Bound by Forever (True Immortality 3)

“Niamh is going to get us on the next bullet train to Osaka. We’ll bypass the station. We need you to book us flights out of Kanku Airport.”

“Going where?”

“Surprise us.” Kiyo hung up and strode over to Niamh. Lowering to his haunches, he rested his hands on her knees. “We need to leave. By the looks of it, we’re in Musashino. I’ll get us to the nearest station, you get us on the train.”

She nodded.

It felt like her heart was breaking.

“Komorebi.” He gripped her knees now. “You are not to blame for what Astra did.”

“I know. But in a way I am.”

“You’re not going to do this to yourself.” Kiyo stood and took her hands in his, pulling her with him. “No mourning. No self-recrimination. Astra is to blame for Ronan and for this and one day, you’ll mete out justice for it. But not today. Today I need to get you to safety. There are too many powerful people on the way to this city who could try to take you from me.”

Hearing the plea in his voice, Niamh threw off her guilt to focus on getting out of Tokyo.

For her mate’s peace of mind, but also to protect him too.

Plans to bring Astra to justice for the atrocities she’d committed would need to wait.

Determination hardened through Niamh as she followed Kiyo out of the room. If Niamh had to wait decades or a century or a millennium, she would. She had all the patience in the world.

But Astra would one day answer for what she’d done to Ronan, to this city, and to the people in it.38Four weeks later (late March)

Kamala rainforest, Phuket, ThailandNiamh’s scream of agony wrenched him out of sleep.

Kiyo flew up in bed, damp sheets clinging to his body. His eyes flew to his side and panic suffused him at the empty spot where his mate should be.

“I’m here.”

Her soft voice soothed him as he followed it and found her outside the bedroom, climbing out of the small pool attached to the tree house. Niamh loved the precariously positioned pool that dangled over the rainforest from their deck.

The sun blazed against her back through the thick trees as she crossed the balcony, water trickling down her long, bikini-clad body.

Still gripped by the terror of his dream, he wanted to haul her into the bed and prove to himself that she was alive and well and safe.

“Another nightmare?” Niamh asked, stopping to lean against the sliding door that closed the bedroom off from the deck.

Kiyo ran a hand through his hair, letting out a slow exhale. He didn’t need to answer. She already knew that it was. He’d been having the same nightmare since they left Tokyo. Memories of the night Sakura stuck iron in Niamh’s spine. Except the dream changed the memory at the end. After taking the iron out of her back and grappling with Astra for the pendant, Niamh didn’t win.

Astra twisted in her arms and drove an iron blade through Niamh’s heart.

And he launched out of sleep, adrenaline coursing through his body, until the reality of his mate sleeping at his side soothed him.

“They’ll go away eventually.” Niamh crossed the room to sit down on the bed. Magic tingled in the air along with a cloud of heat as she dried herself before pushing him back onto his pillow to snuggle into him.

Kiyo wrapped an arm around her, his fingers finding the scar on her spine and massaging it.

“It’ll just take time. It’s only been four weeks.”

Four weeks. It felt longer and shorter in equal measure.

By the time they arrived in Osaka, Bran had sent information that there would be a private plane waiting for them. The plane would log false passenger information and itinerary. Kiyo didn’t ask questions. A private plane with a false itinerary was the safest way for them to get out of Japan.

He’d been feeling grateful to the vampire—until they’d landed in Thailand.

In Phuket, to be exact.

Where a young Thai man awaited their arrival to drive them in his four-seater jungle buggy and left them in the middle of the rainforest next to their own jungle buggy. When he tried to contact the vampire for answers, he got a single text from him.

Look up. Tree house and buggy belong to Fionn. Consider this a honeymoon present. Enjoy. You lucky fucking dog.

In a sense, Bran and Fionn had forced Kiyo to take his first-ever vacation.

Whatever aggravation he felt about that had melted away because of Niamh. She had the wonder in her eyes again as their driver shot through the forest, and her excitement hit new levels when they looked up and glimpsed the building far above their heads. There was no way to get to it unless you were fae and could travel. Taking hold of his hand, Niamh traveled and then oohed and ahhed over what Kiyo had to admit was a pretty impressive tree house.