Page 31 of The Vanishing
Giovanni is standing at a window, his tall frame washed in the gray light of the overcast sky. The rain pelts the glass and drizzles down the window like teardrops. He doesn’t turn as she walks forward. He doesn’t smile, move across the room to meet her or grab her hands like normal. Instead, he stands like a statue, staring through the glass.
“G…” Cellina’s voice is small in the vast silence of the large room. She hates it.
“What do you want?”
She stops, setting her shoulders back. He knows. Of course he does. But this reaction… she never anticipated. She thought he’d understand. How could he not? “I—Can we please talk? About Nino—”
“No.”
When he faces her, Cellina draws back. The anger and mistrust in his eyes are like an arrow to her chest. She shakes her head, taking a step forward. It doesn’t need to be like this. Things will be okay after a while. She just needs a little time to help Nino stabilize. “Giovanni, Ihadto—”
“Right,” he laughs, turning away from her. The sound is bitter, ugly and full of contempt. “Youhadto. Is this what you wanted all along? Were you just using me—”
“Don’t be disgusting—that’s disgusting!” Cellina says, her voice rising. Is he insinuating what she thinks? “Nino is like my little brother. You knowthat.You knowme. He wouldn’t feed from anyone. Everyone’s been trying fortwo weeks. How could you even suggest—”
“Why you? Of all creatures, why the hell does it have to be you?” He stares hard, eyes like daggers. The sound of the rain litters the silence. She opens her mouth to speak, but he shakes his head.
“Get out.” His expression crumbles, his eyes watering. “Leave. I don’t want you here—I don’t want to see your face anymore. You made your fucking choice.”
June
(Present day)
Sixteen
The corpus callosum traverses the longitudinal fissure… here.Haruka holds the model brain upside down, narrowing his eyes as he uses a black marker to designate the critical site.The cerebral mantle is above the corpus callosum. This area. Perhaps these gyri… near this sulcus?
A heavy knock against the open bedroom door breaks his concentration. He looks up and Giovanni is in the doorway. He’s dressed in tailored slacks and a patterned dress shirt, his suit jacket folded over his arm. He glances at Haruka on the floor as he walks toward the bed.
“You stayed up all night again, didn’t you?” Giovanni asks.
Haruka shrugs. “What time is it now?”
“Four thirty in the morning. I have a meeting at eight in Osaka, and then I’ll meet Cellina in Kyoto at three to go over next week’s schedule. I’ll be back here around ten tonight.”
“Thank you, Giovanni.” With his legs folded, Haruka leans his head back against the wall.
“You alright, kiddo?” Giovanni says. From his position on the floor, Haruka can see that Giovanni’s hand is resting atop Nino’s head. His mate nods against the pillow.
“You look better today,” the broad vampire continues, “but your husband looks like shit. He’s staying up all night and not eating—like some old-school fucking vampire. Should I drag a coffin in here for him to sleep in? Is he going to start hanging upside down in the damn closet?”
Nino squirms in bed and grabs his ribs, wheezing in what Haruka understands as painful laughter. Haruka frowns. The more time he spends with Nino’s older brother, the more apparent his dual personality becomes. He is one part charming diplomat and one part embittered antagonist—one half or the other capable of surfacing at any given moment.
“The four contracts you secured are stable,” Giovanni explains. “Good-quality clients—they seem serious about making the changes you recommended and are flexible. Nice work. I have a meeting for a new prospect today. I could get you more leads, but you just want five at a time, right?”
Nino nods again under his brother’s palm. Giovanni steps back from the bed. “Alright. I’ll wrap that up before I go home to see about Father. My blood supply is getting low.” Giovanni turns and walks in long strides toward the bedroom door. He looks over his shoulder just before leaving. “Eatsomething—and take a damn nap. What good is all this studying going to do if Lajos shows up and you pass out from exhaustion?”
Haruka sets the model brain down in his lap, considering. “Your personality is not unlike a two-headed snake’s.”
Giovanni smirks. “But a king cobra, right? Not one of those wimpy garden snakes. I’ll be back later.”
When he’s gone, Haruka rolls his eyes and lifts the plastic model. Giovanni might be older, but he is out of line.Walking aroundmyhouse and barking orders…He wonders how he ended up being the youngest vampire among his intimate circle of peers.
Nino rustles against the bed, sluggish and maneuvering to remove the IV drip from his arm. Haruka sets his plastic brain down and stands from the floor with urgency, stepping over the mess of books, papers and markers spread around him.
He moves to Nino’s arm. “Good morning, my love—I will take care of this. Is it finished?” He looks up and pinches the clear plastic bag. No blood. Sora will be back on Sunday as per their usual appointment to draw more blood and create new bags. Each time, Haruka’s body needs the full week to recover.
Falling into his routine, he takes the sterile gauze from the bedside table tray and presses the soft material to Nino’s skin at the insertion site. Meticulous, he pulls the cannula out of his arm, discards it and unhooks the empty IV bag.
