Bound by Forever - (True Immortality #3) Page 0,134

of the events of the night before, never taking his eyes off Niamh.

She needed him to anchor her to his heart, a place that held no condemnation toward her.

Technically, she knew she wasn’t to blame for what Astra had done. But with the knowledge hanging over her head that Ronan’s death had been intentional just to get to Niamh … it was hard not to succumb to overwhelming guilt. Especially now. There was no getting around the fact that Astra had destroyed nearly an entire ward to keep Niamh’s identity a secret, just as she’d destroyed Ronan to make Niamh more vulnerable to her.

“Jesus Christ,” Bran bit out when Kiyo was done. “Well, that explains much. Before Shinjuku was blown to bits, I was alerted to high magical energy use in Tokyo. And so was every other fucker paying attention. Including the Blackwoods. I guess that was you, Niamh, when you were fighting Astra.”

Niamh sighed wearily, slumping onto the bed. “I guess so.”

“The Blackwoods have ties to the Yamamoto Coven and they’ve called in a favor. They’re watching the airports and stations in and out of Tokyo. On top of that, while the humans think this is a terrorist attack, the supes can feel the epic fucking magical signature coming off the explosions. The coven knows this is supernatural. As does the East Asian Council. They’re on their way to investigate.” Bran referred to the council of witches and warlocks who acted as a governing and policing body against dark magic users.

“It was definitely Astra, then.” Kiyo cursed under his breath.

“Yeah, but Niamh might get confused for the evil shrew, so I’m thinking you need to get your arse out of there—now.”

“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 Kankū 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.

38

Four weeks later (late March)

Kamala rainforest, Phuket, Thailand

Niamh’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