The Vanishing by Karla Nikole

Thirty-Seven

Nino blinks his eyes open—the heat of the morning sun streams in through the window, warming his face. He turns his head against the pillow, looking at the view beyond the glass. The sky is a bright, pristine shade of blue, and the rugged mountains surrounding the cabin stand majestic and vast.

He takes a deep breath to suck in the clean air. Haruka must have opened the window when he got out of bed, because the room is filled with the scent of summery forests all around them—green earth and sunshine.

“Today,” Nino says to himself. “We have to talk about this…”

The universe keeps showing him something. Multiple times now, and even here in Trentino. Instead of taking the bull by the horns, Nino is still falling back into his childish way of thinking.

If Haru doesn’t say anything… then maybe I should mind my own business? Maybe he’ll talk about it when he’s ready?

But Nino knows better. They’ve been bonded more than a year, and he’s learned many things about his mate. One of which is his surprising reluctance to tell Nino what he wants. With simple things, there’s no issue. Coffee or tea. Shower or a bath (or both). Easy. In matters of diplomacy, too, or in circumstances where his authority is needed, Haruka is easily outspoken—eloquent in his expression. Masterful and confident.

When it comes to his deeper desires, the quiet things he enjoys, hopes for, prefers or holds close to his heart… he’s like a sealed armoire. Nino understands some things because of his own intentional deductions—paying close attention to Haruka’s actions, his responses, his inner emotions, or taking note of the things he doesn’t say.

Today marks a week in Trentino together. One more week left. For the most part, they’ve isolated themselves in natural, splendid bliss. Yesterday, Nino took Haruka into the charming town of Andalo. The vampire population is small there, with no official purebred leader, which means no formalized meetings or rigid expectations. It’s perfect.

When they went into a coffee shop, Nino sat at a table and watched his mate in awe as Haruka stood in line. A young third-gen male stood behind him with whom Nino assumed to be his son. The father struggled to keep the little vampire from reaching out and grabbing at Haruka’s legs, so the father picked him up. In that moment, Nino recalled Junichi’s insight about vampire children being sensitive to Haruka’s old blood.

Haruka had looked over his shoulder at the boy and father. He nodded at first, polite in recognizing the unrest of the child. Soon, they were chatting. As the child continued to reach and twist in his father’s grasp, Haruka lifted his arms and smiled. The little male jumped into his embrace as his father apologized. Haruka held the boy and rocked him, both of them content as he continued his conversation with the father.

The entire scene had struck Nino yet again—just as it had with Sora’s children before. Each time, it feels as if a heavy curtain has been unexpectedly drawn back on a play he thought he knew by heart and he’s witnessing a secret exchange—a meaningful but hidden act that he’d never fathomed.

When Haruka returned to the table, the curtain had fallen back into place. The production he knew and loved was moving forward as usual, the secret thing he’d witnessed like a phantom within his imagination.

Nino sits upright in the bed and rolls his shoulders before throwing his legs over the edge of the mattress. When he brought up the topic of kids the first time, he did it the wrong way. He knows Haruka dislikes reminiscing about his former mate, but Nino couldn’t bring himself to ask the right question. He’d been too uncertain of his own thoughts on the topic.

He stands from the bed and walks toward the door, comfortable in his nakedness. He moves straight through the cozy cabin and outside to the front porch. It’s still early morning and the rays of the sun beat down, showering everything in crisp golden light.

Shielding his eyes with his palm, he looks out over the lake: clear and glittering like flecks of silver as it mirrors the surrounding mountains and trees. Just off to the side and near the shoreline, he sees his mate floating on his back in the aqua-tinged water.

Nino bounds off the porch and runs toward Haruka. When his feet hit the edge of the lake, the water sparkles and splashes loud in the vastness. It’s already warm out and the cool wetness is refreshing against his skin.

Just before he dives in, Haruka pulls himself upright. Nino glides underneath the glassy surface, propelling forward with his arms and blowing out bubbles through his nose. His instincts guide him toward the goal and soon he breaks the surface once more and swims freestyle to close the remaining distance. He lifts his head from the water as he approaches. Haruka is watching him, peaceful.

“Good morn—”

The moment he’s within reach, Nino thrusts his body out of the water, then places his palms on Haruka’s shoulders to drive him beneath the surface. When they’re both underwater, Nino wraps his long legs around Haruka’s waist. He embraces his shoulders, dragging his mate down even deeper.

The warmth of their shared aura flares out, surrounding them. Haruka drags them both back up toward the glimmering sunlight. When they surface, he gasps in a deep breath and shakes the water from his head. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Playing.” Nino grins, smoothing wet hair back with one hand as he keeps himself wrapped tight against his husband. “This is what they do in movies—”

“Send their mates to the hospital to get their lungs pumped? This is what they do? Create expensive medical bills?”

“Not exactly,” Nino says, squeezing him tighter. He kisses his forehead. “It’s just fun, tesoro. Playful.”

Haruka raises his eyebrow. “Fun?”

Slowly, Nino’s body unlatches from Haruka’s, but not of his own accord. He’s being manipulated off Haruka and upward. Then up some more. Nino blinks, his body immovable as he rises higher and higher. At first, he’s amazed, taking in his new perspective of the placid, shimmering lake, the breathtaking mountains and surrounding forest. The sunlight makes all the colors vivid, as if everything is dialed up ten more notches than usual.

He rises even higher. Nino’s heart beats harder in his chest. He calls out, “Haru… what are you doing?” Nino narrows his eyes to view the small features of his mate’s face far below. Haruka is smiling a little too hard.

“Having fun,” his voice echoes.

“You’re not going to drop me from this high up.”

Haruka grins.

“Haru—”

The sensation is like being in a bubble that unexpectedly bursts, or if the invisible floor beneath him has dropped out. Nino gasps as his body free-falls down toward the surface. Just as he mentally prepares himself for impact, his body freezes again, graceful and bouncing in mid-air. He’s paused a foot above the surface, getting just a moment to catch his breath before the bubble pops again. He tumbles into the water.

When he’s reoriented, he swims over to Haruka again, this time breaking the surface just in front of him. Nino wipes his face. “That was like a rollercoaster. You have this devilish streak in you that catches me off guard. It’s kind of sexy though—I like it.”

“This is ‘fun,’ is it not?” Haruka smirks, flicking water at Nino with his fingertips.

Nino draws back, scrunching his face. “Smartass.” He inhales a deep breath and stiffens his body so that he dips below the surface. Underneath, he opens his eyes, watching Haruka’s long, creamy frame twist within the shiny turquoise lake, trying to move away from him. Nino grabs the back of Haruka’s knees on his way up, pulling him into his body.

Above the surface, Nino shakes his head free of water. He grips and lifts Haruka against him, wrapping his arms underneath his ass so that his thighs are gapped open at Nino’s hips. Haruka holds onto his shoulders, apprehension set in his burgundy eyes. “I do not want water in my lungs, Nino. It is extremely uncomfortable.”

Nino embraces him tight, holding him still against his body. The water stops stirring and is calm. The summer birdsong echoes through the surrounding forest. He stares into his mate’s face, serious. “Would I ever cause you harm?”

Haruka raises his eyebrow as he looks down at him. “Perhaps not intentionally.”

“You think I would hurt you by accident? Like a stupid kid?”

His mate’s teasing expression drops like a sack of potatoes. “No—I… Of course not. I thought we were being playful. You said playful.” Haruka brings his palms up to Nino’s face, then leans in and kisses him. The heat in Nino’s chest cools and relaxes. He takes a deep breath.

“Why are you upset, my love?” Haruka asks. “There is no need. I have had water in my lungs before from an unfortunate bathtub incident, and it is not painful. It just… sucks?” Haruka blinks, then frowns as if he’s uncertain about something distasteful he’s just tried.

Nino shakes his head. “It feels weird when you use slang. What kind of bathtub incident?”

“I agree. And the incident is not important. Are we okay? My comment was not to be taken in a serious context. Of course I know you would never harm me.” Haruka kisses him again, even slower this time—licking Nino’s bottom lip and nipping it between his own, soft and teasing.

“We’re more than okay.” Nino smiles, caressing his hand up the small of Haruka’s slick back underneath the water. He feels like an idiot. Taking his own insecurities out on his mate and making things confusing. And I was totally acting like a child…

“You were not,” Haruka assures him. “I love your playful and effervescent nature. It is who you are—”

“Please don’t dip into my head right now.” Nino grins, staring up at the elegant vampire wrapped around his body. “Jesus, we can hear each other without even trying. I think we’ve been doing this too much…”

He makes a firm decision. After everything he’s been through in the past few months, after what he’s realized from Giovanni and Cellina, and what he’s witnessed in those quiet moments of Haruka unknowingly revealing a hidden part of himself, Nino has an answer to the question he’s been avoiding. It’s time to address it head on.

“Is this bad?” Haruka asks, concern lingering in his evocative eyes. “If I am not in your head then I don’t know exactly what’s wrong.”

“Can we go inside? I want to talk to you about something.”