“Do you sense anything else?” Kiyo asked at her back. She could feel the heat of him down the length of her body.
“No. I just …” She frantically searched but the feeling was dissipating. “I don’t understand.”
“Niamh, if this is a trick—”
She spun on him in indignation. “It’s not.”
“What the hell is going on, then?” he snapped.
“I don’t know, you impatient furball,” she snapped back, ignoring the dangerous narrowing of his eyes. “I just know … someone is here and they’re following me. Or they were …” She trailed off in confusion as she searched their surroundings again. “The feeling is gone. It came as fast as it arrived.” A wave of nausea rattled up from her gut, and her eyes flew in horror to Kiyo. Something was wrong. They never came in twos! “Vision,” she choked out.
Images slammed into her brain with one painful instruction after another. Four stones. Four faces. Hers. Elijah. Rose. And Astra. Astra. ASTRA. Mount Fuji. Kiyo. A garden. Kiyo. Astra. Astra. ASTRA.
Shuddering as the images faded, Niamh’s eyes flickered open. To her shock, she found herself on the cold floor of the airport, huddled against Kiyo as strangers peered down around her in concern.
What the hell? she asked Kiyo in his mind.
His grim face came into clear focus and he bent to whisper in her ear. “Your vision transferred to me. It took me down too. I couldn’t hide us.”
Well, that was shit on multiple levels.
Exhausted, Niamh was grateful for Kiyo as he helped her to her feet. The people surrounding her included an airport security guard. Questions about her welfare came in several languages.
Calling on all her energy reserves, Niamh took turns looking every single person in the eyes as she assured them she and her friend had merely tripped and they were fine. It took longer than it normally would for the mind manipulation to take hold.
However, eventually it did, and the group wandered off in a daze.
Kiyo’s warm, strong hand came down on her shoulder.
She glanced up at him and flinched at his expression.
“What the hell did I just see?”
The urge to divulge the truth was great, but Niamh needed time to gather her thoughts. She was still reeling from what she’d nearly done to Meghan and her awful demise at the hands of a quite rightly pissed-off werewolf. Her head was muddled. And she needed to process the information from the vision before she could talk about it. “Not now.”
His expression darkened; he looked angrier than she’d ever seen him. “There’s something about me in that vision.”
“Did you understand that part?”
He looked incredulous. “You think I would tell you if I did, knowing you don’t trust me enough to explain why we’re really going to Tokyo? I saved your life.”
Remorse flooded her. “I know that. And I’m grateful. But I’m just a job to you, Kiyo. And this … this is much bigger than you or me. I just need time to process.”
“Then why are we going to Tokyo? Why did I feel myself in the vision somehow? How the hell are the visions transferring to me?”
All valid questions.
Niamh’s head swam.
“And who the hell is Astra?” At her silence, he exhaled in exasperation. “Whether we like it or not, we are now a team. I’m getting your visions. There’s something there about me. If we’re going to get through this, we have to trust each other.” He stepped closer. “Never mind I took a blade for you … I have never told anyone what I am.”
She frowned in disbelief. “What about Fionn and Bran?”
“They guessed. But even they don’t know my story. I told you what I am.” He seemed to swallow hard. “That took a lot more than you think.”
A flood of emotions filled her. Emotions she didn’t quite understand. Emotions that pushed her to clam up when she might not have if he’d just given her bloody time to think! “Kiyo, I’d like nothing more than to have someone I could confide in again. To have someone fighting by my side. But we both know that this”—she gestured between them—“is temporary. I can’t give you everything. In fact, I think it’s better for me if I give you very little and you do what you’re being paid to do.”
“Being paid to do?”
“Jumping in front of iron daggers and such.” She lowered her gaze, unable to see his expression. “You saved my life because you’re being paid to. Let’s not pretend it was for any other reason.”
A terrible silence fell between them.
Then he practically growled. “That doesn’t explain why I’m getting your visions.”
“I don’t know why. And I need time to ponder it.” She pushed past him abruptly, her heart racing and aching at the same time. Niamh was alone. Pretending she wasn’t, that Kiyo was something more than a paid bodyguard, was dangerous.