Bound by Forever (True Immortality #3) - S. Young Page 0,31

of this place. As beautiful as it is.”

“I’ve never been to Sweden,” the wolf muttered. “Traveled a lot but never Sweden.”

“Well, you can cross it off your bucket list. ‘Plummet into the Baltic Sea and swim to Sweden.’ Check!”

To her delight, Kiyo’s lips twitched. Just a little.

7

After Niamh programmed the GPS to find the nearest hotel, it took them just over an hour to reach it on the mainland of Sweden. Crossing the Ölandsbron Bridge from Öland to the mainland had been the only moment where the tension between Niamh and Kiyo was forgotten.

The sun had disappeared behind heavy, dark clouds, and the water on either side of them was like glass. Gray-blue sheets of stillness. There were hardly any other vehicles on the bridge, and for a moment it felt like they were on some lonely, safe corner of the planet. It was incredibly peaceful.

Kiyo enjoyed it for what it was. A moment of tranquility in amongst the chaos and danger.

He suspected Niamh appreciated it as well. Or maybe she just appreciated not having to interact with him for a while. Other than the bridge, the drive felt longer than an hour.

“… out of all of my incredible gifts, my soft emotions, as you call them, my kindness, my compassion, my love, are my greatest. Because without them, I am the darkest, most dangerous being you’ll ever meet. Be grateful I am who I am, Kiyo. For everyone’s sake.”

Her words echoed in his mind—more than that, his reaction to them.

He respected her, and it took a lot to gain his admiration.

More alarmingly, he wanted her.

Lust, Kiyo could deal with. He had a strong sexual appetite and no particular preference. His body reacted to all kinds of women, in all their varied glory. Sex was the one thing in this harsh existence that Kiyo could be thankful for. However, he never let his sexuality control him.

That was easy when you were just attracted to a body, a face.

The moment he’d seen Niamh, he reacted to her. She was beautiful. He was aware of her, as a male would be.

But it would never control him.

Being attracted to who she was as a person, to her mind, her heart … that was more concerning.

Kiyo had a job to do, and he couldn’t let softer emotions that hadn’t touched him in decades creep in. He had to keep her at bay, and if that meant pretending to have the moral high ground because of her talent for mind trickery, then so be it. She didn’t need to know he’d done the kind of wicked shit that made her look like Snow White in comparison.

This strange feeling toward her also meant he wasn’t going to push about her brother, even though her reaction was … damn, he didn’t even know what that was. He thought she was going to turn the entire SUV into an icicle. As much as he wanted to push, distance between them was best.

They’d crossed the bridge and were now on a highway flanked by trees when a lake appeared to their right. Kiyo glanced at the GPS. “We’re getting closer.”

Following the road around the lake, they turned right. They seemed to have hit the outskirts of town. It wasn’t much to look at it, especially on a gray day. Or at least that’s what he thought at first.

But then they turned left toward their hotel and the concrete road changed to wobbly cobbles and the buildings became older, quainter.

Each was painted in a different soft pastel. Cafés offered outside seating. An empty market square was probably filled with stalls and flowers during the summer. Bicycle racks upon bicycle racks suggested cycling was a popular form of transport here.

The road narrowed the farther they drove, the SUV handling the cobbles with ease.

“It’s pretty,” Niamh murmured.

Following the GPS, Kiyo took a left turn down another tight, cobbled road and followed it nearly to the end where the hotel was located.

The hotel wasn’t as pretty as its neighbors with its roughcast exterior but it had a Dutch roof that gave the building some interest. Noting the lack of available parking, Kiyo’s irritation spiked. He didn’t tire easily, but after what they’d been through and having not slept for days, he just wanted a moment to stop somewhere without aggravation. “Where the hell am I supposed to park?”

“Just park in front of the hotel. They might have valet.”

Niamh’s patient tone irritated him even more. She would be calm with her fae ability to