As casually as he can, Haruka turns and moves to sit in an armchair near the edge of the bed to create some distance between them.

“I have some unfortunate news.” He switches subjects, because he doesn’t know how else to respond. “After Emory’s servants collected Gael from my room last night, they locked him in a bedchamber on the southern end of the castle. However, this morning when they went to check on him, he was gone.”

“Oh shit,” Nino says.

“Indeed.”

Nino pauses, tilting his chin upward ever so slightly and briefly closing his eyes. “I can’t even smell him. Can you?”

“I cannot. He must be too far outside the scope of our awareness. Perhaps he is several miles from the castle by now.” Thinking about what Gael had said the previous evening, Haruka is stunned. Yes, the research of Lore and Lust is valuable, but he never would have anticipated such a maniacal reaction to his family’s humble endeavor. He immediately decides he should be more careful in bringing it up going forward—if he does at all. “The root of last night’s scuffle appears to be the Lore and Lust manuscript. Gael demanded that I show it to him.”

Frowning, Nino moves to sit on the edge of his bed, a short distance across from Haruka. “Really? I thought it had something to do with his openly flirting with you.”

“His language toward me during dinner was certainly suggestive,” says Haruka. He doesn’t mention Gael’s licking him. He’d like to erase that from his memory altogether, if possible. “But he made it clear that he desired the book. Could this research be so desperately coveted?”

“It is an impressive resource. Like you said before, everyone thinks that bonding is this big, mysterious gamble that we can’t control—that you just feed from each other, have sex and eventually bond if you’re lucky. But your family’s research paints a more detailed picture and talks about specific bloodlines and compatibility. It suggests that we have some control over it. It’s a big deal.”

“I suppose. Is it worth attacking someone over? Gael’s objective in coming here was to formally mate with Oliver. Why would he suddenly change the course of his life over this?”

“You heard him at dinner,” Nino says. “He wanted out of Brazil. Maybe Oliver was just his path to escaping the Almeida Clan and Ladislao? Like a ticket for the express train going anywhere.”

Haruka’s stomach turns. He doesn’t consider himself a romantic, but if Gael had intended to use Oliver in such a callous way, then he is truly despicable.

“How’s Oliver taking the news about Gael’s attack and disappearance?” Nino asks. “Poor guy seemed so excited.”

He remembers seeing Oliver just before visiting with Nino. The young vampire had been sitting in a small, elaborately designed drawing room with Elsie and his mother. After Haruka had finished talking to Emory, he’d walked past the door. The sound of Oliver’s quiet sobs echoed in the antique space.

“Not well,” Haruka admits. “If he truly loved Gael, it will take him much time to recover from this betrayal. The ceremony is henceforth cancelled. We are free to leave the castle immediately following lunch.”

“So…” Nino clasps his hands between his gaped thighs, briefly diverting his eyes from Haruka’s gaze. “We’re done? It’s over?”

“Yes,” Haruka says. “You can return to London.” Nino drove separately from the estate. Since Sussex is much closer to the capital than Sidmouth, there was no use in him riding all the way back to Devonshire and then driving three hours back to London.

“What will you do?” Nino asks.

“I will return to Sidmouth.”

“No, I mean what will you do about feeding?”

“I…” Haruka places his hands against his thighs. The knot of his nature inside him is pulsing warm again. He wants Nino as his source, but he can’t say it. He won’t. It is improper and selfish and—

“Can I be your source, Haru? Would you accept me?”

Haruka blinks, meeting Nino’s bright, honeyed eyes and feeling a flood of warmth wash over him. “I would be honored to have you as my source…” Haruka hesitates, wanting to clarify a point but not wanting to seem cold. “But… as far as recompense, I should be honest in telling you I do not wish to form a bond under any circumstances. However, if there is something else you desire—”

“Haruka, I already told you I don’t want anything from you.”

“The arrangement is unbalanced,” Haruka explains, nervously rubbing the back of his neck. “I would not be comfortable with selfishly consuming your blood.”

“Alright, how about this—when I come feed you each week, can we spend the day together? Just you and me, like before.”

“Okay…” Haruka says, sensing there is more.

“I don’t open the bar on Sundays, so I could drive down in the mornings, then spend the day with you in the library and reading your resources. I like long drives, so I don’t mind the trip… I was also thinking, maybe we could add a new section to Lore and Lust?”

“A new section? On what?”

“Intent,” Nino says. “We could create a new article focusing on the correlation between a couple’s intent and the number of attempts before a successful bond is activated. I think it would be fairly simple, top-level research on our part. Nothing too invasive. Just asking couples questions and collecting data. How does that sound to you?”

Haruka pauses, genuinely considering. It sounds like a lot of time-consuming work, but intriguing. They could start with vampire couples within the UK, then branch outward to other European countries to acquire a scientifically sound research sample. Eventually, Haruka might even return home to Japan and take a sample there.

“I think it sounds exciting,” he says. He’s never done any of the groundwork related to Lore and Lust, only the compilation and arrangement. It would be nice to have his own contribution within his family’s legacy.

“So you accept?” Nino asks. “I’m your new source?”

“Yes, I accept,” Haruka says, a quiet joy spreading in his spirit. He can’t remember the last time he’s felt genuinely happy or excited about anything. “Do you wish to start this weekend? Since our time here has been unexpectedly cut short, we could return to my estate, but only if you are comfortable. Please do not feel any pressure to accompany me. If you wish to begin next weekend that is fine as well, whatever you prefer—”

“Haruka,” Nino interrupts, laughing. “Why are you bumbling?”

“I don’t know,” he says, rubbing his palms against his face. Happiness feels so foreign to him. Awkward—as if he’s suddenly wearing his shoes on the wrong feet. He doesn’t know how to settle into this feeling.

“I’ll follow you back to Sidmouth,” Nino says. “Let’s start this weekend.”

Haruka drops his hands and breathes a sigh of relief. “Okay.”

Mid-January

Sixteen

A month has passed. Nino sits staring out the clear bay window. He loves days like this—when the sky is blue and bright, painted with fluffy, textured clouds. They’re massive. Floating across the sky like celestial islands drifting in the wintery breeze.

Inside, Nino is surrounded by warmth and literature, perfectly comfortable in Haruka’s expansive library. He sits with his legs folded on the cushion and his back straight, resting against the wall enclosing the cozy sill. He turns his head to look down at Haruka sitting on the ornate rug in the middle of the floor. A disarray of books and notes spirals outward from his position—he is the eye of an academic hurricane. Haruka holds a black mug of steaming coffee in one hand while with the other he casually flips through a reference book on qualitative data analysis.

Nino keeps his voice low, not wanting to disturb the peaceful atmosphere but wanting to engage with his friend. “Did you talk to Emory last week?”

“Yes,” Haruka says, still focusing on his book.

Nino breathes a clipped laugh through his nose. “Did he spend the first ten minutes of your conversation apologizing profusely and insisting that he didn’t intentionally forget the blood bags last month?”

This time, Haruka rolls his eyes, bringing his cup to his mouth. “Yes.”

“When will he have a list for us?” Nino asks. Haruka lifts his head. The afternoon sunlight does that tricky thing where it catches the rich burgundy glint of his eyes. He looks handsome and Historian-like sitting on the floor with his coffee, but sometimes the outer shell cracks, revealing something tender beneath Haruka’s façade of purebred vampire refinement and prestige.

When their eyes meet, Nino’s stomach clenches. He casually glances down at the book in his lap to avoid Haruka’s lovely gaze. Stop, Nino. Don’t turn into a crazy pervert like everyone else.

“He says he should have the list of contacts for us next week.” Haruka sighs. “We still don’t have a concise way to collect this information. Obtaining quantitative data should be simple enough, but the qualitative piece is challenging. There is so much gray area with intent, Nino. How can we measure something so subjective?”

“With basic questions,” Nino says, refusing to look over at him until the butterflies in his stomach take a rest. “Was your bond initiated as a business transaction—yes or no? Did you love your intended mate at the initiation of your bond—yes or no?”