Page 56 of The Vanishing
Nino closes his eyes, still trembling with unease. The entire scene had thrown him back to when he was six years old and his mother discovered his uncle feeding from him in his room. With no hesitation, no questions asked, she’d ripped his throat out.
“I don’t need another graphic and violent memory in my head,” Nino whispers against his ear. “Can we please try contacting that detective so she can handle this?”
“We can, of course…” Haruka lifts his head from the hug and they both glance down at the twitching old vampire at their feet. His eyes are blank, transfixed on the cloudy sky.
“What did you do to him?” Nino asks.“Is he in a coma?”
“Perhaps. I made some educated guesses with regard to his frontal lobe. I knew I had one chance to get this right. It appears I was successful…” Haruka looks into his eyes. “Have I upset you? I apologize—”
“No, tesoro. I’m fine. You’re perfect. I just want to talk to the detective and tell her what I know. I feel like it’s important and we’ve put it off long enough.”
Haruka sighs, scratching the back of his head as he looks down at Lajos. “I do not wish to attract attention to ourselves with this matter. Maybe we can request some discretion? Somehow…”
“I agree. I’ll ask G if he has any connections to her—I’ll bet he does. What should we do with him in the meantime? Should we call the local police?”
“I doubt they are equipped to manage such a vile creature.” Haruka grabs Nino’s hand, urging him toward the house. “Leave him for now. He is fortunate to be alive.”
* * *
The rain isfrantic and drizzling in every direction by the afternoon, which means Nino still feels damp even though he’s walking underneath an awning.
Displeased with keeping Lajos as a lawn ornament, Asao made Haruka use his aura to move him. His mate refuses to allow the decrepit vampire inside their home—even incapacitated—so they’ve opted for dumping him at the very back of the compound, underneath the large, open enclosure of the kyudojo.
Haruka’s father, Hayato Hirano, was a skilled archer and used the space long ago. Haruka, having failed to adopt an interest in archery (or in any sport or exercise whatsoever), never uses the expansive, professional-quality building.
Nino pulls the heavy door to the kyudojo open, the smell of polished cedar and straw wafting against his face. He kicks his outdoor shoes off before stepping up onto the clean flooring. Nino walks toward the open front of the building, where Haruka is sitting with Lajos. As he approaches, he hears his mate’s voice.
“If you move inanycapacity, I will end you.”
Lajos’s voice is a raspy whisper, barely perceptible even in the silent, drizzling atmosphere. “Y-you… would… kill… a fell-fellow purebred?”
“One that captures and violently assaults my mate? That threatens the peace of our existence? Without question.”
Nino walks onto the large, open deck. Lajos is unmoving on the glossy wooden floor, lying in a heap. Haruka sits with his arms folded on a cedar bench that runs along the back wall. Past Lajos’s body, his view overlooks the stretch of green lawn that runs up against the target bank at the opposite end of the range.
When he’s beside his mate, Nino addresses him within his mind.I thought we talked about this. You’re not going to kill him.
Of course, buthedoesn’t know that.
Nino shakes his head, sitting down beside him.Have you ever killed anyone before?
I have not.
Then let’s not start.
Lajos groans, and Haruka whips his head forward, eyes flashing bright as he unfolds one arm and flicks his fingers at the old vampire’s head. Lajos screams, the sound echoing across the open space. His body jerks. Then nothing. Silence.
“Haruka—”
“My love, he is fine. He is an ancient creature. It would take much more than this for me to end his sordid life.” He reaches over and grabs Nino’s hand, entwining their fingers. “You have asked that I spare him, so I would never go against your wishes. Never.”
Nino inhales a deep breath and blows it out, easing the tension in his chest.
“I thought I’d caused severe damage to his frontal lobe last night,” Haruka goes on, “but he was able to speak to me just now. I must have missed something fundamental to his speech production… Infuriating.”
“What did you do to him? Why did you need to study so much?”
“It’s complicated,” Haruka sighs. “Typically, I cover my victim in my essence first to subjugate them, then target specific areas of their anatomy that I have studied—bones, muscles, joints, ligaments and so on. It is a two-step process, and as such, there is a lag in my efficiency. Lajos was at an advantage, having witnessed my ability in England last year. As soon as he sensed my aura covering him, he could vanish himself to evade me. I have never come across a vampire with such an ability, so I needed to strategize and surprise him.”
