A Gift from the Goddess

With a thud, the dagger hit its mark perfectly Only… it wasn’t a threat like I was expecting. No lurking assailant, 

No, it was a tree. 

Shit 

Truthfully, as I went to retrieve my weapon, I couldn’t help but feel somewhat relieved. This wasn’t the streets, nor was this a mission requiring deadly force. I was at a goddamn party, What the hell had gotten into me tonight? 

It was if rational thoughts and behaviours were absent. What if the sound I’d heard was simply an animal who wandered in from the forest nearby? 

But… that feeling of something being wrong. It was rare for my gut to be incorrect. And right now, my instincts were still screaming at me that something was happening, that something was approaching… that someone was…. 

Here. 

Another sound of movement behind me instantly made me react, only now it was significantly closer. In fact, it was right behind me. I knew if it were only a patron from the event, they would have called out to me or made their presence known before approaching. But this? This was something else. This was as if someone was intentionally sneaking up on me. 

I pulled the dagger from the tree and wielded it immediately, spinning around to defend myself against whoever was there. Against whatever was going to attack. 

…And, instantly, it grabbed my wrist. 

Moving faster than I expected, they managed to pull my hand backwards, disarming my dagger in one swift movement. A technique that would need significant speed and skill to accomplish. After all, my own ability was unnatural. 

But there was no mistaking the situation now… He had me trapped. Disarmed, alone and basically pinned against the tree behind me. My only chance was that I could kick him in the stomach, create some space, assess the situation and 

And… 

And then the world seemed to just… stop. 

Piercing through the panic in my mind, the feeling of sparks erupting along my arm soon became impossible to ignore. Like pleasurable tingles dancing along my skin… stemming from where the man still held my wrist. In confuston, my eyes slowly trailed upwards, starting from where his hand still held me, up until, finally, I looked upon his face. Until I met his eyes. His dark eyes, staring into mine. Invoking an overwhelming sense of longing and familiarity inside me. As if I knew him… as if I always had… and as if he were…. 

As if he were…. Mine.’ 

The word was whispered inside my head. But it didn’t feel like it came from me. 

Mine… mine… mine….’ 

repeating, becoming stronger, almost as though it was trying to force itself past my lips. To speak aloud, for whatever reason. But I pushed

quite the moment I always

had been there just moments before. Now there was only him. Only his presence that overwhelmed and threatened to make me forget everything I knew.

‘Mine.’ 

was I doing again? Those lips of his drew my attention… Watching them with a newfound curiosity. Would they be soft? Or

‘Mine.’ 

hair…what would it feel like to touch? To run my

often pull knives out on strangers?” he

…That smile. 

breathe for a second. It was the most perfect smile I’d ever seen. If that

up to his eyes, finding their colour now different. No longer the dark orbs I’d first witnessed… but hazel in colour. A

ask, having not taken in anything

 “I said ‘do you often pull knives out on

immediately pulled myself out of my

from his grip and squeezed by the tree, making a foot or so

odd fascination, I couldn’t refute the facts of my current situation. One where I had stupidly let my guard down against someone who had stalked me from

he said, gently holding his hands up. The sentiment was partially lost though as one of those hands still

to scare

you often sneak up on vulnerable women without announcing yourself?”

that, a sound that made my body react accordingly. It was almost silky, coercing me to relax despite my resolve to

he

only ‘vulnerable person being attacked here is myself. I wasn’t the one pulling a dagger. You were. I guess I didn’t realise it was that kind

*Party.* Oh, fuck. 

that I took a moment to look at his attire and noticed the tailored suit he was wearing, one that was fitted perfectly to his body shape.

together what this meant. …That I’d just tried to kill a guest.

that I, myself, was meant to be leaving good impressions and working towards gaining information.

meant… I needed to get out of here. Hastily gathering up my dress in hand, I took several cautious steps away, never taking my eyes off him as I tested