Unafraid

“Haven’t read that far.”

“That’s okay,” Ronan whispered as he kissed him deeply. “I know your boyfriend can be a distraction.”

Despite how marvelous the bed and Ronan’s body felt, Michael couldn’t afford to be late again and so he needed Ronan to be fully dressed. Commanding all his willpower, Michael pushed Ronan away from him. “Stop kissing me.”

Miffed, Ronan stared down at Michael. “Why, love?” he asked. “Is my breath rank?”

Rolling out from underneath him, Michael laughed. “Well, a little, but, seriously, you have to get dressed! Joubert’ll get all pissy if I’m late again, and you have to get all the way over to the lab,” he said, crossing the room to grab their backpacks. “If we’re both late, people are going to talk about us.”

“They already talk about us,” Ronan said, jumping into his trousers.

“Well, let’s not give them more ammunition,” Michael replied. “Now stop yakking and finish.”

“I’m waiting for you,” Ronan said.

Michael turned around, and of course Ronan was fully dressed, standing at the door with his coat on, acting as if Michael were the one who had delayed their departure. Tossing his backpack to Ronan, Michael walked past him and opened the door. “You think you’re funny, don’t you, Glynn-Rowley?”

“I know I’m funny, Howard,” Ronan said, smiling as he closed the door behind him.

Michael was already starting to race across campus when Ronan heard him shout, “You’re the only one!”

Jumping into his seat in theology, Michael could still hear Ronan’s laughter, louder than the class bell. As much as he didn’t want to, he had to turn off his connection with his boyfriend so he could concentrate on Joubert’s lecture, no matter how boring it might be. He listened as his professor tried to excite his students by focusing on the Bible’s more glamorous section, the Book of Revelations, but as an immortal Michael found the whole “end of days” apocalypse to be anticlimactic. As usual, things only got interesting after class.

“Looks like your boyfriend just can’t stay away,” Michael whispered.

Nakano turned around and saw Jean-Paul standing in the doorway, the rest of the class filing out past him. Shoving his books into his messenger bag, Nakano debated whether he should tell Michael the truth, that he hadn’t seen much of Jean-Paul lately. Even though they had never officially broken up, calling him his boyfriend in their theology classroom would probably be considered a venial sin.

In fact, he was certain Jean-Paul wasn’t here to see him, but to have another confab with the vampire professor. Not so.

“Kano,” Jean-Paul called out. “Do you have a moment for me?”

“A moment, an hour, a week, an eternity,” Michael joked, throwing his pack over his shoulder.

“Have fun, Nakano.”

Walking past Jean-Paul, Michael was happy that his stomach didn’t flip, his heart didn’t skip a beat, and he found it very easy to speak to the man he had once found incredibly distracting. “Hi, Jean-Paul,” he said. “Good to see you again.”

Nakano was less sure of himself. Walking over to meet Jean-Paul at the doorway he felt like he was hobbling. He ran a hand through his hair and wished that he had let it continue to grow and not gotten another buzz cut. He threw his shoulders back as far as they could go, and he wished that he were just a few inches taller so he wouldn’t look so short. Jean-Paul was so tall, so handsome, so confident, so at ease as he twirled his chauffeur’s cap in his hand. Really, what could he ever want from Nakano? A date, a reconciliation, a kiss. How about an answer?

“Where eez Brania?” Jean-Paul asked, one outstretched finger still circling round and round, making his cap flip over and over in the air.

Startled, Nakano turned around and saw that Professor Joubert’s hunched back was to them. He was ignoring them, not by choice, but because he was being questioned by Diego. Nakano hadn’t even noticed that the Fuente kid was still in the room; he thought he had left with the rest of the class. But at least his presence kept Joubert preoccupied so Kano could have a semi-private talk with Jean-Paul.

But Jean-Paul didn’t want to talk. He just wanted an answer to his question.

“Are you deaf?” he asked. “I said, where’s Brania?”

This time Nakano was startled, because Jean-Paul’s eyes turned as ugly as his tone. “I don’t know.”

“You’re lying.”

Glancing behind, he saw that Joubert was still talking to Diego. Joubert, looking tall despite being seated, held some papers, most likely Diego’s answers to the essay questions on their latest test; the kid was always questioning why he had gotten a lower grade than he had expected. He was the type who went through life thinking that he should be rewarded just because he had tried. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t good enough, that he wasn’t smart enough, that he wasn’t hot enough to get the top prize. Nakano knew exactly how that felt. “So that’s why you’ve come to see me?” he asked. “To find out where Brania is.”

The cap suddenly stopped moving. Jean-Paul leaned over and smiled, and Nakano could see his teeth, so white and perfect; he could smell his breath, so thick and hot; he could hear his response, so blunt and hateful. “Pleeze, the only reason I’m ’ere eez because David asked me,” Jean-Paul hissed.

“And I weell ask you only one more time, where eez Brania?”

So there wasn’t going to be another date, there would be no more kisses. The only reason Jean-Paul was standing in front of him was because he had been given orders. He might be an adult, he might be gorgeous, but he was nothing more than a lackey, a servant who did exactly as his master commanded.

How unattractive was that? There was no way that Kano was going to go out with a guy who couldn’t think for himself, who only did what he was told to do. No, this conversation was over.

“And I already told you, I don’t know where Brania ... eez,” he replied.

Feeling smug, Nakano didn’t care if he offended Jean-Paul. He didn’t even care if Joubert and Diego heard every word he said. He had had enough of being treated poorly. Laughing out loud, he thought he might be having his own mini biblical revelation—if you want to be treated properly, you have to start treating yourself with respect. So not only was this conversation over, but so too was this relationship. “One more thing,” Kano said, his voice no longer hushed. “Just so there’s no confusion in that pretty, little pea-brain of yours, I’m dumping you.”

Jean-Paul didn’t protest or laugh, but he also didn’t let Nakano leave. Extending his arm, he grabbed onto the doorjamb and denied Kano a dramatic exit. Leaning in a little bit further, his hair falling from behind his ears, looking greasy instead of smooth, Jean-Paul offered one last warning.

“Be careful who you are loyal to or you might wind up like your leetle friend Penry.”

Shocked, Nakano had had no idea that Jean-Paul knew about Penry. It wasn’t something that they had talked about, and Jean-Paul hadn’t been in town when the incident happened. Maybe it was something that vampires all over were talking about; maybe Nakano had become something of a legend, a rogue vampire who defied protocol and killed by his own rules. “Don’t act surprised,” Jean-Paul sneered. “David tells me everything. And ... how do you say? Oui, vice versa.”

Images of Jean-Paul and David ripped through Nakano’s brain, both real and imagined. He didn’t know what kind of relationship they had; he didn’t know if they were friends or lovers; he didn’t know anything anymore except that he had to get out of this room and the hell away from this guy. He didn’t care how it looked to anyone else, he just grabbed Jean-Paul’s arm and flung it violently to the side before running out of the classroom. Go tell that to David!

Catching Joubert’s eyes, Jean-Paul shrugged his shoulders puckishly. He then tilted his head toward Diego, who was still rambling on about how he should receive at least partial credit for attempting to answer one of the essay questions, disregarding the fact that he had failed to explain in an insightful manner the symbolism of the color red in the Bible. “Mr. Fuente, I’ll increase your grade by three points,” Joubert rather wearily announced.

“Excellent! Thank you.”

Taking Diego by the elbow, Joubert ushered him to the door, his huge frame dwarfing Diego. “Bear in mind, however, that your new grade doesn’t reflect a reassessment of your intelligence on my part,” he added. “But a nod to your perseverance.”

Standing just outside the classroom, Diego had no idea his meeting with his teacher had ended.

“Just one more thing... .” Those were the last words Diego uttered before Jean-Paul slammed the door in his face.