Nino lifts his chin in the manservant’s direction. Asao’s face softens, warm and kind. “Welcome to the family.”
“Thank you, Asao.” Nino beams.
Asao steps into the room. “We have a lot to talk about. Arrangements, formal announcements, combining finances. We need to think about hiring more staff for the house as well.”
“Agreed,” Haruka says. They have much work ahead of them. His mind is bending around his new circumstance. Little by little, it doesn’t seem nearly as daunting as it had an hour earlier.
Asao continues, “Also, you haven’t seen the paper this morning, but apparently Ladislao is gone. Poof. Vanished without a trace.”
Haruka draws back, his chest tight. Nino’s face also wears a look of panic. Is the Vanishing truly happening again? And what about the purebred he’d briefly sensed in the woods? Is he part of this, somehow? The confounding mystery of the Vanishing is that purebred vampires should not be capable of simply disappearing. The innate strength of their auras always makes them discernable to someone, somewhere—especially if they are mated.
“Anyway, I’m not trying to spook you,” Asao says, moving back out the door. “I just thought you should know. Let’s try not to let this news dampen our exciting morning. I’ll start breakfast.”
Haruka’s brain is already scanning and flipping through all the historical accounts, research and data he’s read and studied about the Great Vanishing. Nino’s voice breaks his concentration.
“Alright…” he breathes. “Am I allowed to panic now?”
Late April
Thirty-Nine
Nino loves the train in Japan. Especially when he misses rush hour on his way back home and it’s easy for him to get a window seat. Something about it—the quiet atmosphere, only disturbed by the muffled, smooth sound of the wheels against the train tracks, and the peaceful monotony of watching traditional houses interspersed with green rice fields, cement buildings, bright convenience stores and pedestrians and bikers zipping by like short clips from a movie reel—it gives him a sense of calm. A sense of wonder.
His phone rings. He looks around before discreetly answering the call and bringing the phone to his ear. “Thank God, she’s alive.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Cellina snarks. “Don’t be a brat.”
“Are they holding you captive in Greece somewhere? Why don’t you ever answer your phone, Lina?”
“Because I’m busy,” she says. “The museum has some exciting projects going on and I have a lot of responsibility. Everything is alright, isn’t it? Are you and Haruka okay?”
“Yeah,” Nino whispers. “We’re great—I just miss talking to you.”
Ever since Nino became bonded a month earlier, Cellina is even harder to get ahold of. He would never say it, but it suddenly feels as if his best friend is a fed-up nanny. She’s finally off duty and she’s washed her hands of him.
“Sorry,” she says. “I’ll try to do better, but I have shit to do. Why are you whispering?”
“I’m on the train. They don’t like people talking on phones on the train here—or eating. But it’s after rush hour and the car isn’t very full.”
“Got it—so you’re happy?” she asks.
“Yes. Very.” Maybe this is the happiest Nino has ever been in his long life. He never anticipated this—that within a matter of months, his life would be wholly and wonderfully changed forever.
He is bonded. With another purebred vampire. It’s unbelievable.
“Good,” Cellina says. “How’s Haruka? Is he adjusting?”
“He’s much better. I can tell he still grapples with the shock of it though. He’s been reaching out to Historians in other countries… his network of dusty vampire-professor nerds.”
Cellina laughs at this. Nino smiles as he continues. “He wants some kind of empirical data or logical reasoning for why we bonded so quickly and easily. I tell him it’s because we’re meant to be. He calls me a romantic and sticks his handsome little nose back in a book.”
“Cute,” Cellina says. “It’s that ancient blood of his—combined with the fact that you both genuinely trust each other. It’s a beautiful thing. How’s the aristocracy treating you?”
“I had a big meeting with the ranked vampires in Osaka and Kyoto last week. It went well, and I feel good about the role I’m creating for myself. Everyone is really receptive except for a couple of vamps here and there. I’m going to oversee the major cities in Kansai and Haru is going to take Chūgoku and split it with another purebred in Hiroshima.”
“Oh, is that the same purebred that oversaw his realm while he was away? The ‘substitute’ you mentioned?”
“Yeah.” Nino laughs. “He’s not popular. So tell me about the museum. G keeps asking me how you’re doing. He’s been pretty grumpy since you moved to Athens.”
There’s silence on the other end and Nino bites back a grin. “Lina?”
“You wonder why I don’t answer your calls?”
It’s dusk when Nino finally walks into the quiet master bedroom. The light of the newly replaced lamp is soft in the impending darkness. Instinctively, he glances through the open patio doors. The bamboo fence is vibrant and green against the luscious pink of cherry blossom trees. They delicately shed their petals in the stillness, reminding him of snowfall. Haruka is there, slowly sinking his long, naked body down and into the water.
Immediately deciding to join him, Nino walks over to his mate’s side of the bed to get the tube of liquid from the nightstand drawer. He rounds the corner of the mattress and is met with a small hoard—stacks of books, shuffled papers and an empty wine glass are set against the hardwood floor. Nino shakes his head as he steps over his husband’s miniature nest.
“He has a library and an office. Why does there need to be books and papers in our bedroom, too?”
He breathes a laugh, knowing Asao will fuss at him and say the same thing when he finds the mess. Bottle in hand, Nino swiftly moves toward the master bathroom to quickly shower.
The sun has dipped below the horizon when he’s finished and walks outside. The sky is an incredible blueish-purple with clusters of puffy, lingering clouds. They slowly drift, as if playing hide-and-seek with the silvery twinkle of stars above.
Haruka is sitting on the underwater ledge lining the inside of the spring. When Nino approaches, he stands, then dips underneath the water’s surface. Nino moves further into the spring, only stopping when his mate emerges just in front of him. Haruka smooths his hair back. He opens his haunting burgundy eyes. “Hello, my love.”
He steps into Nino, wrapping his arms around his naked waist and tilting his head to place a firm kiss against his mouth. Nino returns the affection before lifting his head. “Asao is going to fuss at you for leaving your research stuff in the bedroom.”
