Eternal Samurai (32 page)

Fine pink dusted the top of Tatsu’s cheeks. Yeah, he was a bottom all right, a bottom whose ass craved the wrong thing—the cock of one flame-haired vampire.

“So this long lost love, Sage? He show up or something?”

“No, he’s gone.” The flicker of remorse in his eyes changed to an odd pleading.

Galloway finished the tray of bullets, began on another. “Someone else from your mysterious past?”

Tatsu shook his head. “Nothing like that.”

“So, I’ll take a wild guess and say this beat-around-the-fucking-bush conversation is really about some new love thing? Not that you’ve exactly come out with it. Crap, Ninjas and their sneakiness.”

Tatsu gave a mirthless, coughing laugh at Galloway’s half-assed humor. “Yeah, new love, kind of like that. And if I don’t figure it out, I’m really going to fuck up. Someone will get hurt.”

“No shit. You nearly blew us both to hell a minute ago.” Galloway’s voice softened with sympathy. “I know in a world like ours, it can be hell even finding a moment of joy. But if what is going on makes you a liability to the team, you’d better talk.” His penetrating gaze never left Tatsu’s face. “Tell me he ain’t one of these animals on our team?” For a second he feared Tatsu had fallen for Chance Passebon—or worse, for him.

“
Iie
, absolutely not,” Tatsu sat back startled at the absurdity of the thought. “Somethi… someone else…” Tatsu’s voice trailed off.

“How long has this been going on?”

“A few months. We met shortly after I got here. Before I joined the Lepers.”

“No shit? You fuck him already?” Galloway grinned, getting a kick out of watching Tatsu squirm with embarrassment. Tatsu’s eyes looking everywhere but at him. For a stone-cold killer, little Ninja Boy sure got shook up talking about doing the dirty deed.

“No, I haven’t
fucked
him but every time I see him—.”

“You wanna jump his bones.” Galloway’s grin widened.

“Oh, yes.” The affirmation came out on a long, throaty breath. “But it’s more than sex. I’ll always love Sage. This feels the same but more intense. I’ve never believed in
unmei no hito
, you know, soulmates. Figured it was load of bullshit before now. But this is something special. Like this is it. The one. And it is really fucking with my head. I’ve always known what to do, been taught to control my feelings. Now it’s like I’m drowning,” Tatsu heard himself babbling. Tried to rein in his chaotic thoughts.

“Falling in love is a lot like drowning, I guess.” Galloway’s voice softened with concern. He smiled, a quirky sideway lift of his lip.

Tatsu dragged his hands through his hair, leaving it a tousled mess. “This is absurd. I have no time for anything else. Especially love.”

“Crap, Tatsu, just cause we’re killers, doesn’t make us machines. Even you with your swords and samurai code. Love, companionship, sex, all has a way of making itself known. We need what we need, love who we love.” He knew he’d said the right thing. The confusion faded a little from the kid’s eyes.

Galloway got up and walked over to the giant press to snap more ammunition into the autoload vault. He held off pushing the start button. The old machine made a terrible racket, and he didn’t want to give Tatsu any excuse to stop talking. Instead, he went back to the table and began assembling another tray. “So, tell me about him?”

Misery etched lines in Tatsu’s face. It was not the look of someone about to reveal a happy secret. “I am not sure I can explain it,” Tatsu muttered. “It’s er… it’s complicated,” his voice trailed off.

“It’s always complicated, Tatsu. If thinking about him makes you hard maybe all you need to do is nail him. But if your damn heart aches when you don’t see him, and you only feel complete when you’re with him, it might be love.”

“I haven’t known him long enough.” Yet Tatsu’s soul had known Saito Arisada for eight-hundred years.

“Hell, time’s got nothing to do with it. Can happen in an instant.” Galloway flashed back to undeniable moment two years ago when he fell for the gorgeous Cajun. “Sure you don’t need to just fuck this guy and move on?”

“I’m certain I don’t want to just
fuck
him. And the only thing I am sure of is he’s not a guy.”

Galloway reeled back in pretended shock. “Huh, a chick? No. Fucking. Way. You ain’t hardwired fer pussy.”

Tatsu gulped, embarrassed, suddenly reluctant to reveal more. “
Gomen nasai.
I’m sorry I should not have bothered you about it.” He started to rise but Galloway’s iron fingers clamped like a vice around his wrist and yanked him back onto the chair.

“Sit your butt down Ninja Boy, and shove that Japanese apology crap up your cute, tight ass,” The blond’s fierce cerulean eyes locked onto Tatsu’s jade ones. “You’re not just my teammate, you’re my friend. You can trust me with anything, and I mean anything. So, spill. It can’t be that bad.”

“Oh yes, it’s that bad.” Tatsu’s misery-filled eyes skittered off Galloway’s stare. Without thinking, he rolled a brass casing between his thumb and forefinger. “He’s a vampire.” The words eked out in a whisper as if to deny their reality.

“Huh, a what? You’re telling me a bloodsucker got you so horny you want to fuck him? No big deal. A quickie never hurt anyone no matter whose ass is involved.”

Tatsu gulped. “I want more.” How could he explain about the huge hole in his heart that disappeared every time Arisada called him
koibito
?

“He ain’t the one you’re hunting? I mean maybe you’ve got some sort of bizarre Stockholm syndrome.”

A shocked expression crossed Tatsu’s face. “No, it’s not him. I’m positive. Grandfather almost severed that monster’s spine. This one has no scars on his back. I made him show me.”

Galloway’s laughter bounced around the cold room. “He stripped just because you asked? A bloodsucker? Man, you are one talented little Ninja.” He leaned across the table and skewered Tatsu with an intense, definitely not friendly stare. “What are you hiding?”

The events of the
shinkendo
bet, Arisada’s tattooed back, even the blow job, tumbled out of Tatsu’s mouth in a confused rush. Somehow, Galloway followed the erotic and strangely poetic story.

“A blow job? He sucked you off? You sure this vampire’s not playing you? I mean, you’re still a baby to the Life. I’d hate to see any bloodsucker getting his teeth in my friend’s adorable, not-quite-virgin ass.”

“He’s not playing me. And leave my ass out of it,” Tatsu snapped. “I can’t stop thinking about him. How he looks at me, his arms, his kisses, his voice.
Jigoku,
he didn’t just blow my cock, he blew my mind.”

“What about your vendetta? He’s still a vampire.”

“I do not think of him as
kyūketsuki
. He’s … he’s just mine. Shit, just listen to me. I’m pathetic.”

“Not pathetic, maybe just this side of crazy, but not pathetic. Not all of them are vicious animals. Look at Fornax? People hook up with vampires, live with ’em. I hear some secretly marry them,” Galloway rambled. Damn, many times he had listen to guys lament the I’m-in-love-with-the-wrong-cock conversation. But this one was way out of his league. “You think this vampire knows the one you’re hunting?”

“Maybe.” Tatsu’s reply was slow coming out.

“You too afraid to ask him? Sounds like you’re not sure you can trust him.”

“I trust him.” But did he really trust Arisada? The vampire had not contacted him since that night in Kuboto Garden. “Only he’s not been around for a couple of weeks.”

“Maybe he got what he wanted from you.”

Tatsu glared at Galloway. “He wouldn’t do that. He’s honorable in a way you’d never understand. Says he loves me.
Aishite imasu.
Said it every time we met.”

“Cool it, Tatsu. Just trying to help.” Galloway held his hands aloft in mock surrender. “Shit, it’s going to be a cluster fuck no matter what happens. Mind telling me his name?” He resumed loading empty shells. Breathed soft and quiet during the long minute of silence that hung between them.

“Saito … Saito Arisada?”

Priceless gunpowder blew over the table as Galloway dropped the measurer. He stared in shock at his younger teammate. “What the hell, Saito Arisada? The second top dog in Tendai? You have got to be bullshitting me. Saito fucking Arisada says he loves you. And you love him. You don’t do anything half assed, do you Ninja Boy?”

Suddenly, Tatsu wished he had never confided in Galloway. Eyes downcast, he nodded but quelled another apology.

“Shit, you’re messing around with Ukita Sadomori’s Primary.” Galloway leaned over the table and gripped Tatsu’s chin, jerked his head up, forcing the younger man to look at him. They were almost nose-to-nose.

“Tell me everything about him,” the blond demanded. “You owe us that.”

“I don’t owe anybody anything.” Tatsu jerked his head out of Galloway’s hand. “He’s no threat to us.” Yet he knew his actions went against the every code of the Leper Colony.

Ignoring Tatsu’s hostility, Galloway sat back with a sigh. “Maybe, maybe not. I know you won’t deliberately endanger any of us. I trust you. But you gotta admit, you’ve dropped one big-assed bomb on me.”

“I have to know if what I feel is real. Sage said there was someone waiting for me. Maybe Arisada is it. My life cannot just only be about killing.”

“This has really got your dick tied up in knots. Tell me, is he hot?” He faked his best actor’s leer, deliberately luring Tatsu into revealing everything he knew about the one of the most dangerous vampires in Seattle.

Tatsu dug his cell out of his jacket, flipped it open and spun the instrument across the table. “Here, Saito Arisada. He used to be a Buddhist monk.”

Galloway gave a long low whistle as he stared at the image of Arisada. He’d seen his share of gorgeous men, but this one transcended mere beauty. No mistaking that translucent skin or those golden eyes. Yet the exquisite perfection of the vampire’s face made Galloway gasp.

“Man, this guy’s drop-dead gorgeous. Look at that incredible red hair. It looks like living flame. Don’t Buddhists shave their heads? And those eyes. Should creep me out but they’re beautiful. They’re promising something wonderful if you just ask for it.” Galloway murmured. He snapped his eyes from the cell to stare at Tatsu. “And
he
says he loves you?”

“I already said that.” Tatsu felt a wash of pride at Galloway’s frank admiration of the vampire. No, of his lover. He was glad he’d trusted the blond mercenary. “He says I am the reincarnation of his long-ago lover, Koji Nowaki. After I dreamed Nowaki’s memories, I’m convinced.”

“Sonofabitch,” Galloway shook his head looking once more at the image. “Don’t know about the reincarnation shit but if you think this love is real, be hard to turn your back on it. Just be sure you can trust him.”

“I trust him. I think he’s really on our side. I just don’t know if I can trust myself. I’m fucked,” Tatsu moaned.

“No, we’re both fucked.” A sardonic smile twisted Galloway‘s handsome features. “You’ve fallen for the enemy, and I’m in love with a straight guy. Dunno know which one’s worse. You gonna try to find him?”

“You know I will.”

“Bad idea. You gotta back off, Cobb. Tell the Major. He doesn’t give a rat’s ass who you sleep with, but he should know you’re close pals with the second-top dog in Tendai.” Galloway’s look said he sympathized but regulations were regulations. “I’m sorry, kid; you got one day to log that pretty picture in along with a report.
Wakarimasu ka
?”

“
Hai, hai. Wakarimasu.
I understand. I’ll inform the Major immediately.” Tatsu stilled his expression to hide the lie. Only one path lay open to him now. The path of
fukushū
.

Reassured, Galloway left the table to lock trays of brass into the reloader. “Holy shit. You and Saito fucking Arisada.”

“
Kuso
, will you stop saying it like that.”

Galloway snorted with laughter as he pulled down the start lever on the machine and drowned out Tatsu’s next comment.

.

Eighteen

“S
o, Mr. Cobb, I can’t persuade you to reconsider? You are a valued member of this organization.”

“
Gomen nasai,
Major Blenheim-san, but it cannot be helped. I must resign from the Leper Colony.” Tatsu dropped his eyes afraid they’d give him away. Against Galloway’s suggestion, he’d not revealed his association with Arisada to the Major. Hiding his intimate connection with the second-in-command of Tendai was a clear betrayal of his agreement with the Lepers. Revealing it would be a betrayal of Arisada.

“Very well. I asked for one week’s notice and you have honored that.” Disappointment dragged on the Major’s voice. “I expect you to be out of Seattle within twenty-four hours after your last assignment.”

Tatsu nodded his acceptance in silence. Head bowed in misery, he followed Major Blenheim into the Pit.

“Gentlemen, last week I asked you to prepare for a major assignment. It begins tonight. Dr. Wyckes will explain the details.”

The doctor limped up to the head of the table. “There have been major outbreaks in Europe and Western Russia of a new strain of sanguinae virus. Unlike the original, this bug, designated SAE-49, is airborne and extremely viral. The bad news, full physiological change occurs within twelve hours after infection. The really bad news. There is a seventy percent survival rate—as a vampire.”

The room buzzed with “what the fucks” and “oh shits.” Wyckes ignored them and continued. “One of the nasty side-effects, other than becoming a bloodsucking monster, is the total destruction of the ventromedial area of the brain.”

“Okay now you’re fucking with me,” Phoenix interrupted. “In English, man.”

“Victims lose all sense of morality. They become killing machines. Think shark with a tad more brainpower. Moreover, their mutated DNA puts them immediately under the control of any alpha vampire, a Master such as Ukita Sadomori.”

“So, you’re saying we’d be totally fucked without the dinner and a movie first,” Galloway joked. A few laughed.

Not to be outdone, Phoenix added, “We’re gonna be looking at an army of zombie vampires.”

“Sounds like an oxymoron to me.” Galloway was not about to give up.