Page 55 of The Vanishing
The silence lingers as he stares at her with his intense eyes. “And it’snota joke,” he says. “It’s not funny and it’s not cute. I accept my awful prison of a life, but when you flirt with me and put your hands on me, it fucks with my resolve. It messes with my head.”
Cellina watches him, recognizing the pain and frustration in his face. “Maybe…” She blinks, considering. “Your resolve needs to be fucked with? Maybe you should stop being your family’s martyr.”
Giovanni draws back, his expression shifting to something between confusion and insult. Matteo returns, handing out drinks as he holds a small silver tray. Giovanni takes his glass, nods in thanks and walks away from them as if in a hurry to escape.
Matteo stares after him with his mouth gaped open. “Um…what?” He turns and looks at Cellina. “Where is he going? I haven’t even offered to do nasty things to him yet! Did you insult our king?”
“No,” Cellina sighs, pulling her drink to her lips. “I told him the truth.”
Twenty-Five
Nino has never seen this expression on his mate before: pure rage tinted with lethal conviction. The tenderness and vulnerability he’s grown accustomed to have all but disappeared as they walk down the hallway and toward the outdoor garden at the center of the estate.
Nino runs trembling fingers into his hair. “Why the hell is he back?”
“Because despicable creatures like thisalwayscome back. Once they acquire one thing, they inevitably want more.”
Haruka opens the outer door to the breezeway, then steps onto the veranda, purpose in his long strides. Nino follows behind, fear almost crippling him. He doesn’t want Haruka to be taken from him, nor does he have any desire to return to that strange and barren place with Ladislao as a lurid roommate.
“Maybe if we stay inside, we’ll be safe—"
“No.He may be capable of pinpointing our locations. This ends now.”
They stand together, watching the still garden cast in a gray summertime haze from the cloud cover. It’s humid and the air is thick and smells of impending rain. Lajos steps out from behind the large maple tree centered in the lawn. Pale and wiry, his movement is graceful, as if floating beside the dark, glassy surface of the koi pond.
Nino flares his protective aura outward, the skill much easier to invoke compared with the first time he’d discovered the ability.
“This power…” Lajos rests his cane against the grass and stands before them, his wrinkled, thin face shifting into a smirk. “The two of you should consider joining in my endeavors. Your combined blood and natures would produce exquisite offspring. I could help arrange it for you? The result would be a wonderful addition to the gene pool of my community.”
Nino stifles a dry heave. Lajos makes having children sound like some scientific experiment—something clinical and unfeeling. Plus, Nino still hasn’t broached this subject with his mate. It feels all wrong: having this callous vampire talk to them about a topic so weighted and unaddressed within their private communication. None of this is his business.
Lajos waits. No one speaks. Nino glances at Haruka and he’s perfectly calm. The rage is dispelled, but his eyes are like daggers as he focuses on the decrepit purebred.
“Consider it.” Lajos lifts his chin at their silence. “You could do much good for the future of our kin. Which brings me to the purpose of my visit. The manuscript you gifted me is excellent. I wonder if we could discuss your findings in more detail? I have learned much about purebred biology while overseeing my realm—the extremes to which we can survive and flourish are remarkable! Perhaps we could exchange stories and work together to reestablish a pure vampire race?”
Exchange stories and work together? He’s fucking insane…When Nino swallows, the sound is loud in his ears. Haruka doesn’t move, but his eyes brighten. Instead of the deep sunset color of their shared genealogy, his mate’s irises burn bright crimson.
Lajos grins as if amused by something. “Need I remind you that you cannotsubjugate me with your impressive essence, young male. My powers are—”
Haruka brings his arm up and flicks his fingers toward Lajos in a swift motion, as if he is ridding them of water. Lajos gasps loudly, shocked as he falls straight back onto the grass, like a tree that’s been chopped down. Haruka steps off the veranda and moves to stand over the old vampire’s body. The silvery mist of Lajos’s power trembles and stirs at his feet, but Haruka holds a palm out over his head, then clenches his fist tight.
Lajos screams, the sound blood-curdling and echoing through the air. He brings his wrinkled palms up to his temples, holding his head as he cries in agony. Haruka speaks out, his deep voice loud and forceful over the old vampire’s screeching.
“I distinctly warned you that if youevercame back here, you would regret it. How dare you return here and converse with us? As if you have not threatened me and caused unforgivable harm to my mate!”
Haruka opens his palm again, then clenches it shut. Lajos twists against the grass, his screams turning into unintelligible whines. Haruka moves his hand down until it hovers over the old vampire’s neck. He pinches the air with his fingers and Lajos writhes and chokes, the wheezing sound from his vocal chords a clear indication that his throat is being shut.
“Haru, stop—that’s enough!” Nino steps down from the hardwood of the veranda and toward his mate.
“Why?” Haruka’s burning red eyes are full of malice as he watches the old vampire. When he speaks, Nino can see that his incisors have sharpened into sleek daggers. “He deserves much more than this for what he’s put us through.” He moves his open palm down further until it hovers over Lajos’s chest. Nino reaches out, taking hold of Haruka’s face with his palms. When his husband’s terrifying gaze meets his own, Nino takes a deep breath.
“Don’t kill him because of me. I—I don’t want to watch someone I love do that in front of me again.”
The anger in Haruka’s expression softens, melting like thawed ice. His glowing eyes shift back to their normal wine color. The dark and frightening creature disappears.
“I don’t want that, alright?” Nino says, stepping into Haruka and embracing him. “Do you hear me?”
“Yes.” Haruka nods against his ear, wrapping his arms around Nino’s waist. “I hear you—I understand.”
