“Why?” she says, concern in her voice. “I think this is wonderful. You actually attended your first formal aristocratic event as an adult, and you’ve grown so much in the past month just spending time with him.”

“But Haruka isn’t… He does not want this from me.” Nino’s hand is like a permanent fixture against his face. He massages his forehead now, his eyes closed. “He was hiding because vampires are always lusting after him and wanting something from him—and he has strong opinions about bonding. We’ve only grown close like this because we’re friends, so I can’t…”

What is he supposed to do? How can he stop this feeling from consuming him? He knew it was there from the moment he first met Haruka—like the tiniest ember glowing deep within him. Now, the ember is a full-grown flame and he doesn’t know how to snuff it out.

“But you’re nothing like those other vampires, are you?” Cellina reasons. “Don’t stress over it, Nino. Just take it slow. Did he agree to come visit you in Milan next month?”

“Yeah.” Nino sighs, sitting upright. He’s invited Haruka to his home estate, reasoning that they can start distributing surveys for the new section of Lore and Lust. Also, Haruka won’t have to go two full weeks without feeding or finding a new source (neither of which is ideal).

“I’m looking forward to meeting him. Oh, I heard about a vampire attack in Sidmouth earlier this week. Was Haruka involved in that?”

Nino smirks. He’d heard about it as well, and had promptly called the house phone at Sidmouth since Haruka doesn’t own a cell phone (which is both shocking and not shocking).

Asao had answered. He’d confirmed that the report had been about them, but the manservant had sounded downright bored when Nino asked questions, as if Haruka had only been bitten by a mosquito rather than attacked by five ranked vampires in the middle of the night. The report said that four of the trespassers had been easily taken into custody by the local police, largely due to the mysterious mutilation of their lower extremities. The fifth attacker, who Asao had privately identified as Gael, had escaped.

Although no motive, Haruka’s name nor any other details were released in the news report, Nino knows that Gael likely wanted to steal Haruka’s manuscript. Does he want it for personal use? Or does he think he can sell it? Lore and Lust is valuable, but is it worth all this? This barbaric behavior that ranked vampires rarely exhibit in the modern age?

“Yeah, the attack happened at Haruka’s house, but he’s fine.” Nino smiles, thinking fondly of his handsome friend.

Stop that.

“So insane,” Cellina says. “What the hell is happening with our people lately? Are you keeping up with all this bullshit about Brazil and Ladislao? He’s basically being ostracized by other ranked vampires. Everyone is being so snooty and classist. It’s painful to watch.”

“I know,” Nino says, standing and moving toward the front doors of his bar. There are already humans waiting outside for happy hour. “Life in our culture has been peaceful for the past century—even with those terrible human wars. Hopefully things will settle down again, somehow.”

“Ugh. Can we meet for dinner tomorrow? I need comfort food.”

“Sure.” Nino grins. “Let me know what time works for you.”

Nineteen

The snowfall is heavy outside the following Sunday. Steadily it descends like large, wet tufts of cotton from the sky, practically obscuring the view of the moor from the library window.

Haruka swivels forward in his seat, his gaze naturally landing on Nino. The news has reported severe winter storms for today, so he’d wondered if his friend would even bother visiting him. But he arrived punctually at ten in the morning, like he always does.

“Don’t… take this the wrong way,” Nino says, his amber gaze still focused on his laptop as he sits on the floor typing.

“Mm?” Haruka acknowledges.

“Sometimes you remind me of a panther.” Nino grins, looking up and meeting Haruka’s eyes.

Haruka puffs out a laugh. “Excuse me?”

“You watch me, with those deep burgundy eyes, and it makes me think of a panther getting ready to pounce on his prey.”

Haruka laughs again, but this time from embarrassment. He caresses his fingers into the back of his hair, lowering his head. “I assure you I am not getting ready to do that.”

“I know.” Nino laughs. “It’s just the vibe you give off sometimes.”

God. Shaking his head, Haruka picks up his pen. He hadn’t realized he was watching Nino so much. He needs to pay closer attention to his own actions.

“Did you buy your plane ticket for next month?” Nino asks. Haruka keeps his gaze down and on his journal.

“I did.”

“Good. I’m excited for you to come home with me. I think we’ll be able to get a good preliminary sample for our research.”

“About that…” Haruka looks at him again, dismissing the earlier shame. “Do you think five questions is enough? Should we not strive for something more in-depth?”

“I think simple is better to start with, then we can build as necessary from there. So how did you stop those vampires?”

“Your transition is abrupt.”

Nino laughs. “Because I want to know. I’ve been here for an hour and you haven’t even brought it up. I was waiting!”

“I restrained and manipulated them with my aura,” Haruka says, sitting back in his chair and folding his arms. “There is no dramatic tale behind the encounter.” Except toward the end, there was. Haruka had asked Asao if he’d felt anything strange that night—the presence of another purebred, something unfamiliar. With all the chaos his manservant hadn’t noticed anything.

He knows he didn’t imagine it. The heavy scent of sage still lingers within his mind like an ominous haze. Aside from disclosing the truth to Asao, he has firmly decided to avoid discussing the aberrant occurrence. He informed Emory that Gael had escaped, intentionally keeping the exact details of the circumstance vague.

“You being able to push your aura outward and manipulate it to the point of restraining other ranked vampires is plenty dramatic in my mind,” Nino says, shaking his head. “So you just wrap them in your energy and… squeeze?”

“Squeeze?” Haruka frowns. “No. While I am indeed capable of wrapping them in my energy, I am able to subjugate them based on my knowledge of anthropoid anatomy. The more I learn about a creature’s physical body and the biological framework therein, the more specifically I can manipulate them.”

Nino folds his arms as he sits with his legs crossed, thinking. “So you could hold someone still, then break their baby toe?”

“Yes… although I do not know why I would do that.”

“Rupture a spleen?” Nino asks.

“Yes. Again, so oddly specific.”

Nino straightens, his eyes playful. “Can you show me?”

“I primarily only use this as a defense mechanism.”

“That means… you can’t do it without force? You’d hurt me if you did it now?”

“No, I would never—” Haruka sighs, then rolls his shoulders. He unravels the knot of his aura in his belly. His eyes immediately burn bright. He gently presses his energy outward, carefully wrapping it around Nino as he sits against the floor. Nino gasps, surprised as his body floats upward. Haruka has only subjugated him from the neck down, so Nino’s eyes are wide with wonder as he rises higher.

“Holy shit…” He blinks, smiling. Haruka stands and walks around the desk so that he’s directly in front of him. He lifts his hand and rotates his wrist as if he is turning a doorknob, and Nino quickly flips upside down. The warmth of Nino’s laughter fills the space of the library.

“This is wild.” He beams, his amber eyes scanning the room from his new perspective. Haruka smiles. Nino’s innocent joy is infectious.

“Why can’t I smell your aura like this?” Nino scrunches his handsome face in confusion. “It’s all around me, but your scent is missing… It’s not like from before, when you fought Gael.”

Haruka nods, appreciating the way Nino has worded the embarrassing encounter. “You obviously have the same energy source inside of you,” he explains. “But imagine having two different filters. One filter represents the natural allure of your resting aura. The other is much more focused. Purified and streamlined. Now that I am properly nourished, I can distinctly control the two. During the first altercation with Gael, I could not, so they discordantly released from me.”

He slowly turns Nino upright, then straightens his legs and lowers his feet to the floor. When Haruka releases his hold and withdraws his aura, Nino stretches his arms up, still grinning with delight. “Amazing,” he says.