Bound by Forever (True Immortality #3) - S. Young Page 0,87

stop at a traffic light and looked at her, searching her face for something.

Niamh didn’t dare move, afraid any little thing would push him away. He didn’t make friendship comfortable, that was for certain. But Niamh couldn’t seem to stop wanting to try with him, anyway.

The lights changed and Kiyo turned to focus on the road again.

Disappointment filled her only to melt away as he began to speak.

“After Sofu abandoned me in Tokyo, I tried to survive the only way I could. I begged for food and fell in with some street urchins who taught me how to pick pockets. I hated it, but they kept me alive. It was only some weeks later when I was begging for food in the Kabuto-cho area that things changed. It was the business center of the city, where the bank was. While businessmen were more likely to kick you out of their way than give you yen, those who would give money were often more casually generous than could be found elsewhere. There were a few who handed over yen notes as if they didn’t even realize their value.

“That day I was begging, I was approached by a well-dressed woman. When we talked, she seemed surprised by how well-spoken and educated I was. It turned out she was the wife of a construction contractor. She gave me yen and told me to meet her back there the next day for more. So I did. And she kept her promise. This time she’d brought food as well as coin and asked me about my life. Assuming the truth of my illegitimacy would send her running, I lied and said my family had perished in a fire back in Osaka. That I’d come to Tokyo to make my fortune. She was a kindhearted woman and I hated lying to her, but I was trying to survive.”

“I understand,” Niamh said softly, hearing the self-rebuke in his voice. “You know I understand that. You did what you had to.”

Kiyo exhaled slowly and Niamh’s breath caught at the tenderness that suffused his face. “Her name was Ichika. Her husband was Yasahiro Watanabe. Theirs was a love match but their marriage had not been blessed with children of their own. When Ichika brought me home with her, I was sure Yasahiro would throw me out instantly. Instead he sat me down and we had a conversation. Whatever he saw in me, it was enough to extract his trust. He decided he would try to help me find work. A good position to suit my obviously good birth.

“But as I accompanied Yasahiro at his work, I took a genuine interest in the construction business. It pleased him. More than I think I ever knew then. Before we knew it, months and then years passed as I lived with them and worked as an apprentice for Yasahiro.”

“They sound like amazing people.”

“They were. But I couldn’t forget my mother or the men who destroyed her. I’d promised myself that I’d return to Osaka one day and wreak revenge on the men who brutalized and violated her.”

Niamh held her breath, feeling nervous for him, even though these events had already passed.

“Seven years later, I was nineteen and considered a man. I had a good job and while I wanted revenge for my mother, I was concerned about hurting my new family with my actions. So, I delayed it. And I worked my ass off for Yasahiro and endured Ichika’s many attempts to marry me to a respectable bride.”

Niamh smirked, imagining how much he’d have chafed at that.

“Yasahiro and I went on a fishing trip to the mountains to schmooze government officials into signing a contract with us. One of the men was a danna—the patron of a well-known geisha called Sora. What none of us knew then was that Sora, while taking money and gifts from her danna in exchange for being his exclusive mistress, was carrying on an affair with a young man. And he happened to be a very jealous werewolf called Kurai.”

“Holy shit.”

“Sora didn’t know, of course. That Kurai was a werewolf. I knew that when Kurai changed in front of us. She was as horrified and shocked as we were. I caught up with him a year after he attacked us and asked him why before I killed him. He wanted to kill Sora’s danna and when he heard we’d all be in the mountains, he thought it was the perfect chance to get away with it. But