“You destroyed my life, now I’m gonna destroy yours.” I watched as he tried to race down the stairs but our gazes collided and that’s all I needed. My nightmares barreled into his vision, and he wasn’t even aware that he missed a step. He fell down the flight of stairs and crashed into the wall. He cried and fought to stand. His hands gripped at the wall desperately. He was blind from my complete focus.
The monster in me rejoiced and for once, I was on her side. As I took the final step to his level, I noticed his skin flake, then drift away. Slowly, parts of his body shook then dropped away like ash. He was simply disappearing.
“Nothing,” I whispered, understanding the full extent of my powers. Not only could I influence dreams or nightmares in someone’s mind, but given enough focus, the nightmare becomes their reality. My father feared being nothing, and now I watched as his body disintegrated into nothing. I stood in awe of myself.
The sound of a door to the stairwell opened, and I glanced at the wall where my ex-father’s body once stood, then readied for a fight.
“I’ve got a kick-ass power, and I’m not afraid to use it!” I warned and my voice echoed as it bounced up the floors. I didn’t hear steps or see anyone until a body crashed into me. Arms wrapped around my waist. I wiggled and lifted my knee to fuck some jerk’s junk, then the scent hit me. Hinoke cypress and wisteria. My body dropped, and I cried. I couldn’t help my reaction to that scent, but thankfully strong arms were there to hold me.
“I thought you died.” My fingers gripped his shirt and I looked up into those perfect glowing gold eyes.
“I told you what kills an original. A katana to the brain can be healed. I needed a few minutes.” Tatsou smiled and I pressed my lips to his urgently. I didn’t lose him. We had won, and we could be together.
“Your father?” He pulled back to rest his forehead against mine. We stood there breathing each other in.
“He turned into nothing. It’s over.” I smiled with the news and wanted to do a little wiggle to celebrate.
“Kitten, if you keep wiggling like that . . .”
I didn’t stop wiggling.
“You’ll be the death of me.” He kissed my neck gently. I opened for him to do his thing and gripped his hair tightly.
“Yeah, you better watch it. My powers are badass. I could probably take down an original now.” I joked but depending on the nightmare, I might have that power.
“You can take me down anytime.” He chuckled and finally his lips returned to mine. Everything would be okay. Everyone I loved about was fine, except—
“Romi!!” I jumped back at the sudden thought.
“She’s okay. But she will need your help soon.” Tatsou gripped my hand and tossed me on his back. He raced up the stairs to the roof, carrying me piggyback style. Normally I’d find it cute, but my sister had been drained of blood. Tatsou knocked the door of the building down, and Romi laid beside a scowling Angel.
“Romi, oh, Romi are you okay?” I jumped off my vamp and raced to her. She moved her head my way, as her hand lifted to shade her eyes from the bright sun.
“I’m okay,” she hoarsely replied, and I draped myself over her.
“She was about to die, so I gave her a choice . . .” Angel ran his hands down his face, and I looked at him, then her.
“You, too?” I hoped she wouldn’t confirm my suspicions but all she did was nod.
“I was okay with it. Now we don’t have to worry about death breaking our bond.” She tried to laugh but winced. Angel had nearly drained her, and the only way to save her life was to turn her. Soon, she’d be a vampire like us.
Two Months Later
Katsumi
“I liked what you did with the property.” Asta relaxed on the sofa with a plate of Christmas cake on her lap. Enric hollered as he battled Lan in video games. Eleanor sat outside with Rei and watched the snow fall. They seemed to have bonded after the big fight. Rei had been tossed out a window by soldiers and almost burned to death. But Angel saved him before going to save Romi. Angel and Tatsou were still out on his “errands” but texted they’d be home soon.
“Thanks. Our parents never decorated for the season. So I wanted to go big this year.” Romi smiled and bumped my shoulder on the couch.
“Yeah, I really liked the large dragon out front,” I teased but she fired back without hesitation.
“At least a dragon is cooler than yourPokémoncreatures in front of the studio.” She stuck out her tongue, and I laughed. Life had changed dramatically these past months, but the bonds, both old and new remained the same, maybe even stronger. Asta and Enric decided to hang around for a while. They even bought an apartment in Osaka. Eleanor started plans to build on our property, which I helped design as much as she’d let me.
Romi adjusted to being a vampire quite easily, proving my theory that most vampires were just greedy jerks. A few days after her transition, she took over Sakura Industries and inherited the property. Naturally, she took the house, and I went back to my happy little studio with Tatsou.
After the videos of vampires fighting and turning to ash went viral, the governments around the world decided to work together to prove vampires were a hoax. Of course, they knew the truth of what happened that day, and that vampires existed. Instead of trying to eradicate all supernatural beings, they decided to establish a whole underworld branch of security to keep vampires in line. Essentially, don’t murder people, don’t try to overthrow authority or cause major chaos, and you can live peacefully. Romi volunteered to organize the team in our area and used her skills and new power of the company to help protect the world against asshole vampires. I liked that she’d found something to bring her joy.
Since I could sew quicker, I’d been creating line after line of work to display. Once the spring came, a few of my designs would be featured in fashion week, my real dream come true. We held ceremonies for Mother and Takeo, which hurt, but time would heal the rips in our hearts.
