Anarameha

Chapter 19

Ana placed the steak in front of Jiro. His eyes lifted from the meat that was so undercooked it had a pool of blood around it. Ana shrugged.

"Your skin might be repaired, your temperature might be normal, but your body has done a lot of work to fix those issues. Feed it before you do something you'll regret."

Wordlessly he nodded. Jiro knew what Ana meant. He didn't want to wake in the middle of the day to find that he'd grown hungry and taken it out on her.

Ana pulled the remaining stool to the other side of the bench to face him.

"I can't help but wonder why vampires lose their memories when they are turned. I've never heard of that happening. Does it make sense to you?"

"Nope," he murmured with a mouth full of meat.

"Did you discuss it with anyone?"

"Bran, my leader."

"The guy that made you?"

Jiro nodded.

"And I take it that he said you'd be fine? Even though you had no recollection of your life before that event? What if you passed a friend or an enemy? Where's your protection in all of this?"

Jiro shrugged, more interested in the meal. Ana sighed and got off the stool to load another steak into the chamber. She was grateful that she'd bought more of them when she was at the market.

"I usually don't go past level one, and everyone on that level spends their nights off their heads. No one would be sober enough to recognise me."

This was not making any sense, and his reasoning was sound but flawed. All the vampires she'd known in her short life remembered their past. Was it something that returned with time, or was it always there? She needed more information, but sadly, the vampires that she knew were not a part of her life anymore. They were all dead. Thinking about them was as painful as thinking about her family.

"Do you know why you wanted to become a vampire?"

"No."

"So, you don't even know if you entered into this willingly? I have to say, this sounds more dubious by the second. Were there any other vampires that lost their memories or just you?"

"Don't know. Bran said that everyone was different in how things turned out."

"But?"

Jiro sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, but no one that I asked had the same results. I was the only one. You know, I was already dubious about it. Speaking of dubious things. What's the deal with your gold eyes?"

They were their usual honey-brown at the moment. Jiro wanted to see them turn gold again. He thought they were fascinating because he'd never seen anyone else's eyes do that.

Ana was momentarily silent, stunned at the question.

"It's a rare thing. I'm the only one that has it now. At least, I think that I am."

"Your family?"

Ana nodded sadly, her gaze lowering to the countertop in front of her. Jiro wondered if it was a sign that she was royal, and now that she wasn't royal, it was fading.

"Do you realise that no matter what you do, there will always be someone like Marama?"

"How so?" Ana asked as her eyes rose to meet Jiro's.

She wasn't sad anymore, just a little confused.

"I don't know Marama all that well, but what I figured out quickly is that she's lazy. That would be why she hired someone to do the searching for her. Just like she has someone clean her house. She wanted the information, but she wasn't prepared to do the work. That detective, he might be good, he might be terrible, but I'd wager that he didn't put much effort in. After all, he'd gathered it within a day. Imagine what someone could do with a lot more time on their hands."

Ana huffed, giving Jiro a slight smile.

"Well, aren't you a barrel of fun today?"

"I'm always fun, but in this instance, I'd like to think of it as ensuring that you know that you can't hide forever."

"I know," Ana said with a heavy sigh. "But I'd like to try as much as I can. The longer that I can stay out of the eyes of the militia, the happier I will be."

It was a complex request, one that Jiro thought Ana would never get.

Jiro had finished his second steak, stretching back on the stool.

"Do you want more?"

"Nah, I'm good, thanks."

Ana took the plate and cutlery, putting them into the dishwasher. She wasn't facing him, but Ana knew that Jiro was watching her. The mood was growing, a little tense, and filled with anxiety. Things that both wanted to say but feared the reaction.

Jiro was too tall to sleep on the lounge chair. Even Ana knew that if she slept there, it would be an uncomfortable day of rest. She knew that if either of them were going to sleep comfortably, it had to be in the bed. That meant that they would be in it together.

Her anxiety peaked when she thought of being in bed with Jiro. Not the act of sleep but the other thing that beds were famous for.

Realising that she had to move before it became obvious that she was over analysing the situation, Ana turned to face the breakfast bench. Her eyes widened at the sight of a weeping wound at the top of Jiro's chest.

"You're bleeding again."

Grabbing one of the remaining pieces of gauze, Ana wet it and moved around the counter.

"Hold still,"

Standing close between his legs, she carefully placed the gauze and ensured it was tight. Ana ran her wet finger over it, smoothing it out and ensuring it stayed put. She lifted her hand, seeing blood on her finger.

Before Ana could move back to the sink to wash them, Jiro grabbed her wrist. With a sinful smirk on his face, the bloody finger went into his mouth. Slowly it was dragged out, the warmth of his lips dragging over the skin.

Ana stared as her heart raced. She knew exactly where this was going.