Page 120 of The Awakening
Hisaki pauses, then bows, his ponytail falling forward. “Yes. I understand, your grace… My apologies, Junichi.”
“Mmhm,” I grumble, pursing my lips. Hisaki stands and breathes a sigh. He wishes us a happy New Year and requests that we please take care of him again next year, then turns and leaves. I look at my mate, grinning. “Out of the mouth of a purebred—”
“Stop it.” Jae frowns, switching back to English. “He’s just young. Utterly clueless.”
“You think he admires me?”
“Ofcoursehe does,” Jae says. “You’re stylish, creative and internationally recognized. It’s what he wants to achieve but with his music. He obviously looks up to you—not unlike a big brother.”
“No thank you.”
“You could help mold him? Keep him from being an obnoxious prat of a vampire his entire existence?”
I wrap my arms around his waist again, bringing him into my hips and making him smile. “You have a soft spot for that little brat?”
He slides his hands around my shoulders to embrace me. “Maybe. I might’ve been just like him had I grown up a proper purebred and my family line had flourished. Some insufferable, entitled little twit walking around like the world owes me something because I come from an old English family rife with incest.”
I’m staring at him with my teeth clenched. “You’ve given this some thought?”
“I wonder about it.” He shrugs. “What life would have been like for me as a full-on purebred from the start. How much different I would have been—if I would even exist now as I am, currently. Maybe we never would have met… or if we did, you would have loathed me.”
“Or maybe I would have seen through the bullshit exterior and somehow gotten through to the sweet golden core of your true nature—because no matter what, it would still be the same.” I caress my nose into him, and he hums a happy little satisfied sound, closing his eyes.
“I love you.”
“Oh yeah?” I smirk. “Show me.”
He smiles, then kisses me in the all-consuming way that only he can.
* * *
The plan isto caravan over to the temple together, followed by food and drinks at the Kurashiki estate. The true tradition in Japan is to visit a temple in January, but we decided to do everything on New Year’s Eve to beat the crowds (Haruka and crowds don’t mix).
The snow is falling in big, powdery flakes by the time we reach the temple grounds, and the full moon is high. It’s a chilly night—crisp, and the air smells clean. It feels like Mother Nature is showing off for us.
We’re all walking the temple grounds together, through the massive stone gate, up the wide stone steps and along the pathway toward the main shrine. Aside from the few quiet whispers of conversation among us, it’s silent as we move. Peaceful. No humans or other vampires are here, so our unorthodox plan has worked. We have the entire place to ourselves with only the snow flurries, surrounding bamboo and stars overhead as company.
Jae looks magnificent in his layered kimono. I’m wearing one as well, except mine is black with very dark plum accents. He’s in a state of awe as he holds my hand, looking all around. Nami is in Nino’s arms beside me, doing the same thing—her warm, blush-colored eyes filled with wonder. But at sixteen months old, her short but thick coppery ponytails keep smacking Nino in the face every time she turns her head to watch the snow.
Nino leans his head back and frowns. “Nami.” Perceptive, the little girl focuses on her father, perfectly still. “Topolina, please stop,” Nino says. She smiles and throws herself into him, wrapping her tiny arms around his neck. Haruka is there, stepping into Nino and placing a quick kiss on his mate’s mouth before he lifts his hands. Nami senses him, flips and quickly transfers over into Haruka’s arms. They signed papers today to begin a second process, this time using Haruka’s bio sample and Nino’s blood to nourish the surrogate and the baby. Maybe a year from now, they’ll have number two.
“Vampires at a midnight shrine…” Jae whispers at my side. “This is brilliant. Are we religious? Do we think we’re damned?”
I shake my head. Jae’s fantasy book titles. The last one wasMimosas and Vampireswhen we had brunch over Sora’s house two weeks ago. I told himVampires and Bloody Maryswould be better, but he argued that was too clichéd. Plus, Sora didn’t serve Bloody Marys.
“No, we’re not damned,” I say. “We live excellent lives, and we don’t carry sickness or disease. I’m not religious, but I’m not atheist. You’ll have to ask each vampire how they feel about that.”
Jae nods. “Okay, great—because I feel really good about all this. I’m not quite prepared to take on a ‘cursed by God’ mentality.”
We all wash our hands in the large stone basin using the bamboo ladles. Haruka leans Nami down to carefully touch the black water. At the opposite end, Sora’s kids slap their hands into it until Kosuke chastises them. Audrey laughs—she followed us here when we came back and lives in an apartment just outside the train station. She thinks the twins are a riot and often has them over to bake, giving Sora and Kosuke a much-needed break.
Cellina is watching it all unfold and shaking her head with her mouth gaped slightly open. Giovanni leans down and kisses the top of her head, reassuring her, then places his large hand flat against her belly outside her trench coat. She’s been buddied up next to Sora all night, and I know Nino’s father was a twin. He told me once, so I guess we should have seen this coming.
Cyrus and Sarah decided not to meet us out here. Cyrus said it’s too cold, but Jae suspects Sarah’s being “chuffed” about meeting all of us switched over to being afraid once she realized we were gathering at an isolated temple in the woods at midnight.
Slowly, we proceed inside to offer our prayers, coins and well wishes for the New Year. Haruka lets Nami grab and ring the shrine bell.
“Let’s for sure do this next year in Milan,” Cellina says to me and Jae quietly as we leave the temple grounds. Jae smiles and nods in agreement. I genuinely like the idea too. Maybe one year we’ll host at the cottage in England. We’ll have everything renovated and redesigned by then, and Jae can make a fabulous spread of Korean food. I’ll make rice.
At midnight, the temple bells echo through the deep blue and starry sky, marking the peaceful transition into the New Year.
The End (For Now)
