Page 69 of The Vanishing
Marcus is backed away from the door and standing at the far end of the kitchen, his eyes wide. Haruka steps inside first, and Nino stands beside him. They wait in silence, feeling the approach of timid purebred energies.Three… four… and a half?Nino is about to flare his aura out, but Ladislao steps up and slaps his hand against his shoulder, making Nino jump.
“Ei, relaxa—you don’t need to do that, amigo.” He grins, then walks toward the door. He opens it and waits. Soon, he lifts his hands in a warm gesture. “Ebaaa, you decided! I hopedyou would. Come, come—meet my friends. Honeycomb and his dark prince.”
Ladislao steps aside. A small female vampire with wild, curly black hair emerges from the darkness. She’s holding hands with another female that has tawny-brown skin and very straight black hair, heavy and thick. The latter is holding hands with a third vampire. A very small one—no older than five. Her pale eyes are darting all around in wonder as the female with straight hair picks her up and sets the child against her hip.
Nino recognizes the one with curly hair. It’s Kahla, the female who touched his aura and brought blood into the room during his captivity. The next vampire to emerge from the darkness is a male with sandy-brown hair and a scabbed scar across his forehead. He’s holding hands with a blonde female, but unlike the first couple to emerge, their essences are not bonded.
Beaming, Ladislao turns to Nino and Haruka. “See! Some will want to leave this place. Let’s go back down and ask, just to make sure? My tio’s minions are weaklings. Maybe they won’t fight you again now that they’ve seen it’s useless.”
Haru, is that okay with you?Nino eyes his mate, waiting. When Haruka meets his gaze, he offers a warm smile.
Of course.
Thirty-One
By the time they arrive in Milan, Haruka is exhausted. The trip from Yemen to Italy was long, and prior to that, discussing the logistics of transporting the refugee purebreds was also daunting.
In the end, twenty-seven vampires wished to leave the island. To start, they’ll be routed to New York. There, the detective will begin the work of creating formalized IDs, establishing any remaining family connections and starting the long road of acclimating them to the concepts of food, warm shelter and water.
With Haruka and Nino’s assistance, the detective also wishes to convince other trustworthy purebred leaders to adopt refugees into their realms. That way, the newly free vampires can receive more thorough rehabilitation, as well as guidance in being introduced to modern society, humans and ranked vampires.
Ladislao had left his realm in Rio de Janeiro in much turmoil after acting out and attracting his uncle’s attention, so the long-haired purebred insisted that Haruka and Nino adopt Kahla and her family when the detective finishes processing them in New York. They agreed. They also volunteered to rehab and shelter the young fighter and his female companion.
The trip was tumultuous, and Haruka had not wanted to participate in the excursion. But in the end, he is glad to have helped, and his Historian mind is eager to document the cultural insight and experience for future generations.
When they step outside Milan International Airport, it is nighttime. A car from the Bianchi estate is waiting at the designated meeting place. Nino greets the manservant from the estate and helps him with the bags as Haruka climbs into the back seat. Giovanni is there.
Haruka pauses, taking notice of the subtle shift in his scent. Nino’s brother and Cellina are getting along very well. He smiles. “Hello, Giovanni.”
“Hello, dark prince.”
Haruka rolls his eyes. Clearly, his mate has already updated Giovanni on the details of their journey. He scoots toward the other side of the seat as Nino climbs in behind him. His mate sits down and closes the door, but then whips his head around to face his brother, amber eyes wide. “Wha—what the hellis going on?”
Giovanni sits back, irritation in his voice. “How about ‘Hey, G, how’s it going? Thanks for picking us up.’”
“Whydo you smell like Cellina? Did you feed from her? She let you feed from her?” Nino’s voice is high-pitched and incredulous. He’s looking at Giovanni with something like disgust. Haruka interjects, calm.
“Perhaps the two of you intend to bond?”
“No,” Nino says, the volume of his voice increasing. “Y-youcan’t—”
Giovanni puts his hand up, his face flat. “Nino, you need to fucking calm down.”
“If you fed from Cellina—then what about Father? Do I need to start feeding him now?CanI? Does he know about this?”
Haruka senses that Giovanni is trying to stay calm, but his patience is dissipating. “Nino. Stop. Yelling.”
“I—I don’t want to feed Father.” Nino ignores his brother, his eyes bewildered. “I don’t even live here, how could I—Did you think this through? What about—”
“You selfish, ungratefullittle shit.”
The force of emotion behind Giovanni’s words makes Nino pause and draw back. The insult isn’t directed at Haruka, but his chest is tight from the sudden disquiet.
“God forbid you have to do something—anythingfor our family,” Giovanni says, his heavy voice booming in the small space. “If everyone isn’t bending over backward to cater to your self-absorbed ass—”
“That’s nottrue.” Nino sits up straighter. “I… I’m not—”
“I justgot back from helping you fortwo fucking monthsin Japan. Running your damn realm and managing your clients. Anytime you need something, I help you. You call me at ungodly hours with questions and I answer. I’ve never asked you to do a damn thingyour entire life, and all you do is take take take from me like everyone else and do whatever the hell you want. Must be nice.”
