Page 34 of Lore and Lust
Although no motive, Haruka’s name nor any other details were released in the news report, Nino knows that Gael likely wanted to steal Haruka’s manuscript. Does he want it for personal use? Or does he think he can sell it?Lore and Lustis valuable, but is it worth all this? This barbaric behavior that ranked vampires rarely exhibit in the modern age?
“Yeah, the attack happened at Haruka’s house, but he’s fine.” Nino smiles, thinking fondly of his handsome friend.
Stop that.
“So insane,” Cellina says. “What the hell is happening with our people lately? Are you keeping up with all this bullshit about Brazil and Ladislao? He’s basically being ostracized by other ranked vampires. Everyone is being so snooty and classist. It’s painful to watch.”
“I know,” Nino says, standing and moving toward the front doors of his bar. There are already humans waiting outside for happy hour. “Life in our culture has been peaceful for the past century—even with those terrible human wars. Hopefully things will settle down again, somehow.”
“Ugh. Can we meet for dinner tomorrow? I need comfort food.”
“Sure.” Nino grins. “Let me know what time works for you.”
Nineteen
The snowfall is heavy outside the following Sunday. Steadily it descends like large, wet tufts of cotton from the sky, practically obscuring the view of the moor from the library window.
Haruka swivels forward in his seat, his gaze naturally landing on Nino. The news has reported severe winter storms for today, so he’d wondered if his friend would even bother visiting him. But he arrived punctually at ten in the morning, like he always does.
“Don’t… take this the wrong way,” Nino says, his amber gaze still focused on his laptop as he sits on the floor typing.
“Mm?” Haruka acknowledges.
“Sometimes you remind me of a panther.” Nino grins, looking up and meeting Haruka’s eyes.
Haruka puffs out a laugh. “Excuse me?”
“Youwatchme, with those deep burgundy eyes, and it makes me think of a panther getting ready to pounce on his prey.”
Haruka laughs again, but this time from embarrassment. He caresses his fingers into the back of his hair, lowering his head. “I assure you I am not getting ready to do that.”
“I know.” Nino laughs. “It’s just the vibe you give off sometimes.”
God.Shaking his head, Haruka picks up his pen. He hadn’t realized he was watching Nino so much. He needs to pay closer attention to hisownactions.
“Did you buy your plane ticket for next month?” Nino asks. Haruka keeps his gaze down and on his journal.
“I did.”
“Good. I’m excited for you to come home with me. I think we’ll be able to get a good preliminary sample for our research.”
“About that…” Haruka looks at him again, dismissing the earlier shame. “Do you think five questions is enough? Should we not strive for something more in-depth?”
“I think simple is better to start with, then we can build as necessary from there. So how did you stop those vampires?”
“Your transition is abrupt.”
Nino laughs. “Because I want toknow. I’ve been here for an hour and you haven’t even brought it up. I was waiting!”
“I restrained and manipulated them with my aura,” Haruka says, sitting back in his chair and folding his arms. “There is no dramatic tale behind the encounter.” Except toward the end, there was. Haruka had asked Asao if he’d felt anything strange that night—the presence of another purebred, something unfamiliar. With all the chaos his manservant hadn’t noticed anything.
He knows he didn’t imagine it. The heavy scent of sage still lingers within his mind like an ominous haze. Aside from disclosing the truth to Asao, he has firmly decided to avoid discussing the aberrant occurrence. He informed Emory that Gael had escaped, intentionally keeping the exact details of the circumstance vague.
“You being able to push your aura outwardandmanipulate it to the point of restraining other ranked vampires is plenty dramatic in my mind,” Nino says, shaking his head. “So you just wrap them in your energy and… squeeze?”
“Squeeze?” Haruka frowns. “No.While I am indeed capable of wrapping them in my energy, I am able to subjugate them based on my knowledge of anthropoid anatomy. The more I learn about a creature’s physical body and the biological framework therein, the more specifically I can manipulate them.”
Nino folds his arms as he sits with his legs crossed, thinking. “So you could hold someone still, then break their baby toe?”
