Summary: Daphne and Jax attend the NYC Winter Lantern Festival at Snug Harbor Cultural Center, Staten Island, where they meet the Perfect Match friend group.
Author’s note: This is for the Choices July Challenge, Day 23: Beauty. It takes place between Books 1 and 2 of Bloodbound. I had this idea a long time ago, when I attended this festival, but am just now getting around to writing it. I took the background photo myself.
Daphne walked through the dragon archway with Jax. The NYC Winter Lantern Festival was already making a good impression on her. If the colorful entrance was anything to go by, it was going to be beautiful.
She looked to her left and saw colorful orange flower lanterns. As they walked along, she could see colorful lanterns in all directions, grouped by theme. They headed towards the mushroom garden.
“Oh, look, magic mushrooms,” Jax smirked. “Those bring back memories.”
“Oh, really? Should I ask?”
“I had some wild times back in the 70s,” he explained.
“I bet you did.” Daphne looked over at a crowned frog holding a heart. “Hey, there’s the Frog Prince.” She turned back to Jax. “I’d rather kiss you, though.” Proving her point, she moved closer to him and kissed him.
They walked over to the aquatic-themed section. Multi-colored jellyfish lanterns were suspended in the air. Sea plants appeared to sprout from the ground, and fish hovered amidst them.
“When we’re done here, want to go for sushi?” Jax asked.
“Sure, if it’s not too late.” They passed through a giant lantern shaped like a shark, with its mouth wide open. “I’m being eaten alive by Jaws!” she joked.
“No, it’s just me.” Jax leaned in and lightly scraped his teeth against her neck.
They moved on to the animal kingdom display. Numerous species were represented, including flamingos, deer, zebras, elephants, rhinos, crowned cranes, cheetahs, meerkats, and tigers. As they stood there admiring the lanterns, another couple approached and stood beside them. The woman had long purple hair.
“I love your hair!” Daphne said to her. “My best friend has purple hair too. Well, black and purple, actually. Hers is brighter, though.”
“Thanks. I bet that shade would look good on you, too,” she replied.
“I like her hair the way it is,” Jax said.
Daphne motioned to him. “This is Jax. I’m Daphne.”
“I’m Jade,” replied the other woman. She gestured to the man beside her. “This is Damien.”
“D and J, J and D. That’s a weird coincidence.” Damien pointed out.
“Maybe we were meant to meet!” suggested Daphne.
“Or maybe it’s totally random,” Damien responded.
“Don’t mind him, he’s cynical. It goes with being a PI,” Jade explained. “You may be right.”
“He’s a PI?” That could be useful. They still didn’t know who had attacked Lily. Although it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to give full responsibility for that type of investigation to a human, there might be times when it would be helpful to have someone who could search for clues during the day. They wouldn’t even have to mention the existence of vampires. Perhaps he could find something that they could use as a starting point for an investigation of their own. And even if he couldn’t help in this particular case, he might be a good ally to have in the future. “Good to know, in case I ever need one. We should keep in touch.” Daphne pulled out her phone. “Are you on FaceSpace?”
“Yeah. Jade Park.”
“That’s a Korean name, isn’t it?”
Jade nodded. “I know I don’t really look it, but my grandfather was Korean.”
“I’m mixed myself,” Daphne said. “I’m Japanese on my mom’s side.” Daphne opened her FaceSpace app and searched for Jade’s profile. “OK, I sent you a friend request.”
Jade took out her phone and opened her FaceSpace app. “Accepted!” She turned around as a man approached. “Hey! These are my new friends, Daphne and Jax.” She turned to them. “This is Hayden.”
Daphne smiled at him. “Nice to meet you.” Jax slipped an arm around her possessively.
“It’s nice to meet you too. Are you enjoying the festival? Lantern festivals are an ancient Chinese tradition which goes back more than two thousand years ago, to the time of Emperor Ming.”
“You seem to know a lot about them. Is your family from China?”
Hayden hesitated. “He was adopted as a baby,” Jade said. “He doesn’t know anything about his birth family.”
“Oh, sorry. I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable.”
“It’s all right,” Hayden replied. He motioned to another group of people that were approaching. “We’re over here!”
When the others reached them, Jade introduced them. “This is my cousin Nadia and her fiancé Steve, and Sloane and Khaan.” She gestured towards Daphne and Jax. “Everyone, meet Daphne and Jax.”
“We should really get going,” Jax said. He took Daphne’s hand in his and gripped it tightly, then began walking away.
“It was really nice to meet you!” Daphne called out as she followed Jax. “What was the rush?” she asked as soon as they were out of earshot.
“There’s something not right with Hayden and Steve. They don’t have any blood. Trust my vampire senses. I knew I shouldn’t have let you talk me out of bringing my sword!”
“You wouldn’t have been allowed in with it, and it’s not like you could hide it easily! And how can they not have blood?”
“They’re not human. I don’t trust them. Let’s get out of here.”
“But we haven’t even seen all the lanterns! Come on, let’s go look at that big dragon over there. It’s further away. Besides, I feel safe when I’m with you.”
“All right, but stay close to me.”
Daphne smiled at Jax. “With pleasure.”