Fiends of the Rising Sun by David Bishop

he had no wish to involve Suzuki any further in this. "He didn't order me to do anything, Shiro. I volunteered."
    "Why?"
    "The emperor asked me, and I would do anything for the emperor."
    Suzuki staggered back a step, still reeling at the reality of it. He looked down at the sealed envelope, understanding why Hitori considered it important. "You're giving up everything to become like Constanta?"
    "Yes."
    "Then let me take your place."
    "No. You don't know what you're suggesting, Shiro."
    "I don't have a wife or a family like you do. The army is my life. If doing this spares you from losing what you love, it's a sacrifice worth making."
    "No. I told the emperor I would do this," Hitori insisted. "I gave my word of honour. I cannot renounce that. It is too late for me."
    "Then let me do this thing with you," Suzuki urged. "I have nothing to lose."
    "You don't know what you're asking."
    "Explain it to me."
    "I don't have time," Hitori sighed. He knocked on the office door and it swung open to reveal Tojo and Constanta waiting for him inside. "Please, just make sure the letter gets sent to my wife from Manchuria, as you promised."
    "I will," Suzuki said.
    Hitori embraced him for one last time. "Goodbye, old friend." Then he walked into the office and closed the door, leaving Suzuki outside.
     
    Constanta took Hitori out on a terrace near the top of the ministry building. It offered a stunning view of Tokyo as dusk settled over the city, but neither of them paid the vista any attention. Instead Constanta gestured to a group of figures held in an enclosure below, half a dozen men clustered around a pitiful paper lantern. "Once you are a vampyr, you will hunger. You must feed at once; gorge yourself on the blood of living humans. The general has arranged your first meal, a party of Chinese prisoners to do with as you wish."
    Hitori remembered his earlier revulsion when Constanta had offered him the chance to drink the blood of a captive. "I'm not sure if I can go through with this. I will not dishonour my emperor, my unit, my family name by breaking my word, but to sup on another man's blood..."
    The Rumanian rested a leather-gloved hand on Hitori's shoulder. "Before, in the general's office, I made you that offer as a test. You were still human then. When you are one of us, one of the everlasting, your hunger will overcome all other considerations. Your need to feed will command you."
    Hitori took a deep breath. "How do I become like you?"
    "Firstly, I must drink your blood. It is part of the price you must pay in exchange for immortality. Don't be afraid, it is a necessary step."
    The Japanese soldier undid the collar of his uniform and pulled it aside, exposing the throat. He tilted his head to one side, all too aware of the jugular pulsing against his skin. "Do it, before I change my mind."
    Constanta smiled, his lips slowly drawing back to reveal his fangs, like a predator unsheathing its claws. He took a firm grip on Hitori before rearing his head back. The Japanese soldier closed his eyes and tried to picture the face of his beautiful young wife, tried to imagine what their son must look like. Then he felt two sharp stabbing pains driving down into his neck, and a gush of warmth as liquid spilled from the twin wounds. Hitori smelled his own blood, the metallic scent clogging his nostrils, and he tasted the bitter tang of adrenaline in his mouth.
    Slowly, gradually, the pain eased. In its place was the uneasy feeling of something being sucked out of his body, the disturbing sense that his life's blood was being pulled away. Hitori's heart pumped faster, trying to compensate for the loss, pushing his remaining blood around his body. He wanted to tear himself away from this monster, this fiend supping at his throat. The fight or flight impulse was close to overwhelming him, but he used every last ounce of his remaining willpower to resist that most primal of urges. He surrendered himself utterly, his old life ebbing away with