The Blood Burns in My Veins by Megan Derr

 

 

 

 

Chapter Seventeen

 

 

"I must be gone and live, or stay and die."

― William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

 

 

"So what's the plan?" Forthwind asked as he dished out bowls of pasta for everyone and passed them around. Filling the center of the table was a feast: steamed vegetables so spicy his eyes watered just from the scent; pickled vegetables; slices of fluffy fried, beaten eggs stuffed with cheese and crab; flaky fish seasoned with more tongue-melting spices, pan-fried seafood dumplings, fried pork meatballs and tiny tomatoes redolent with herbs; and fried squid drizzled with a sauce Forthwind couldn't name but desperately loved. "The plan had better include me finishing every last bite of this food."

Dante rolled his eyes. "I know better than to get between you and food. Anyone who's known you for two minutes knows better."

Naoki laughed quietly. "It's true. I've barely known you, and I would never even think of taking the food away."

Forthwind smiled sheepishly but didn't slow in his eating. It was all delicious and perfect, and he wanted a hundred more servings.

They all paused at the sound of footsteps and looked up just as Haru came around the corner, disheveled and tear-stained still but better than when she'd arrived. "I smelled food."

"Come and eat," Naoki said, patting the empty cushion beside him. "We just sat down, there's plenty."

"Yes, yes, come eat," Brom said, even as Forthwind dished her up a bowl of pasta.

"How are you feeling?" Dante asked.

"Tired still," Haru said. "No, that's not quite the word. Worn, I guess. Wrung out. What has happened while I slept?"

Naoki's mouth tightened. "We'll talk later. For now, we need to discuss how we're getting you and Kumiko safely off the island."

"What about you?"

"Me?" Naoki said. "There's too much to do for me to leave quite yet."

Fresh tears fell down Haru's cheeks, her pasta completely forgotten. "You are going to come, though?"

Naoki set his own food down and took her hand, squeezed. "Yes. I will come. I don't want to be here anymore. It's time to put Verona behind us. I promise I'm only lingering to make sure no one comes after us. That's all."

"Good," Haru said, and slowly went back to her food.

"So, what's the plan?" Forthwind asked, casting his eyes back to Dante. "I know you must have one, with all the brooding you've been doing. Self-recrimination doesn't usually take up more than an hour of your time."

"Shut up," Dante replied, rolling his eyes. He finished the dumpling he was eating, added some meatballs and tomatoes to his bowl, and then finally said, "It is going to sound self-serving, but I promise you it's not. The final stage of my revenge is all in place. I think all we need to do is make a slight change or two, and that will divert enough attention that we should be able to leave unimpeded and with nothing to worry about." He put his food down and held up his hands at the looks Forthwind, Naoki, and Brom gave him. "I told you it would sound self-serving. I swear to you it's not. I have run through a hundred scenarios, and anything better, we simply do not have time to execute. Hear me out."

Naoki frowned but gave a brief nod. "All right, then. Tell us."

"We've already arranged for Hardegin's little stash of magia blood to be found, along with Ferro steel, papavero, and more money than even a principe should be hiding away in a warehouse. Janshai isn't going to wait much longer to make his move. All the noise and panic spreading through the city will encourage him to grab what he can while he can. I plan to sneak back into the warehouse tonight and leave bloody scraps of Kumiko's clothes there, some splashes of blood, so it looks like he stashed her body there temporarily. It won't matter what he says after that: all his illegal dealings, his daughter missing, evidence of her and violence in his secret warehouse? He'll be lucky if the emperor doesn't remove his head. They'll be so busy sorting that mess out, they won't care if we're gone the next day, if they even notice."

Forthwind finished his second round of food and set his empty bowl down. "All right, fair enough. That is a good use of what is already in place. How are you going to break in a second time?"

"Not we. Tonight you are taking Haru and the others and getting out of here. We'll need to secure a boat, but I'm sure that's a problem that money can easily solve."

Naoki laughed. "I can solve that one. I have a yacht. My father does as well, and Mineko used his since she was going to be inheriting it someday anyway."

Haru looked at him funny. "Why are you talking about Mineko in the past tense?"

"Damn it," Naoki said, slumping and closing his eyes.

Her eyes widened. "Is… is Mineko dead?"

"Yes, cara," Dante said quietly, and as Naoki sat with his face buried in his hands, he told all that had happened.

Haru stared at him, then Naoki, then her food as he finished. "I… I see… Am I a terrible person that I feel bad for Naoki, but don't really feel anything but relief about Mineko?"

"You're asking the wrong person, cara," Dante replied. "I am responsible for murdering my father, arguably my mother, and before I called off my revenge, my sister was next. I know all about hating family, but I'm not the healthiest person to trust on the matter."

"Who… what…"

Dante sighed. "If you will pardon, I cannot bring myself to tell the tale yet again today. I'm too wrung out, as you said before. The short answer is that a long time ago, my name was Ferro Carac. I came back to Verona to get revenge. Things have gone wrong. I am trying to fix them. The others here can tell you the whole story." He rose and left, heading outside to the yard, probably to brood until he fell asleep, and then he would brood in his dreams.

Echoing his sigh, Forthwind refilled his bowl and tea, and then said, "I can tell you the whole story, at least the parts I know."

"Please," Haru said, eyes still wide. "I'm starting to think I should have stayed in bed."

Naoki laughed sourly. "Probably, but also there's something to be said for getting it over with. I am sorry about Mineko."

"Don't be, except sorry that you were the one who got stuck with the duty. Did you know I once overheard her bragging to friends about the boy she 'coaxed' into sex, and later that day she went after his sister? I overheard things like that all the time. Mineko is, was, a bastarda. Someone was always going to run her through. It was a matter of when, not if."

"It's depressing to hear you speak so cynically," Naoki said as he stiffly returned to his meal. "As to Dante, I know the whole of it. He told me everything. If you want to begin, Forthwind-san, I will fill in any gaps."

Forthwind did so, though it was a depressing tale in the end, and he only knew some of the details of what Dante had endured in prison. It was the kind of thing he wasn't going to dredge up, given that he'd seen Dante wake up in a cold sweat, shuddering and crying and unable to go back to sleep.

To judge by Naoki's face as Forthwind told his abbreviated version of that time, he did know all the details. Thankfully, he didn't share those. Forthwind was amazed that Dante had. He was more deeply enthralled with Naoki than even Forthwind had realized.

Haru sniffled but remained silent as the story continued on, and by the time Forthwind had finished, they'd all moved on from tea to plum wine. "I'm surprised he didn't just show up, cut everyone down, and leave again. No wonder he doesn't like telling the story. That's horrible. All it would have taken was one person listening to him. Oh, I really hate Mother and Father right now, more than I ever did. To the deepest parts of the ocean with them!"

"I agree," Naoki said quietly. "Pardon me." He rose and left, following Dante's path.

Forthwind sighed. "At least they seem to be on the mend. I've never seen Dante quite the way he is around Naoki."

Haru laughed as she sipped her wine. "I cannot imagine the turmoil that must cause, loving first Arata and now Naoki. I think I would throw myself off the nearest cliff to escape my own vexing nature."

"I'm sure he's considered throwing someone off a cliff," Brom said dryly. "Poor Dante. He was always a hopeless romantic. When he and Arata first became friends, and then lovers, all he did was bring him flowers and gifts, arrange little things for them to do discreetly around the city. He even wrote these ridiculous poems that he would kill me for even mentioning now. Dante has never believed in doing anything quietly."

Forthwind smiled. "No, he does it with his whole heart or not at all. Ferro-donni were stupid to throw him away. He would have given them the world if they'd asked."

"Naoki deserves someone like that," Haru said, sniffling again. "My mother has abused him his whole life, made him think he's nothing. If you'll pardon me, I'm getting sleepy again, and I hate to be away from Kumiko too long."

"Of course, bella," Brom said. "Take some food in case she wakes and feels up to eating. The vegetables and dumplings should keep well enough."

"Dōmo, Brom-san." Haru did so and then slipped away.

Leaving Forthwind and Brom alone, something he was truly coming to hate, because he could not do or say all the things he desperately wanted because of his own stupid mistake.

Brom set to work cleaning up, and Forthwind immediately helped, carrying dishes and cleaning the dining area while Brom washed dishes. When the dining area was done, he moved on to the kitchen, and they finished at nearly the same time.

"Dōmo for the help."

"It's the least I can do, given everyone else has gone off to sulk or reconcile, after all the effort you put into cooking. You really do make the best food in Verona."

Brom smiled, and Forthwind must be losing his mind once and for all because he swore there was a hint of flirtation in it. "Hoping flattery will get you something?"

Forthwind felt like he'd been slapped. "You made your opinion of me clear. You don't have to rub salt in the wound by mocking me. Maybe it's time for me to retreat as well. Buona notte." He turned and fled the kitchen, but had only just reached the hallway when Brom grabbed his wrist and dragged him back and around. "What?"

Pushing him up against one of the large beams spaced around the house, Brom cupped his face and said, "You're as dumb as Dante." Before Forthwind could voice the scathing retort he had for that, though, Brom was kissing him.

Shock rippled through Forthwind, but he wasn't so stupid he wouldn't take what he could when the chance presented itself. Forthwind had only been able to hold Brom that one night, but he'd never forgotten how right Brom felt in his arms. His mouth was still warm and sweet, and his kisses remained devastating and too good to be true, a storybook ending come to life.

When they finally drew apart, Forthwind reached up to stroke those wet, full lips, shivering when Brom playfully licked his fingers. "You had better mean it and not be messing with me or something."

"You know that's not my style."

"Your style seemed to cut me out entirely, except as someone to be civil to because we have Dante in common. What changed your mind?" He stroked his fingers up and down Brom's back, determined to savor every touch he could possibly get before reality came crashing back down on this precious moment.

Brom kissed him again, soft and sweet. "I never stopped wanting you, you know. You've no idea how many hours I wasted thinking about you returning to Blue House to whisk me away again. How many stupid, fanciful thoughts I'd spun. I was so excited when I saw the job offering and Dante gave me a chance, because I could be something, someone, worth seeing again properly. So many foolish daydreams, the kinds I should know better than to indulge. Then I realized you were only working for Dante, and I felt hopelessly stupid and used."

"You had every right," Forthwind replied.

"Look, the short of it is, you've made it clear a hundred times since that you're not the scheming, using bastard it felt like you were, and really it was my own insecurities that did the most damage. So, stop asking questions and let me go back to kissing you."

Forthwind replied by giving the aforementioned kiss, sinking his fingers into Brom's beautiful hair and claiming his mouth like a pirate claiming stolen treasure. "You're like magia."

"You're ridiculous," Brom replied, and dragged him away from the wall, out of the kitchen, and down the hall to his bedroom. Every night since the one they'd first crossed paths again, he'd spent here, sleeping across the hall, miserable and resigned, but taunted endlessly by hopeless dreams of how he wished things could be.

He was practically dizzy with the surprise and joy of being dragged into Brom's room, into his bed, pressed into blankets that smelled like Brom. They kissed until his lungs burned and his lips were sore, but Forthwind would have gladly kept going, save that Brom pulled back only to start discarding his clothes. "You are impossibly beautiful."

"You really are a flatterer," Brom replied with a breathy laugh, bending to kiss him before squirming delightfully away to work on Forthwind's clothes. "So, what do you want, Forthwi-don? My cock or my mouth?"

Forthwind groaned. "Stop that! I'm not your damn client. I want your cock in my mouth."

"I suppose I could tolerate that," Brom said, eyes gleaming, mouth curved into a playful smile. He crawled up Forthwind's body, working his way slowly, leaving a searing trail of bites and kisses and drags of his tongue. By the time he finally arranged himself to fuck Forthwind's mouth, Forthwind was trembling and aching.

He took Brom's cock deep, sucking hard, cheeks hollowing, using his tongue to taste and tease whatever he could reach. Brom's breath hitched, head falling back as he moaned, and Forthwind could feel the trembling in his thighs, the tremors that ran through him as he got close and closer to climax. He dug his fingers into Brom's ass, encouraging him to use Forthwind's mouth, taking it all as Brom obeyed, enjoying the flavor and feel, the weight and the stretch. A full body shudder warned him Brom was close, and a moment later he was spilling down Forthwind's throat, thighs clamping firmly.

Forthwind was dizzy with the delight of it all, sweaty and sticky from exertion, hot and cold all at once. There was no better place to be in all the world. He whimpered as Brom withdrew, not quite ready to test his voice yet.

Brom kissed him softly. "You are a delight, Forthwi-don."

"Stop calling me that," Forthwind said hoarsely. "You're a brat."

Chuckling, Brom worked down his body the same way he'd worked up a short time ago, and spread Forthwind's legs wide, pulling them over his shoulders as he tongued Forthwind's clit thoroughly before pressing deeper, leaving him moaning and gasping, clinging to the sheets and writhing desperately for a release that Brom kept from him for entirely too long and not long enough.

He came with a cry muffled by his arm, as he really didn't want Haru and the others waking up because they were fucking. Brom withdrew, wiping his mouth with his hand before withdrawing to get a rag to clean them both.

When they were clean and dry, he crawled into bed and draped himself along the length of Forthwind's body. It was so much like their one other night together, and yet nothing like it at all, but a thousand times better.

"So… did you want to come with us to the continent? Or did you want to stay here? If you want to stay, I will come back to you, after the others are safely settled… but I was hoping you would come."

Brom caressed his chest idly, hair tickling his skin where it fell all around them. "It seems silly to leave now that I'm finally back at the stable like I've always wanted… but yes, I will go with you. Start fresh, where no one will remember all the years I was a whore, where I have to see my former customers every day. Can we take the horses?"

"I'm sure that can be arranged," Forthwind replied. "We'll rest for a bit, give Dante and Naoki time, and fine tune our plan once they return, before Dante has to go to the warehouse."

"Sounds like a fine plan, though I might make one or two minor alterations…"

Forthwind laughed and kissed his brow. "I think that would be acceptable."

 

*~*~*

 

In the end, saying goodbye to Verona was surprisingly easy. After Dante returned from his foray to the warehouse, they packed up Brom's belongings, gathered Forthwind's, prepared the horses, and headed to the harbor. They reached Naoki's yacht right as the sun as rising, adding a pale, gray glow to the sky that steadily turned to gold and pinks and purples.

"Take care of them, caro, and yourself," Dante said as he hugged Forthwind tightly. "We'll join you as soon as we can."

"I'm not the one who is terrible at taking care of himself," Forthwind retorted.

Naoki laughed. "I'll do what I can to keep his trouble to a minimum, though I don't have your experience. Here's the letter, should anyone ask why a bunch of strangers are using my yacht." He held it out, the wax seal bearing his mark gleaming in the growing light.

"Dōmo." Forthwind tucked it into his jacket, then impulsively hugged Naoki. "I trust you to take care of him. You've made it clear you have no problem cutting up that pretty face."

"Go away," Dante said, and gave him a playful shove further down the dock. "Brom, come take this away."

"I'm busy with the horses."

Dante rolled his eyes as the others laughed. "Get going."

"We're off, we're off. See you soon. If we can't stay where you expect to find us, I'll leave a message behind."

"Of course. Good luck."

Forthwind waved and then climbed up the gangway to the yacht. Compared to some of the other yachts in the private harbor, it was probably considered laughably small and drab. Naoki had said he used it to go into deeper waters to practice his magia without all the hassle of dealing with his family.

It was a handsome ship, though, and he liked the lack of ostentation that all the others featured. A sleepy-looking sailor directed him to his cabin, shared with Brom, and he gladly stowed his belongings in a trunk before simply lying down. Despite the short nap he'd taken with Brom earlier, he was still exhausted, and there would be a great deal to do on the continent when they reached it that evening.

He fell asleep easily, thankfully not one of those who suffered from seasickness, and woke as the ship bell rang to announce their arrival to all passengers. Forthwind groaned and rolled out of his bed, righted his disheveled clothes, grabbed his belongings, and hauled up to the main deck.

The others were already there, and it was pretty clear they'd stayed up top to enjoy every moment of their first trip across the ocean. "Have fun?"

"Yes!" Haru said, clapping her hands together. "It's magnificent. I want to sail all over the world!"

"Let's establish a home first, and then I'm certain Dante will buy you the ship himself." As well as roughly five hundred bodyguards, but that was a problem that could wait.

A tall, handsome woman approached them, brightly dressed as was the trend for all sailors from Verona. "You are clear to disembark, Faria-donni."

"Dōmo, Captain," Brom said. "It's been a wonderful voyage."

"I'm glad," she replied. "We'll be here as long as you need us. Ishikawa-don has put us at your disposal, and we love to sail. Let me know when we're to depart as soon as you decide, and we'll make ready."

Forthwind nodded and handed over several coins in gratitude, given all the short notice involved and the hassle it must have cost the crew, and offered his arm to Haru as they headed off the ship.

Kumiko, gently carried down the gangway by a sailor and into a waiting rickshaw, motioned eagerly for Haru and Reina to join her. "I can't wait to show you everything once I'm healed up. We can go to the confectionaries, the fabric shops, get new clothes made! We can go to the park and fly kites, see the fireworks, go for chocolates—" She stopped abruptly, face falling. "Oh, no, I suppose we cannot. I'm not exactly the daughter of a principe anymore, am I?" Her face flushed as she ducked her head to hide her humiliation.

Forthwind snorted as he swung into the saddle of one of the horses they'd brought with them. "Bella, I am fairly certain that before the week is out, Dante will have made you his daughter, and he has more wealth than even kings. If you want to show your friends all around the city, that can be done, though you will have to show some discretion, lest people recognize you. First, though, you and Reina-donna need more rest, so let us head to our hotel. Good sir, we're bound for the Three Bells."

The rickshaw driver nodded and headed out, deftly navigating the busy evening streets, Brom and Forthwind following behind on their horses. The remaining horses they'd brought along would be stabled near the harbor until departure, or unless Dante and Naoki decided to use them.

It didn't take too long, thankfully, to reach their destination, and within minutes Forthwind had arranged an entire suite for them: four bedrooms, a sitting room, balconies, and more—the very finest that the grandest hotel in the city could afford.

"All right," Forthwind said. "Let's all get some proper rest, and in the morning we will set to work on clothes and all the other necessities we will need for extended travel."

Kumiko sniffled. "You've all been so extraordinarily kind. You are putting yourselves at great risk for me, and there is nothing I can do to repay you."

"Doing the right thing isn't about repayment, bella," Forthwind said. "It's about doing the right thing. Anyway, Dante has made his decision, and you'd have better luck persuading the tide to cease. Go and refresh yourselves, take your tonic, and I will see about food."

"Thank you, Forthwi-don," Haru said. "We'd be quite lost without you. Naoki was right—running away is far more of an endeavor than can be appreciated until you do it. I'm not sure I'd know what to do, all on my own here on the continent."

"You would manage, I have every faith, for you possess a strong core. Thankfully, though, you do not have to manage. Go on, bella-donni." He smiled and nodded toward their rooms, and with a last round of thank yous, the three women headed off, vanishing into the nearest of the four bedrooms.

Forthwind dropped onto the nearby sofa and finally removed his boots, casting them aside before slumping back with a groan. "How can I still be so tired? I slept the whole way here. I should feel somewhat rested."

"We have been through a lot, and it's not just physical exertion that can wear a person out," Brom said, sitting beside him and resting his head on Forthwind's shoulder. "Though I admit some of the physical exertion is definitely my fault."

"I don't recall complaining," Forthwind said with a laugh. "Come on, let's go get some proper rest ourselves, and then we will see what tomorrow brings."

Brom smiled and went easily as Forthwind stood and helped him to his feet. "I admit I've never looked forward to a tomorrow so much. It feels like a new beginning, a new life. It's heady."

"It is, bello. It most certainly is."