Bound by Forever (True Immortality 3)

His cell vibrated in his pocket.

Val had replied. He’d hired Val, a local criminal with a reputation for keeping his mouth shut, to drop the car where he’d need it. There was a parking lot behind the club, used for its employees and those of the businesses in the surrounding buildings. Val had left the keys on top of the driver’s side tire.

With his exit strategy confirmed, he slid his cell back into the ass pocket of his jeans and pushed into the crowds. With his nose and ears on high alert, he scoured the throbbing space for the fae.

A whiff of familiar caramel caught his attention and his head snapped to the right.

There.

She stood in among the crowd as the humans jumped around her, fists pumping in the air, voices rising with the music as they sang along with the band.

Her base scent was the same as Fionn’s and his mate Rose. Rose’s and Fionn’s individual scents had joined, proclaiming their identity as true mates. The notion of true mates was ridiculous to Kiyo, but he couldn’t deny that such a thing existed—two souls fated to be tied to one another for all eternity.

It sounded like hell.

Niamh’s base scent held the same heady caramel sweetness as the fae couple, but it was overlaid with something spicy. Almost like cinnamon, but not quite.

It was such a distinct scent that it would make it easy to keep track of her from now on when she was in the vicinity.

Niamh had no apparent interest in the band.

Instead, she stared intently at something in the middle of the crowd.

Kiyo followed her gaze, searching … searching … and then he spotted what had her attention.

There was a man harassing a young woman in amongst the revelers, and no one seemed to be paying attention except Niamh. The girl kept trying to push his wandering hands off her body, but he was having none of it. He laughed like it was a joke.

Looking back at Niamh, Kiyo caught the hardness in her expression as a beam of light lit her face.

Fionn had explained that Niamh was psychic. That she’d spent most of her life following her visions. Is that what was happening here? Had Niamh seen something that brought her to this nightclub, to this girl and this man?

Moving toward the couple, Kiyo lifted his head and sniffed the air. They were definitely both human.

But if Niamh was here to stop something from happening, then it was his opportunity to divert her attention. A werewolf stalking a human would be of much more interest to her, no matter her visions. She’d probably even think he was the reason her visions had led her there.

Kiyo reached the struggling couple and took a small amount of pleasure in shoving the man off the girl with just enough strength to put him on his ass. The place was so packed, the prick took down a couple of people in his path. But Kiyo couldn’t be sorry.

Especially when the girl looked up at him with hero worship and interest in her dark eyes.

Well, this is going to be easy.

Her cheeks flushed prettily as Kiyo stared down at her. She was perfect for snaring Niamh in his trap.

The girl leaned onto her tiptoes and he bent his head toward her. Her lips brushed his ear as she said, “Spasibo.”

He nodded and lifted his head. “You’re welcome.”

She frowned.

He searched his memory for the little Russian he knew. “Pozhaluysta.”

Beaming, she grinned flirtatiously. Kiyo took hold of her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. He mimed taking an invisible drink with his free hand and raised a questioning eyebrow.

The girl lowered her lashes and nodded coyly.

Kiyo led her through the surging bodies. But not toward the bar at the back of the room. As he moved, he looked for a glowing exit sign. Discerning the green one that read ????? was it, he stalked toward it. He felt the girl wrap her other hand around his wrist and give a tug. Glancing over his shoulder at her, he found her frowning warily.

As he offered her a reassuring look, he tried not to appear triumphant as the smell of caramel and spice grew closer. His skin tingled with awareness, the hair rising on the nape of his neck.

Niamh was following them.

Gripping the girl’s hand tighter, he pulled her to the exit door, ignoring the barely there sting of her nails on his skin as she resisted. He yanked open the door and hauled her past him, thrusting her into the darkly lit hallway. Steep concrete stairs led down to a fire door.

The exit door slammed shut behind him and the girl backed away, her eyes round with fear.

Kiyo let the growl of the wolf rumble in his voice as he ordered, “Run.”

She might not have understood English, but she understood his command. She ran. Without hesitation.