He nearly shouted then, nearly roared his anger and grief to the nameless fates who’d used and discarded him, like a toy they’d broken and grown tired of. But he remembered his duty—always there was duty, he thought rather bitterly—and swallowed his howl, lest it draw attention to Hana’s small house.
Closing his eyes, he breathed evenly, waiting for the racing of his heart to slow, for his head to stop spinning and his eyes to focus properly. It was no more than a minute or two, though it felt longer, with Hana out there alone. He stood again and waited for the weakness. When it didn’t come, he went to the kitchen, drank a long glass of water, then let himself out of the house and through the gate. Which, he was pleased to note, didn’t squeak for him. He might be falling apart, but he hadn’t lost the skills which had made him one of Nico’s best spies.
HANA KEPT ONE eye out as she shopped, convinced that Gabriel’s agreement had been insincere and that he’d follow her anyway. But no matter how many times she checked her back trail, no matter how many of her best tricks she tried, she never caught the slightest indication he was there. She finally had to laugh at her own stubbornness when she found herself getting pissed off that he’d let her go alone. After that, she actually enjoyed her shopping excursion. She found everything she wanted at the grocer’s, and then went shopping for more fun stuff, like clothes. As she’d told Gabriel, the town had an excellent second-hand clothing store, though she didn’t know why. She assumed it had something to do with how many of the residents who lived in this modest suburb worked at the fine houses in Nagano, but she’d never cared enough to investigate. It served her purposes, which was good enough for her.
Finding clothes for herself was easy. She was a little taller than the typical woman in Japan, but just as slender. Most of the pants were sized to be worn with heels, which compensated for her greater height, and she wasn’t buying anything with a skirt. It might have made a good disguise, but fighting in a skirt was a pain in the ass. She bought a few simple tops, a cardigan sweater, and a lightweight jacket. She had her lace-up boots and some Nikes she’d kept at the house, so she grabbed a few pairs of socks and was done. She dumped her acquisitions on the countertop and was on her way to the men’s section of the store—which was a third the size of the women’s—when her eye caught on a jewel-toned silk scarf. She slowed and ran one finger over the fine fabric, then pulled back guiltily, fearing her rough skin would snag it. It was so beautiful and so feminine. She had absolutely no use for it. She took a step away, but then turned back and wrapped it around her neck. The hell with it. Not everything she owned had to be sensible.
An hour later, as she was walking down the alley to her house, she shuffled the many bags she had looped over her arms and realized she was no longer wearing the scarf. She stopped in dismay, even walking back to the mouth of the alley and searching the street she’d come down, certain she’d be able to spot the silk’s brilliant colors. But there was nothing. She sighed unhappily. That was why she shouldn’t buy beautiful things. She hadn’t lost any of the other stuff she’d bought. Not so much as a floret of broccoli, or a single pair of utilitarian socks. But the scarf? Poof. Gone.
“Damn it,” she muttered, then trudged down the alley for home.
Gabriel was waiting on the back stairs when she got there, threading something soft and thin through his long fingers. Hana blinked. Impossible. He looked up when she drew closer.
“You shouldn’t overload yourself like that,” he said calmly, jerking his chin at her many bags. “If you were attacked, you wouldn’t have a chance of reaching a weapon in time.”
“I have my gun.”
He met her eyes. “In a holster at your waist?”
She scowled. “How did you—”
“You had it there when we left your grandfather’s estate, too, but it hardly matters. You wouldn’t be able to reach it with your arms weighted down with bags.”
She narrowed her eyes. “But it doesn’t matter anyway, does it? Because I had you protecting me.” She nodded at the scarf in his hands. “Where’d you find it?”
One half of his mouth lifted in a tiny smile. “Around your neck.”
“Impossible,” she snapped. “I’d have noticed.”
“Obviously not.” He stood and relieved her of most of her burden. “You can open the door.”
She muttered wordless imprecations under her breath, but unlocked the door and opened it, holding it for him as he entered the house. “Here, I’ll take these,” she said sliding the food bags off his hand. “You can throw the rest on the bed.”
When he came back to the kitchen, she glanced up. “So, I was wrong. You’re a ghost when you want to be.”
He shrugged, drawing her attention to his shoulders, and she was struck again at how much weight he seemed to have lost. Walking over to him, she stroked a hand down his arm, feeling bone that she would have sworn wasn’t there the day before. He stiffened beneath her fingers and moved the tiniest bit, just enough that her hand slipped away.
She studied him a moment longer but didn’t know what to say. If she asked how he was, he’d only lie and tell her he was fine. He wasn’t. But she didn’t know what more she could do about it, if he wouldn’t tell her what was wrong.
“I bought you some clothes,” she said finally. “Still not perfect in terms of size, but they should fit you better than the last ones, at least. They’re in the blue bag. I picked that one just for you, since you’re a boy.”
He looked at her like she was crazy. Obviously, they didn’t have baby showers where he came from.
“Never mind. Blue bag. Try the clothes on while I make dinner.”
DINNER WAS A silent affair, much like the previous night, except with a better menu. Hana was still hungry for something lighter, like fish, but she was too worried about Gabriel’s declining health. So she cooked more steak, but with a fresh salad and vegetables, plus a protein shake as an appetizer, because she was just that concerned. Gabriel gave her an odd look when she presented the shake, but after a sip, he downed the whole thing in three gulps and complimented her on the taste. Unfortunately, that was the extent of their dinner conversation. Hana tried a few opening gambits, but never received more than a few words or the occasional grunt in return.
When dinner was over, he stood and carried the dishes to the sink, then washed and dried everything, just as he had the night before. And when she woke the next morning, he was once again asleep on the floor.
She sighed. Something had to change, and it looked like it was up to her to do it.
She went to the kitchen and made a lot of noise putting the kettle on, although it wasn’t necessary. His eyes had opened the minute she stepped foot out of the bedroom. He might be an idiot about some things, but he was the best protector she could have asked for. He rolled to his feet and would have escaped into the bathroom, but she crossed the small distance to stand in front of him, getting so close that he took a step back and ended up sitting on the sofa. Hana almost laughed at the picture they made. The big, bad warrior terrified of a woman half his size. But there was nothing funny about what was going on between them, and she intended to fix that right here, right now.
Tossing aside the kitchen towel she’d been wiping her hands on, she sat on his lap, startling him so badly that he automatically reached to stabilize her, putting one arm around her back and the other over her thighs. It felt so good to have his arms around her. She only wished it meant something. She sighed heavily and rested her head on his shoulder, her arms around his neck.
“Don’t you like me anymore?” she murmured. She could feel his shock at her question, as every muscle in his big body seemed to lock up at once.
“Of course, I like you. You’re . . . you’re Hana,” he said finally, as if that explained everything.
She sat up and faced him. “Then what’s going on? Ever since that
shoot-out on the street, you’re avoiding me like the plague.” He gave her a puzzled look. “It’s a deadly disease,” she said impatiently. “Was it because I killed that man? Am I too bloodthirsty for your taste? Look, I don’t know what the women in your time were like,” she said, the words tumbling out in her frustration, “but you must know that Grandfather trained me to be tougher than most. To be able to take care of myself and the ones who matter to me. A person doesn’t need a penis to defend the people they love, you know!”
She stared at him, waiting for a response. If he gave her the silent treatment again, she just might resort to violence. “Well?” she demanded.
GABRIEL HEARD HANA’S argument and knew he had to say something, but he was still lost in the feel of her in his arms. He’d dreamed about moments like this when he’d been all alone in that garden for days and weeks. Dreams that had become ever more detailed since that first night of their escape, when he’d touched her for the first time. When he’d felt the silk of her black hair against his neck, the warm, sweet smell of her skin, the firm muscles of her body beneath his fingers. And he was stunned that she would think there was anything wrong with her. That he would think that.
He said the first thing on his lips, “Never.”
She scowled. “Never what?”
Her impatience almost made him smile. He remembered her pacing in front of his statue when she’d gotten older, trying to figure out the right words to break the curse, mumbling to herself, stopping to throw a new phrase or incantation, swearing when it didn’t work, and then pacing some more. But he had enough experience with women to know a smile wasn’t called for here. So he tightened his hold around her, demanding her attention, and tried to explain.
“It isn’t you, Hana. It could never be you.”
“Then what? And don’t try to tell me nothing’s wrong, because something is.”
Gods, he didn’t want to face this. Didn’t want to see the disgust in her beautiful, dark eyes, the revulsion on her lovely face. He’d never been a coward before, but he’d never loved anyone the way he did Hana.
“When we fought . . .” He tried to explain, then stopped. Better to start at the beginning. “Long before I was cursed, before I ever knew about sorcerers and their magic, I was a warrior in my father’s service. He was a cruel man and a terrible father, but a great warrior, for all that, and I was proud to serve among his fighters. Around the time of my thirtieth birthday, by which time my reputation as a warrior rivaled even my father’s, I was taken prisoner by a man I later learned was a vampire in service to our enemy.”
He paused, watching her reaction, waiting for the knowledge of what he’d become to show in her face. All he saw was her impatience for him to continue.
“He drank my blood, Hana, and gave me his. He made me like him, and then he used me like a weapon. Hiring me out for gold, selling my body and skills, just as you would a whore.” He couldn’t look at her when he admitted that. “It took me three years to break the hold he had on me, to finally kill him and walk away. It might have taken even longer had I not heard the call of someone far greater than he, someone more powerful than he could have dreamed of being in his dark sleep.”
“Nicodemus,” she whispered.
He nodded. “He didn’t care that I was a vampire, but he saw that it troubled me, and so he crafted a new spell, one that relieved me of the terrible bloodthirst. I no longer needed fresh blood to survive but could eat and drink with other men. I preferred red meat, barely cooked, but there was nothing unusual about that in my time.”
“What about sunlight? I thought vampires—”
“Nico’s spell lifted that burden as well. Sunlight tires me more than others, but I can walk in it without burning alive, and I’m not forced into an unnatural sleep.”
She tilted her head curiously. “So, what’s the problem? I don’t . . .” She frowned. “What’s that got to do with me?”
He frowned back at her. “During the street fight, Hana. It wasn’t you who was covered in blood, it was me. I drank that man’s blood like an animal. If you hadn’t stopped me . . .” He lowered his eyes then, unable to look at her. “The curse. Our enemy wasn’t content with simply trapping me in stone for what might be an eternity, he made certain that if the curse was lifted, I would still suffer. You want to know why my strength is waning? I need blood. Human blood. I’m a vampire.”
He waited in silence, terrified to glance up and see the revulsion on her face. His eyes snapped open when she slapped his chest hard enough to hurt.
“Are you kidding me? That’s why you’re being so weird and making me think you hate me? What the fuck, Gabriel? You think, in all these years I’ve been coming to your garden, that I never noticed you had fangs?”
“Well—”
“Hell, I wasn’t worried they might reappear, I was wondering what the fuck had happened to them. We have vampires in this world, you know. They’re not some mysterious, evil-spawned thing. They’re people, with houses and jobs and voting rights. You’re still you, even with fangs. Hell, I like you better with fangs. If you need blood to survive, just take some of mine, for God’s sake.”
Gabriel was shocked at the offer. “Hana, your grandfather trusted me with your protection and care. He didn’t know—”
“Of course, he knew. Or at least he suspected. You had fangs. Grandfather knew lots of vampires. He did business with them. Welcome to the new world, bud. Vampires are just one more part of it.”
“I don’t think—”
“You’re doing way too much thinking. In fact, you should just stop and let me do the thinking until you get your head out of your ass. Look, your precious Nico didn’t care if you were a vampire. Hell, he wouldn’t have called you to join his army in the first place, or wasted a spell on you after that. And what about your brothers? The warriors you fought with, the ones you claimed to love—”
“I did love them. I still do. And I won’t rest until—”
“Until you find and free them, right? You think they cared that you were a vampire? Or that they were too stupid to notice?”
“Don’t talk about them like that.”
“But it’s all right to talk about you that way?” she asked quietly, brushing his hair behind one ear with her slender fingers. “Like you’re something less than they are?” She rested her head on his shoulder again. “You’re my Gabriel, my angel, and I love you.”
Gabriel closed his eyes against a wave of relief that threatened to drown him.
“Do you remember the first book I ever read to you?” she asked, her breath warm against his neck.
His arms relaxed around her as he chuckled, remembering. “It was a children’s book.”
“Beauty and the Beast,” she agreed. “And I was a child. What else would I read?” She slapped his chest, more lightly this time.
“I didn’t mind. I loved the story. I loved everything you ever read to me.”
“Do you know why I picked that book?”
“Yes, Hana,” he said dryly.
She sat up and met his eyes. “It’s what’s on the inside that counts, Gabriel. And I know your heart. You can try to shut me out, shove me away, but it won’t work. You’re mine, and I’m a very stubborn woman.” She settled against him once more, her arms around his neck, her lips brushing his jaw when she said, “I love you, Gabriel Halldor. I always have.”
Gabriel rested his lips against her silky hair, his eyes closed as he drew in her sweet scent. He was almost afraid to believe this was happening. That Hana—his Hana—was here in his arms. That she didn’t see him as a monster, but as a man. He still wouldn’t take her blood, but at least he could hold her like this. He kissed the side of her head. “I’m sorry if I caused you pain these last few days.”
“It was more like anger,” she admitted. “I mostly just wanted to punch you.
”
He smiled. “Then I thank you for your forbearance.”
He could have sat that way for hours, reveling in the feel of her in his arms after so many years, but two things happened at once. The tea kettle, which had been quietly steaming for some time, began to rattle ominously, and Hana’s cell phone rang with an incoming message.
REAL LIFE INTRUDED with the ping of a cell phone. Hana stared at the offending device, willing it to levitate over to the sofa, but no such luck. Kissing Gabriel’s beard-roughened cheek, she stood with a sigh and walked over to pick up the phone.
“Oh. Good news at last. Our new IDs are ready for us. Pickup has been arranged through a long-time associate of my grandfather’s. It’s a man I know to be trustworthy, which is probably why they chose him for the transfer.” She walked back and sat on the coffee table in front of Gabriel. “It’s later this morning and not too far. I’ll take a train over, but it’s close enough to walk if I need a quick escape.” She glanced at the time on her phone. “I’ll go after breakfast. Shouldn’t take more than two hours.”
Gabriel didn’t say a word. Just looked at her.
She rolled her eyes. “Fine. You might as well go with me, instead of sneaking along behind.”
“I don’t sneak,” he said, sounding offended. “I simply choose not to be seen.”
She laughed. “You’ll have to teach me that trick sometime. But right now, I’m hungry.”
DAMN, SHE THOUGHT later. If the man didn’t want to be seen, he really could make himself invisible. She knew he was there, and even she couldn’t spot him. They’d left the house together, but that was the last time she’d seen him. The two of them walking together would have been too obvious for their enemies to spot. He’d also pointed out that since they were out-numbered and out-gunned (although he hadn’t used that exact term) they had to utilize what weapons they had, including the benefit of surprise. Hana had to admit that anyone attacking her would be very surprised indeed when this giant warrior appeared out of nowhere.
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