, still smiling. “Right. What’s yours, then?”
“Sunflowers. But you can’t have mine.”
“I don’t want it. It suits you, though. The sofa.”
“Exactly.” I wiggle my eyebrows. I love that fucking couch. I based the design of everything else in the living room and kitchen off that couch. Why? Because my father would hate that couch. “Wild and garish.” That’s what he would call it—like the rocking of hips to the guitar and bongos.
Jae takes the flowers and lifts them up toward his nose. “Thank you for these… Why are you here? I thought I’d see you in Milan?”
“Jae. You’re the only living British purebred vampire in existence and you’ve never been to an aristocracy event. I wouldn’t let you walk into that situation by yourself.”
There’s an awkward pause where I sense he wants to say something, but instead he looks away from me, staring into the flowers. “That’s very kind of you. Thank you… Do you need help carrying anything else?”
I raise my eyebrow. Kind of me? “I don’t, no.”
“Audrey is inside. You should come in and meet her.” He turns, and I follow him up the charming cobblestone path and to the front door. Just before I step through the frame, I call out to Lulú. She comes bounding through the grass like a dolphin leaping in and out of the ocean, then trots past me and inside the house. It’s obvious that she already loves it here. Too bad the owner of this stunning little home is less than thrilled about me.
“I haven’t stolen anything in fifteen years,” The Vampire Audrey exclaims. “It’s too difficult nowadays. And prison has never been any fun. You won’t catch this poppet behind bars. Not ever again!”
I’m laughing as the tea kettle whistles, the sound shrill and ringing through the warm sitting room. Jae hops up from his armchair and heads toward the kitchen with Lulú close at his heels. She hasn’t left his side since we came into the house.
