Demon Moon

tears.
    “You’re so beautiful.”
    He didn’t need to hear it from this one.
    Only your blood . He covered her eyes and turned her face away from him, pushing her cheek flat against the door panel and exposing her neck. He struck deep; liquid life pulsed into his mouth. His left hand tore at pretty pink silk and underclothing.
    Until it flowed into him, with the electric slide of her blood over his tongue: I don’t want you .
    His cock ached with need, but the bloodlust immediately retreated, regathered and shot upward, until there were only fangs and feeding. She shuddered against him, cried a name that wasn’t his. He smoothed her skirt down over her thighs.
    And he drank.

    “Oh, naatin , he is very handsome.”
    Savi grinned at the note of pleasure in Nani’s voice. Her grandmother leaned forward in the chair, squinting at the computer screen to read the text beneath the picture. The restaurant’s office was small, and Savi barely had room to maneuver around the desk to scroll down the e-mail to find his stats.
    “Manohar Suraj. He only has a master’s, but it’s a terminal degree in his field.” And better than anything she had to offer, Savi added silently. But it was probably best not to break Nani’s good mood by reminding her of her granddaughter’s shortcomings. “He’s a software engineer and he lives in Stonestown. He recently bought a condo there.”
    “You’ve spoken with him?”
    “Just e-mail. But I’m meeting with him tomorrow; we’re going to that little coffee shop off Wawona.”
    A small expression of distress furrowed Nani’s brow. “This is not how it is usually done, naatin . I should speak with his family.”
    “This is better than you talking with his parents and then having to withdraw later if we don’t like each other. Let us see if we are compatible, and if we aren’t, it’ll save you any embarrassment.”
    Nani gave a little headshake of assent. “What of his family? It cannot be good that they placed an advertisement; they must have no connections at all.”
    Savi had gone around that—found out who had paid for the matrimonial and then contacted Manu directly. “His father is at Cisco Systems. You might be able to ask Mr. Sivakumar if he knows him.” It would go a long way toward easing Nani’s fears if someone she knew could vouch for the family, and the son. “You should call Mrs. Sivakumar tomorrow.”
    Again that headshake. “Did you send a picture?”
    Savi nodded, trying not to laugh. “He wasn’t horrified. He still agreed to meet me.”
    “It looks better today, naatin . But still—”
    “I know. I’ll grow it out. My braid will be as long as yours before the wedding.”
    “Hopefully you marry before then,” Nani said, smiling. “Your mother cut her hair when she first started university, and it took eight years to reach this length again.”
    Savi couldn’t remember her mother without a chotee . Her father had often tugged on it, laughing. And when she’d brushed it out, it had fallen down her back like a waterfall of ebony satin.
    Her only memory of her mother’s short hair had come from pictures.
    Savi’s chest tightened, and she wrapped her arms around Nani’s shoulders. Neither she nor Nani were given to displays of affection, but there was no surprise or rejection in her grandmother’s form.
    It was brief; Nani patted her arm and pulled back. “Do not make me cry, naatin . Have you eaten?”
    The ache beneath Savi’s heart faded, replaced by amusement. Her grandmother would stuff her full, as if food would heal all of her ills, ease any grief. “Not yet, but I’ll get something in a moment—there’s not much here to do. Ranjit has been keeping it up well.” Though Savi had once been her grandmother’s sole help with the books, during their vacation to India and her subsequent fever, another employee had maintained them…and continued to do so. As Nani seemed comfortable with the arrangement, Savi hadn’t done more than act as fill-in when he took time off. Like tonight.
    “Yes.”
    “Do you need help out front?” As if on cue, the bell rang merrily, and voices carried into the back. Auntie’s did not have a large dinner clientele, but it managed a brisk take-out business in the evenings. “Is Geetha the only one out there?”
    Nani stood up. “We’re slow now. Eat first, and then you can take phone orders.”
    “Okay. Did any of the DemonSlayer players show up last week?”
    “No, naatin . Perhaps