Kat blended in with my old friends seamlessly. Despite being nervous, she spoke her thoughts and behaved genuinely. Both Asta and Enric were enamored by her charm.
“She’s a natural, even if she doesn’t see it yet,” Eleanor whispered in my ear as we exited the vehicle. Of course she loved her already. I’d have to beat the female off to have some alone time with my little flower.
“So how do we find an original? Put out an ad? Check in on social media so they’ll know we are here?” Kat asked. She shrugged at our perplexed expressions and stretched her muscles.
“We relax. If there is one of our kind around, they will seek us out for being in their space. The lack of vampire activities signals someone doesn’t like to share,” Enric said.
The logic was sound, so we walked around to sightsee. Kat had never visited this part of China before, and we watched her face light up with every interesting sight.
“Being with her is like being with a child. So full of innocence and wonder.”
“She’s not a child,” I snapped at Asta, insulted she’d call my Kat a child, though her assessment of wonder rang true. She smacked me on the arm, a hit I didn’t even feel.
“That’s not what I meant, Jerk. I almost forgot what you were like.” Asta smiled.
“I did miss you, though. After our visit to your temple, I thought you were going to live there forever. Then we never heard from you. I thought you hated us. You’d always seemed like such a loner, I assumed you decided to cut ties with everyone.”
Her husband sensed her pain and came over. Eleanor’s sad eyes met with mine. She’d thought the same thing at one point. I’d been so full of anger and while I tried to be a supportive family member to our group, I obviously failed. I found peace at the temple, but I had it in me all along to have peace in my situation before meeting Botan.
“I am sorry for the pain I’ve caused. My disappearance had nothing to do with you all. I should have been a better angry younger uncle.” I smirked while using her own words.
“She’s really changed you for the better.”
“She makes me want to be better,” I admitted as Kat looked at me with a huge grin on her face. She’d been itching to sketch out a whole design line based on the architecture and its people.
“The right woman always does.” Enric pulled in his wife and kissed her forehead. I’d never looked at their relationship before as anything other than a mating. But now that I’ve felt love, I understood the deep connection between them. Without even seeing it, I knew Kat and I looked like that, too. After our short talk about marriage, I had kept the topic on the side of my thoughts. I’d never proposed to a woman before and never entertained the thought of a wife until Kat.
We’d walked around for two hours. Word had to have reached the interest party that we were here. I needed to be ready.
“Who dares come to my town?” a deep voice whispered on the wind, and everyone readied for a fight, even Kat who lifted her fists. The sight made me smile, and I vowed to teach her how to fight after this meeting.
“We are searching for someone. An old member of our family. Who are you?” I asked, naturally taking up the leader position of the group. While the rest could surely hold their own, fighting had always been natural to me.
“That voice . . . sounds like . . .” The voice grew louder as the vampire neared. No one paid any attention to the voice, and I wondered if there had been a deal struck with the town. Ignore the original, and he kept out the dangerous riffraff.
“Tatsou.”
The voice came from behind and I was at the form in a flash, hand wrapped around a throat.
“Good to see you, too, old friend.” A young man with brown eyes and black hair grinned at me. I released his grip and hugged the male.
“Lan!” Eleanor cried and rushed to us. Lan had been one of the youngest of our group. His family had fallen to the plague when he was nineteen. He was a fun kid, who had risen above his trials with a positive outlook and constant smile. Not even a second later I was in the middle of a vampire group hug. I untangled myself from the constriction and ruffled the kid’s hair.
“It’s so good to see you guys. What are you doing here?” Lan looked at each of us, then his eyes widened at Kat’s waving.
“She’s mine,” I warned Lan, and he nodded with the notion.
“I’m Katsumi, but you can call me Kat.” She rushed forward with her hand out and Lan shook it with a teasing wink in my direction. And they wondered why I liked being alone.
“We need your assistance in a fight to save mankind.” Eleanor announced our grand question first as the most outspoken person here. Lan laughed and fake punched the air like he was some badass.
“Besides the odd punk vampire who comes to my town, I haven’t fought anyone in a century. I’m very rusty.”
“You can train with me. I don’t know anything about fighting,” Kat whispered close to him but then blushed when she remembered we could all hear her anyway.
“That sounds like fun. I’m always down for a little trouble. You should have texted, though. Nobody likes creepers in their neighborhood.” Lan laughed, then invited us to his home.
It was nice to see the kid had made a life for himself. Being long-lived, plus the other advantageous tricks of the vampire, could give anyone a pleasant life if they chose to do so. Asta stayed close to Kat, soaking up her goodness and smiles. Enric examined all of Lan’s treasured items of the past, including swords, clothes, and other nostalgic goods. Eleanor hugged Lan every chance she could, like a sister who had found her long-lost brother.
