Page 71 of The Vanishing

“About what?” Nino asks. “You need to feed. Who did this to you? Did Giovanni do this?”

Her face falls flat as she purses her lips. “Listen, Giovanni didn’t ‘do’ anything to harm me, alright? Fix your tone.”

“Sorry.”

“Yes, he fed from me… and it was intense,” Cellina goes on, pulling the length of her hair to one side. “But we decided that I shouldn’t feed from him until he talks to his father. I told him I would feed from my source, but…”

“But?”

“I don’t know…” Cellina sighs. “I don’t want to. He fed from me, and it was glorious.Now it’s like my insides are all twisted up and throwing a tantrum.”

Nino understands. There had been a time when Haruka was feeding from him but Nino couldn’t have his blood in return. He accepted the circumstance at the time, but the intense yearning for Haruka’s blood had been maddening—sometimes keeping him awake at night.

“We decided,” Cellina goes on. “But I just wanthim. So I’m thinking.”

“Did you tell G this?”

Cellina shakes her head. “Giovanni has so much on his plate already. I’m not going to add an extra layer of shit for him to deal with.”

Nino reaches out and holds Cellina’s shoulders, looking her dead in her translucent eyes. “Any layer of shityouhave to offer, Giovanni will gladly accept. Tell him. Don’t worry about Father. We… we can figure that out later. You need to feed.”

“Yeah, I do. I feel like I’m drying up from the inside out. It’s not fun. Why are you here? What’s wrong?”

Dropping his hands, Nino sits straight. He runs his fingers into the top of his hair. “Why do you think something is wrong?”

“Because you show up in the middle of the night as soon as your plane lands, and you’re running your hand through your hair. What is it?”

“It’s nothing. I—I wanted you to know that I think it’s great that you and G are getting along so well. I want the two of you to be happy. He loves you.”

“I know.” Cellina smiles and shrugs. “He’s a good male. He needs to stop hurling himself on the family sword though.”

“Yeah… I’m going to try and help with that.”

“I agree with that choice.” Cellina looks at him. “I think we’ve given you space to grow and heal? And Haruka is wonderful support.”

Nino nods. “You have. He is. I’m sorry if I fed from you for too long. If I was a burden.”

“No.” Cellina smiles. “You were never a burden. You blossomed later than I expected, but that’s okay. Everyone has their own timing in doing things. You needed someone who made you feel comfortable and that you trusted. He was worth the wait, yes?”

“Definitely.” Nino smiles and nods. “Absolutely. When are you going to call G?”

Cellina shrugs, settling herself back down in the bed. “I’ll text him tomorrow. I need to sleep.”

“Text himnow.”

She yawns. “It’s fine.”

Nino frowns. It isn’t fine. Within a moment, she’s asleep again. He pulls his phone out of his pocket, hands shaking. Taking a deep breath, he maneuvers to the messaging app.

[Where are you?]

He sits, waiting. It feels like an eternity, the way his nerves are jumbled up in his stomach, replaying the tense conversation in the car. A few minutes later, his phone buzzes.

[Why.]

[Are you at home?]

[No.]