Life handed him lemons. Instead of making lemonade, he packed his suitcase and left the fruit rotting on the counter.
“What have you been doing in the meantime?” Giovanni asks.
“I have traveled to many places, visiting various aristocracies across Japan, North America and Europe. I spent a large portion of the sixties and seventies traveling to America… a personal indulgence in jazz music…”
Giovanni raises his thick eyebrow. “Do you feel that’s wise? To leave your realm unoccupied for so long? What if the vampires there resent you? Especially in this increasingly tumultuous environment?”
“The things happening in Brazil have nothing to do with the rest of us,” Nino chimes in. “Not really, anyway.”
“Wrong,” Giovanni says flatly. “The things happening in Brazil have a ripple effect across our entire culture. Tensions are rising and it’s shifting everyone’s focus to the alleged purebred population crisis.”
“Alleged…” Haruka pipes up. “Do you not feel the population is truly at risk? That we have been misled somehow?”
Giovanni sits back in his seat, folding his arms across his broad chest. “I don’t question that the Vanishing was a real thing that happened, and it definitely reduced our population. But it’s impossible to take a true census of purebred vampires, because a lot of us are still unregistered. Not everyone in our population subscribes to human policies and government, especially purebreds of old blood or age. So yes, I think this widespread panic is premature. Why should we give so much attention to a human-released census? There could be other factors we’re not considering.”
“I share your sentiments,” Haruka says, appreciating Giovanni’s pragmatic point of view. Now that Haruka has privately experienced a vampire vanishing before his eyes in conjunction with an unexplained purebred, he thinks there might be even more to consider.
When there’s a light knock against the door to the sun-room, Haruka turns. A maidservant is standing in the doorway with another vampire beside her. A beautiful, young female vampire.
The maidservant gives a polite bow as she speaks. “My lords, Cellina De Luca has arrived.” The new guest moves toward the table. Nino and Giovanni stand. Haruka follows their lead. He intentionally breathes in to discern her scent.
She is first-generation, but the purebred half of her bloodline registers as clean and old in nature. She smells of magnolias and has smooth, warm brown skin that reminds Haruka of hot cocoa. Her dark auburn hair sits in heavy curls against her shoulders. Her eyes are the most haunting shade of gray.
Nino walks forward and when he reaches her, he picks her up by her waist in a tight embrace. She wraps her arms around his shoulders. When they finish their very warm greeting, Nino holds her hand as he turns toward Haruka.
“Haruka, this is Cellina, my source. Cellina, this is Haruka Hirano.” Nino beams as if this moment is long-awaited. The excitement radiating from him is palpable. Cellina smiles sweetly and offers a polite bow.
“Your grace—”
“Just Haruka—please.”
“Hi, Haruka. It’s so nice to finally meet you.”
“It is nice to meet you, too.” He returns her bow, slightly taken aback but hiding it. Her shape is that of an hourglass, and she is stylish and stunning. Nino has casually mentioned Cellina in passing, and Haruka knows that she is his source. But they seem… extremely close. “Cellina, may I ask, what is your age?”
She smooths her hair away from her shoulder as she considers. “Oh God. I think I’ll be one hundred and twenty-one in June? And you’re one hundred and one, right? Nino told me.”
“I am,” Haruka verifies. “One hundred and two in April.” She has the upper hand in this meeting. Clearly, she’s been told more about Haruka than he has been informed about her.
“How was your trip to Milan?” Cellina asks brightly. “You just got in today, right?”
“I did. It was an uneventful trip, thank you,” Haruka says, his eyes flickering down. Nino keeps a firm grasp on Cellina’s hand while she speaks, and a small shift occurs in his mind.
It’s a distinct feeling. A hollow discontent. As if he has quietly been considering himself the knight on a chess board, but in reality, he is just a rook.
Again.
“You’re not going to greet me?” Giovanni’s heavy voice carries across the table. They all look at him, but Cellina’s smiling face falls flat. The air in the room is suddenly stiff.
“My apologies, your grace.” She nods, but with unmistakable contention.
Giovanni narrows his hazel eyes. “Don’t do that. I don’t like that.”
“Is that an official order?” She frowns. “How am I supposed to know what you like? I’m just doing what you want—”
“I never wanted this with you—whatever the hell this is.”
There is an uncomfortable pause as Giovanni stares hard at Cellina, like time itself is standing still and Haruka is caught in a deep chasm he cannot even begin to understand.
Nino runs the fingers of his free hand through his hair. “Jesus… can we all just sit down and have lunch, please?”
Twenty-Two
The first course (il primo) consisted of a delicious, hearty canederli soup. Haruka has learned that Nino’s family owns a property in northeast Italy. Growing up, they spent much time there and this soup is a specialty from that region. The second course was roasted chicken seasoned with white wine, sage and rosemary. Considering blood is their primary source of nourishment, not all purebred vampires eat table food habitually. However, Haruka is always more contented when he’s in the company of those who also embrace life’s little pleasures.
Conversation throughout dinner has been surprisingly comfortable. Aside from the sporadic, facetious and therefore prickly banter between Cellina and Giovanni, their discussions of news, business trends and their respective professions have been enthralling.
Haruka relaxes in his chair, bringing his post-dinner coffee to his lips. Giovanni sets his own cup down, watching him. “Nino mentioned that you had some trouble during the bonding ceremony. Your attacker was first-gen—from Brazil, correct?”
“He was.”
“Do you think it was in relation to the uprising?” Giovanni asks.
“No. He made it very clear that he wished to possess my family’s research on bonding. We reported him to the police and informed his realm leader.”
“Nino told me about the book—Lore and Lust?” Giovanni asks. “It goes back five centuries?”
“It does.”
