Kiss of Vengeance (True Immortality 2)

“So … that brother and sister from the club. Are they a witch and warlock?”

Niamh and Ronan Farren. For the last few years, Fionn had followed the psychic and never gotten close enough to know her name. “No, Rose. Niamh is one of the fae-borne.”

Her stunned silence followed by her crestfallen expression made him frown. “What is it?”

“She’s practically family, right? I wish I’d known.”

“I don’t know if she can be trusted,” he lied. “I’ve been following her activities over the last few years, and several children have died after meeting with her.”

“How many are dead?”

Fionn hesitated, wondering how much he should tell her. He’d already omitted pivotal facts in the story, but that was so she wouldn’t draw the wrong conclusions. Or, the right ones.

Finally, he decided telling her the truth in this case wouldn’t hurt. In fact, it might push her even further into his confidence, fully understanding the danger she was in. “There are only three of you left. A girl was killed almost a decade ago when she was sixteen. Two boys were killed a few years after that within the space of a year. All by Eirik. Another fae-borne wasn’t killed—she was turned into a werewolf by her mate.”

“Uh … what?”

He’d done more talking in the last few hours than he had in his entire life. Fuck, it was exhausting. Still, for the good of his revenge … “Her name is Thea. A werewolf with remarkable tracking abilities was engaged to hunt her, but when he found her, they discovered they shared the mating bond. Rumor has it she was stabbed in the heart by iron but as she was dying, her mate bit her, and she turned.”

“I could get bit by a wolf and I’d no longer be fae? I thought you said a werewolf bite can kill us?”

It was difficult to know how much to tell this woman that would secure her trust but wouldn’t make her knowledge a problem for him and others.

“Fionn?”

“She was being hunted by the Blackwoods. Her pack lied and said she’d always been wolf, but they suspected it was a lie. If I give you this knowledge and they find evidence of the truth, they’ll start a war with Thea again.”

“I wouldn’t put someone who’s the equivalent of my sister in danger.”

He frowned. “You think of them as such? As siblings?”

“We’re cast from the same spell, right?”

“Aye, but you’re not related.”

“We’re bound in a way that’s more powerful than mere DNA. Do you know where she is?”

“It’s too dangerous to go to her.” To distract her from that notion, he continued, “There are legends about the mating bond but now I’m the only one left who knows whether they’re true. And I’m about to trust you with that truth. Don’t betray my trust.”

“I won’t. I promise.”

Only time would tell. Fionn wouldn’t hold his breath.

It had been a long time since he’d trusted someone with information about the fae. He was only divulging it to Rose because he needed her to trust him. “The truth is a fae cannot turn from just any vampire or werewolf bite. That’s not how vamps and wolves were made in the first place. Their fae mates made them. It can only be returned by their mate.”

“Wait … are you saying that if I found my mate and he was a vampire or werewolf, his bite could turn me into what he is?”

“Exactly.” He cut her a dark look. “Be careful with this information, Rose. Not because it’s likely you’ll ever find your mate here on Earth but because of the danger it poses to Thea.” Fionn might be a bastard who was luring Rose to her death, but there was no need for Thea to be dragged back into this war now that she was free of it. He’d never met the fae turned wolf, but if the stories about her were true, she was a rare breed, worthy of respect and deserving of peace.

“How is it not likely?”

“Mating bonds aren’t something that occur here. It happened for Thea because she’s fae.”

“I’m fae.”

“Yes.” But the likelihood of you being around long enough to find your mate is slim. “It’s a miracle she and Alpha MacLennan met. I don’t want you getting your hopes up.”

She snorted. “My hopes up? If you knew anything about me, Fionn, you’d know I’m more of the love ’em and leave ’em type, anyway.”

An image of Rose naked and riding atop him filled his mind before he could stop it. Her eyes dark with lust and desire would be an extraordinary thing to see. Heat pooled in his loins, and he shoved the thought straight back out.

What the fuck was that?

“You said Niamh can’t be trusted. Why?”

Niamh. Niamh Farren.

The thought of her cooled his hot blood.

Discombobulated by his wayward thoughts, he concentrated on Niamh.

When he was human, his clan name had been Ó Faracháin, the modern equivalent of which was Farren. As soon as Rose told him the name, his suspicions took root.

While they’d waited at the coffee shop at the station, Fionn had sent the names to Bran to see what he could find—his gut was telling him that the fucking Faerie Queen had made sure one of the fae children was Fionn’s bloody descendant. It would make sense that Niamh was the one he’d been obsessed with following. Until he’d found Rose.

“Fionn?”

Rose’s voice wrapped around his name like a gentle hand around his nape, drawing him out of his concerned thoughts.

“Why can’t she be trusted?”

“There’s no way of knowing if she’s leading enemies to the fae-borne to have them taken out. She’s psychic, Rose. It will be very hard to catch her because she sees her enemies coming. But if she doesn’t want that gate to open, she could make sure those who want you all dead do indeed find you. She’s the reason I found you.”

A frown puckered between Rose’s slim brows. The thought upset her.

Silence fell between them for a while, and Fionn found he couldn’t stop looking at her. There was something magnetic about Rose.

Fionn had a type. The woman he bedded all looked like Aoibhinn. Any sane man would do the opposite, yet nearly all his lovers had her red hair, full mouth, and full figure.

Rose was the opposite. Dark hair, pale skin, blue eyes, an athletic figure, small, perky tits, and her mouth wasn’t full and lush. It was an intriguing mouth, nonetheless. Her upper lip was slightly fuller than the lower, giving her an upside-down pout.

Rose looked up from staring thoughtfully at the table, and he felt like he’d been caught doing something he shouldn’t. She didn’t seem to be aware of his perusal.

“Why are you helping me?” she repeated.

“I already told you why.”

“And it was a very altruistic answer. I want the real answer.”

Fionn felt a hot glow in his chest. Admiration, perhaps. Respect, even.

Guilt too.

The guilt he squashed.

Centuries he’d waited for this. No one, and certainly not a slip of a woman like Rose, would get in his way.

“I told you: I won’t see you or the others killed for something that was done to you. I will help you, and the others when I find them, to control your powers so you can protect yourselves against those who would use you to open the gate. But make no mistake, Rose,” he continued his lie, “if you or the other two try to open the gate, I’ll be there to stop you.”

It was a gamble to threaten her.

Yet it did the trick.

He watched her relax in her seat as if she understood him now.

“Fionn,” she said, her voice soft. “I would never do that. I want to protect this world too. Tell me what to do.”

Her sincerity pierced the hardness around his heart when sincerity in others usually elicited nothing but his disdain.

Fuck, he thought regretfully, why did it have to be her?

First class came with a meal, and Rose descended upon the pasta dish with relish. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was. Between bites, she

watched Fionn eat, a little surprised to see that he needed to. She was beginning to think of Fionn as a godlike being who didn’t need to deal with basic human needs such as eating and drinking.

And using the restroom.

But he did.