The Vanishing by Karla Nikole

Twenty-Six

It took Detective Anika Cuevas a full week to arrive in Kurashiki from New York. Haruka had needed to visit the local police station once to check on Lajos. The old vampire had roused, but this time his speech was incoherent and his movements jerky. He was groaning and lying on the floor—more of a nuisance to the station staff than an actual threat.

“Alright, so tell me more about this place—where you vanished to.” Detective Cuevas sits in the front tearoom of the estate, perched on the edge of the small couch opposite Nino and Haruka. She is full figured in her sharp gray suit, a blue-striped button-down shirt underneath. Her soft features are complemented by the short, curly haircut framing her face.

“I was in an old house, inside a dark and cold room with a window,” Nino explains. “It was furnished, but there wasn’t any electricity. Ladislao was there, like I said earlier, and when I looked out the window, there were craggy mountains all around. We were really high up and the landscape was barren—like a desert.”

“Well, that could be anywhere,” the detective says. “Anything more specific? Something to help us pinpoint exactly where you were?”

Nino sighs, scratching his head. “I… Ladislao said he could smell water around when he’d tried to escape before. It could be an island? I don’t—ah! There were weird trees scattered around, too. I’d never seen anything like them before. They looked like… umbrellas? But flipped upside down.” Nino gestures with his hands to emphasize the shape. “The branches reached up toward the sky instead of out or down like most trees.”

The detective pulls her phone out from the bag at her side. She mumbles as she focuses on the screen, her thumbs moving at rapid speed. “Trees that look like upside-down umbrellas…” She swipes up with her index finger, her blueish-brown eyes scanning. A moment later, the detective turns her phone toward Nino, handing it to him. “The World’s Most Magnificent Trees. See anything familiar?”

Taking the phone, Nino scrolls while Haruka leans in beside him. Nino’s eyes widen at a particular tree and he points. “This one. It says ‘Dragon’s Blood Tree’… in Yemen. Was I in Yemen?”

He hands the phone back to her and she reads the screen, scrolling once more. “Bingo. This tree only grows in a place called Socotra, which is also an island. We’ve got a solid location, gentlemen… Damn. I’ve been working this case for a whole year and my first major break hinges on a fucking tree.”

Haruka chuckles. “We have handed you the smoking gun, so to speak.”

Detective Cuevas narrows her eyes. “I do solid detective work, alright? But it usually consists of much more than correctly utilizing Internet search engines. Anyway, this is a strong lead. We’ll follow through with this and see where it takes us.”

“How will you keep Lajos incapacitated?” Haruka asks.

“Lower-level blood source,” the detective says. “If we have him feed from a first-gen vamp, that should stifle his powers pretty damn well, since he’s old blood.”

“Agreed.” Haruka knows from personal experience how impactful first-generation blood can be to an old-blooded purebred’s health.

“Tell me this.” The detective sits straight, her gaze serious. “Why did he abduct you in the first place? What is the root of all this?”

Haruka shifts his eyes to his mate, apprehensive.

I think we can tell her. It’s safe, Haru.

Nodding, Haruka takes a breath. “My clan has established a collection of data surrounding vampiric bonds. It goes back almost five centuries, and thus helps to create meaning and insight with regard to mating.”

“Sounds interesting…” Detective Cuevas says thoughtfully. “And nerdy. So Lajos wanted this book?”

“Correct. He abducted Nino and demanded the book as ransom. How he learned about it, we are uncertain. But there is a connection between us and a former manservant from his clan.”

“Is this book so important?” she asks. “It sounds impressive but… it’s just a book, right? Is it made of gold and rubies and shit?”

“No. In truth, I was also taken aback by Lajos’s drastic actions regarding my family’s research. However, based on everything else we know about him, it seems as if radical actions are his modus operandi.”

“And you think this creature is responsible for the Great Vanishing?” Detective Cuevas asks. “That he’s got all these disappeared vampires in some mud-hut village within the mountains of Socotra?”

“I’m pretty sure,” Nino confirms. “But I couldn’t tell how many there were. It was hard to sense their distinct numbers.”

“Crazy… we thought they all died, didn’t we?” the detective says. “Do you think he took all the British purebreds, too? Could this also be the answer to that mystery?”

“We cannot be certain, but it is possible,” Haruka says. When he and Nino met a little more than a year ago in England, they were the only two purebred vampires in the entire country. Purebreds of English descent have been extinct for almost two hundred years.

Or so they have been led to believe.

Detective Cuevas stands from the sofa, pulling her bag up onto her shoulder. “Alright, we’ll have Lajos transported to New York within the week, so he’ll be out of your hair. I’ll keep you up to speed on our progress with the search.”

“I do not think that will be necessary.”

“What?” The detective frowns.

Tesoro…

My love, as I said before, I do not wish to interfere with this creature’s realm.

But if these vampires need help, we should help them.

We cannot know that for certain. Perhaps they are content—

“Hello?” The detective blinks. “Is something happening right now?”

Asao speaks as he walks into the room and toward the low table laden with cups of green tea. “They have this awkward habit of talking about things in front of people, but inside their heads.”

Haruka straightens, clearing his throat. “My apologies. Yes, please keep us abreast of the situation.”

“Thanks.” She nods. “I’ll try to get more answers out of Lajos, too… once his brain heals a little. If we need your help locating his realm, I’ll let you know.”

His eyes wide, Haruka recoils. “Locating his realm? In Socotra?”

“Apparently,” the detective says, lifting her chin. “Sorry to ask you to leave your swanky estate. Think of it as your civic duty to the safety and well-being of our vampiric society—or maybe an adventure?”

Haruka sits back and folds his arms, thoroughly hating the sound of both of those things.

You know, you’re pretty damn sexy when you pout… Makes me want to bite you.

Despite his frustration, Haruka smiles, chuckling. You can. Later.

The detective frowns. “Why are you laughing?”

“They’re doing it again,” Asao explains, clearing the table.