“How are you feeling?” Haruka asks. “You had expressed concern about coming here and how your nature would react to everyone.”
Haruka and I have spoken at least once a month since I left Japan. But I try not to bother him too often because, well, I try hard not to bother anyone. I breathe in, assessing the environment as Nino comes and stands beside Haruka.
Giovanni’s energy is like a hard, vertical wall in front of him. But it feels like… a façade? An immediate show of power, but he’s exposed on the sides. There isn’t anything to back it up. And as for Haruka and Nino, well… the energy coming from them pulses all around us. It’s potent and drowns out everything in a strangely pleasant way. It radiates fully from Nino but feels stifled when I focus on Haruka.
I’m amazed at the varying levels of control and manipulation emanating from all of them. I suppose when you’re born and raised vampiric, managing your aura isn’t really an issue.
“Jae?”
“Ah—I’m alright. So far so good, although I would like to chat with you later, if you have the time?”
Haruka tilts his head. “Is that so? Nino has been adamant that I speak with you while we’re here. Is your matter urgent?”
“Not really. I just… I’d like to know how to control my, er… aura. Better.” It feels awkward even saying it. My “aura.” Christ.
“No no, wait.” Nino’s amber eyes widen and he turns slightly, reaching out and gripping Haruka at his waist over his suit jacket. The movement surprises him, because he jumps at Nino’s touch. “I’ll teach you about that—controlling your aura,” Nino assures me. He looks at his mate, and they exchange a pointed look before Haruka rolls his eyes. Nino scrunches his nose. “I’m good at controlling and manipulating it now, aren’t I?”
“Of course,” Haruka says.
“So I’ll help Jae.”
“What’s the problem?” Junichi walks up and stands beside me. I was only vaguely aware of him fussing at Asao in the corner after we walked in. Seems like they’re finished now.
“There’s no problem,” Nino says, leaning in toward Haruka’s cheek. “But if Haruka teaches Jae how to control his aura, maybe you’ll never see it again.”
Haruka shakes his head in a laugh that registers from his throat. “That is not true.”
“Mmhm,” Nino snarks, then presses a quick peck against his mate’s cheek.
“Well, I certainly don’t want that,” Junichi states. “But I don’t think I have a say in it.”
I look up at Jun, because it feels like there might be something hidden in the statement—some passive-aggressive undertone. But I’m immediately distracted by the luster and depth of his eyes staring down at me, and my nature (which had been very kind to me up until this point) does something like a somersault in my belly. I look away and take a breath. What were we talking about?
“They’re ready for us,” Asao says, standing by a door across the room.
“Okay, one more time.” Cellina joins the huddle, and Giovanni and Sydney close the circle behind her. With all the commotion, I hadn’t even noticed him. I smile in his direction, and he gives me a cheerful wave.
“Asao and Sydney are handling and orchestrating the waitstaff. First, Nino and Haru will welcome everyone with greetings as they enter the balcony, then Nino is standing with Haru while he reads the confirmation certificate, yes?”
Nino nods. “Yes.”
Cellina faces me and Jun. “Will the two of you stand as witnesses to our bond with our friends—Matteo, Mia and Sergio, and my brother, Cosimo? Our parents will be there too. You’ll all be sitting together in the first and second rows. You’ll only have to stand up and say ‘we do’ when the officiator turns to you. He’ll tell you when. Super easy.”
I blink, taken aback that I have even the smallest role in this massive, fancy ordeal. Jun finds my hand and gives my palm a soft squeeze. “Are you comfortable with that?”
“Of course! Sure.”
Cellina beams. “Perfect.”
Giovanni takes hold of Cellina’s waist from behind and leans over her shoulder as he addresses me. “You don’t need to be worried today. Just observe and try to have fun. There are a lot of purebreds at this ceremony from all over the world, and nobody is expecting to find a British one. They’d only know if you spoke, and even then, by the time everyone is drinking, I’m sure nobody will notice. So relax.”
Nino frowns. “Now you want him to relax? But you were rude as hell the second he walked in.”
“That’s because he walked in here looking like a skittish deer—that was a joke.”
“How was that ‘joke’ supposed to help?”
“Neither of you are helping right now.” Cellina is shaking her head again, and they both quiet down. Haruka clears his throat, and we all look at him.
“Shall we go?”
Still holding my hand, Jun pulls me toward the door as Asao holds it open for us.
Forty-Seven
Jae
The ceremony took place on a large balcony overlooking the lake and mountains. Everyone was so poised and attentive, and their clothing reminded me of a scene from some classic film—back when everyone cared a great deal more about how they looked and dressed when they walked out of the house. The Great Gatsby or The Age of Innocence.
Giovanni and Cellina sparkled (not literally), and their love and commitment to one another as they read their vows genuinely made my heart flutter. Haruka’s reading of the bond certificate was fascinating. The document outlined generations of Cellina’s and Giovanni’s respective families starting from the eighteenth century and leading up to today, creating a winding, storied path of how these two unique families came to be forever entwined. His rich voice was spellbinding, and it was as if everyone were frozen in time, not even breathing as we hung on to his every word.
By sunset, food has been served and devoured, drinks filled and refilled. I’m sitting out under the atrium with Haruka, but we’re alone. Junichi is popular. I had a sense of this when I searched for him on the Internet, way back before our first real date. And again when I went to his shop and saw him beautifully posed on multiple magazine covers. But seeing it in person—having vampires call out to him from across the room or interrupt conversations to pull him away, gushing about the latest celebrity or icon he’s dressed—it becomes quite tangible, doesn’t it?
But he’s stayed with me this whole time. He’s never once left me alone, and when someone has taken hold of his arm and pulled him along, he’s immediately grabbed my hand and pulled me right with him. Only when Haruka has found us and assures Jun that we won’t go far does he separate from me.
Haruka and I are out on the balcony again, sitting in the front row of empty seats that overlook the now darkened water. It moves silently in the fading light, the sun setting behind the shadowed mountains. Little white and yellow lights from houses set in the hills are flickering on, their reflections dancing brightly within the water. The sky is a cool gradient of deep blue and soft yellow.
I inhale a breath, trying to feel the tranquility and beauty of this scene both inside my body and out. Maybe if I breathe in deep enough, I’ll hold on to it and be able to use this feeling again later on when I need it.
