Page 25 of The Vanishing
“Do you think the purebreds like living in this place?” Nino asks. “Are they happy?”
“Like I said, I haven’t spoken to anyone besides Kahla, and she can’t speak to me, so I don’t know. But as for me, I would like to leave as soon as possible. Tio thinks I’ll blab about his society if he lets me go. I don’t even know where the heck we are! So whatif I talk—what would I say? Who wants to talk about this place… Este lugar é um lixo. I want to quickly forget it.”
“Agreed.” Nino lays his head back, breathing a deep sigh. His incisors are throbbing, threatening to elongate on their own from want of blood. He’s hungry and tired, uncomfortable, and yearns for his mate to fill the excruciating void pulsing in his abdomen. He shivers from the damp, cold air of the room. It feels like the faded walls are closing in on him.
“Your condition is not good, honeycomb. When’s the last time you fed?”
Nino considers. This is his third day here. Before that, he hadn’t fed from Haruka in a few days—which isn’t like them, but things had gotten busy with Nino staying overnight in Osaka for business. “Almost a week.”
“Nada de bom. Your skin is looking gray. Are you cold? Should we cuddle?”
“No.”
“I can warm you up. I’m a little bony right now, but it could help?”
Nino closes his eyes again, concentrating on his inner nature and insulating himself with his own warmth. As the glow of it radiates, he thinks about his home—his and Haruka’s nest and the peace, love and security they’ve built there.
“I want to meet your mate.”
At the sound of Ladislao’s voice, Nino’s concentration breaks, but he keeps his eyes closed. Silent.
“I want to see this person that inspires such fidelity within you. So much so that I can’t even sit on the bed with you… This dirty velvet thing, ah! Tão desconfortável! Eu não gosto…”
Recognizing the pout in his voice, Nino bites back a grin. “You can sit on the bed—but stay at the foot, please.”
* * *
Hours later,Nino’s breathing is shallow. Faint. He lies motionless on his side. When he runs his tongue along his teeth, his incisors have sharpened of their own accord.
He needs to feed. His skin is dry—his insides too, as if he’s been lying out in the sun and all the life and nutrients are being siphoned from his body. Moving even an inch sends shockwaves of pain through Nino’s core and limbs.
“Ei, honeycomb, you need to drink the blood later tonight—you won’t last like this.” Despite Nino’s request, Ladislao is sitting just behind him and against the headboard, his long fingers flittering and stroking Nino’s hair. “You have to think of your mate. His survival is rooted in yours, amigo.” Even speaking takes energy that Nino can’t afford to expend.
Loud footfalls in the hallway make Ladislao jump up from his relaxed position. By the time the door swings open, he’s back on the ottoman at the end of the large bed. Using all the energy he can muster, Nino flares his aura outward. It’s weaker now—he can feel it. But it’ll still hold.
The footsteps draw closer as he lies with his cheek flat against the comforter.
“Time to go home.”
Nino lifts, slow, cautious. Lajos is standing over him, his black eyes emotionless. He lifts his cane and taps the glassy surface of Nino’s essence. His smile is eerie. “I cannot return you if you remain shielded from me, now can I?” The tall vampire with one ear walks up to stand just beside Lajos, his thin, pointed face cast in shadows.
Nino flicks his eyes toward Ladislao at the end of the bed, who then offers a slight shrug. The tension is thick in the silence, with everyone staring at Nino inside his bright orb.
“Well?” Lajos asks. “It is not my intention to keep you here. Not without your mate, anyway…”
Heart racing, pulse throbbing in his ears, Nino swallows.I have to get back home…He can’t survive much longer in this state. He doesn’t have a choice. Breathing in, he unfurls and withdraws the power of his aura, but the second it dissolves around him, the old vampire’s hand darts out, his fingers gripping Nino’s chin hard.
“Ah—”
Lajos’s eyes glow bright white as his face contorts in anger. Before Nino can process what’s happening, a hot, bubbling sensation swells within his mouth—as if it’s full of baking soda, vinegar and fire. He inhales from the discomfort and the space is unexpectedly hollow. Empty and bewildering. He tries to swallow but coughs, his chest rattling as he gags from the loss of something fundamental. Lajos removes his fingers from Nino’s face and an intense pressure pounds against his chest, knocking him back so that he tumbles off the opposite side of the bed.
“Tio, this is too much—”
“Keep your mouth shut or you’re next.”
Nino is coughing, choking and trying to breathe through the pain of the surprise attack. He rolls onto his back against the icy floor. When he opens his eyes, the one-eared vampire is menacing and towering over him. Nino lifts his arms, but there’s another intense slam against his ribs.
Then there’s nothing. Blackness and silence as his body goes limp.
