Bound by Forever - (True Immortality #3) Page 0,41

summation of the event.

Meghan O’Connor would pay for it.

A bing sounded above Niamh’s head.

The seat-belt sign was lit up.

Then the PA crackled. “Ladies and gentlemen, the captain has now switched on the seat-belt sign as we begin our descent. Please make sure any larger items, including laptops, are stowed in the overheard bins. Any smaller items can be stowed beneath the seat in front of you. Please stow away your tray tables and return your seats to the upright position. We hope you’ve had an enjoyable flight with us this morning and wish you a pleasant stay in Paris. And if you have a connecting flight, we wish you a safe onward journey. From all of us at Helm Airlines, thank you for flying with us and we hope to see you again soon.”

Niamh released a slow exhale. She felt twitchy and impatient to get off the plane now that she was so close to Paris. To being in the same city as Meghan.

When the fighting had started, Niamh remembered the witch coming at her. She’d used her magic to blast the girl out of the apartment window. Niamh had assumed that the descent, or rather the impact, had killed her.

But she’d survived.

Ronan hadn’t.

That just couldn’t be allowed.

Obviously Fate agreed with her by sending her the vision.

The hum of the plane’s engines grew louder as they descended toward Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport. The knots grew tighter and tighter in Niamh’s stomach. Vengeance was a nasty business, not something she’d ever thought her heart would hunger for.

But here she was.

Starving.

Inverness, Scotland

After leaving New York in 1960, Kiyo traveled. His first stop was Britain. After exploring England and Wales, he’d backpacked north and up through the highlands of Scotland. Even after he’d wandered mainland Europe for the next decade, Scotland stayed with him. Being more mountainous than the rest of the island, it reminded him a little of Japan.

Back in the ’60s, he’d climbed Ben Nevis. It was almost three times smaller than Mount Fuji, which Kiyo never had occasion to climb. Yet the mountain of his home was far from his mind standing at the top of Ben Nevis. All that had mattered was that he was alone up there in a way that finally made sense. Standing on a clear day, staring out at the majestic glory that stretched before him, the panoramic vistas conveyed a lonesome beauty that caused an ache in his chest for the first time in decades. The mountain peaks, the rolling valleys, the glistening, placid lochs, the startling greens and earthy browns and the harsh, rugged rock face. It reminded him there was still unspoiled places in the world. Places that made feeling alone no longer a joyless desert; that aloneness could offer its own bounty. Its own peace.

The contentment he found in the Highlands surprised Kiyo. After he left, the hunger for something that always seemed out of reach returned to plague him.

Over the years, Kiyo had traveled back to the Highlands of Scotland searching for that elusive serenity. The roads there, however, were busier now. Tourists descended in their masses at certain times of the year. But he could still find moments of tranquility standing on lonely, empty golden sands or mountain peaks during the tourist off-season.

If it had been for any other reason than chasing a fae woman who’d abandoned him, Kiyo would have been happy to arrive at Inverness Airport. The airport was surrounded by the Cairngorms and the Moray Firth. It was a sunny, wintry day, the water glistening a perfect blue in the distance.

Kiyo stood outside the entrance of the small airport, the duffle bag at his feet. The humans who passed gave him a wide berth while throwing him looks that veered between wariness, awe, and attraction.

He was used to it.

What he wasn’t used to was the unnerving impatience and urgency that thrummed in his blood.

An old Land Rover Defender rolled to a stop outside the airport in front of him and the hair on Kiyo’s arms rose before its driver even got out of the vehicle.

An alpha.

He pushed off the wall of the building and grabbed his duffle bag as the Alpha and chief of Pack/Clan MacLennan jumped out of the Defender and rounded the hood. His piercing gray gaze set stonily on Kiyo.

Kiyo would have known this was Conall MacLennan without feeling the impressive alpha energy emanating from the wolf. He was a huge male at around six foot six, made of solid muscle. A deep