A Gift from the Goddess

The plan was simple; Track down Kieran and demand he fix whatever he did to me.

With Noah tied up and locked inside a cupboard, I would head towards the hotel which had been listed i n Victor Lycroft’s information folder.

With any luck, his son had the same taste in accommodation.

Once I found him and got my answers, I’d then just have him undo the effects before going back to Noah t o finish the job.I'd complete my mission tonight and get back home without any issues.

As a result, Father would begin to trust me again and Gavin wouldn’t need to drag me back into the basement.

Everyone will be happy.

Well...except probably Noah.He’d be dead.

But that was unfortunately just the way it had to be.

‘C'est la vie’ some would say.Now to just pray that nothing went wrong.I hailed a taxi and gave the driver directions to the hotel, doing my best to make my clothes seem more casual on the way over.

There wasn’t much I could do but I worked with what I had.

By the time I arrived, there was nothing on me that would stand out too much in a public setting.

Upon stepping out of the car though, I found the hotel was surprisingly large.

The kind of place only the very wealthy could afford which, given he was the son of a literal mayor, I guess that made sense.

Though for a small town I’d never heard of before, they sure seemed to have the cash to spare.

Whilst this was an interesting thing to note, it unfortunately meant that sneaking in was going to be difficult.

The place would have security cameras and staff walking around everywhere.

So how was I meant to...And then I smelt it.

That intoxicating scent that I could recall so vividly now.

The one belonging to Kieran.

He was here or, at least, he’d been here sometime recently.I would just need to follow it and hopefully scope out the area before entering his room.

But the scent didn’t lead me towards the elevator as I expected.

No, it led me to the hotel’s bar area.

A place where far too many people would be around to witness.

Certainly not an ideal development in this plan.

"Apologies, madam," a man at the entrance said, holding a hand out to pause me.

"I just need to quickly confirm your name and room number, or the room number of the person you're here to see." I stared at him blankly, confused.

This hotel was apparently far more exclusive than I’d realised.

However, I’d had to deal with far worse obstacles than this before.

"Oh! Is that so?" I asked innocently.

"That’s a little awkward...You see, I was sent here to surprise Mr Lycroft but no one told me his room number.I guess i t was just a mix-up.Isn’t there any way I could still g o inside? Just this once?"

He looked uncertain and taken a little off guard.

This wasn’t the kind of job where you’d want to accidentally insult the wrong influential person.

"Oh ...Well I suppose I could quickly go in and find him to confirm.Mr Lycroft you said?"

He took a step away as if to enter, but I knew if he did that and Kieran told them to not let me in, then this whole plan would become messy.

"That won’t do," I said a little too quickly.

I then walked over to gently touch his arm.

"As mentioned, it’s meant to be a surprise.We haven’t seen each other in the longest time and his father, Victor, told m e Kieran was in town."

"Madam...we have precautions in place to ensure the safety and privacy of our gu—."

"The whole family will be so disappointed if it’s ruined.We’ve been planning this for a while now.I know Victor likes to come here regularly when he’s here for business.It would be a shame if this one unpleasant experience tarnished that...Especially if I have to call the family so late for something so petty "

Immediately, he became flustered, but I didn’t give him any more time to process the situation.

After all, bad decisions were always made under pressure.

"Please...," I repeated, giving him my best smile.

And it only took a few more seconds before, finally, h e cracked.

"Okay...very well.I’ll just need your name for the record and you can head on inside."

I won the small victory, and I instantly started walking

call me Raven," I called

the bar before he could

was mostly a lot of people sitting

sort of atmosphere one would expect from

personally liked to have a drink, but I was familiar with the vibe

today for that.I was here to find

right now, I could still catch his scent as it slowly

walked past, but none were of the

the time I’d done a lap of the entire floor, I was beginning to worry I’d walked past him

I kept walking, heading

when I finally

within the room itself, but veering off through a door

a

wasn’t going to stop

certain all the servers and staff weren’t looking, I slipped through the

pretty untouched for the most part, clearly not used very

here of all places...? It was almost as

I could trace his scent, which

as

found myself falling into that trance as [ met his

to explain, but seeing him

been scratching

he

within

first met, he wore a perfectly fitted suit, his dark brown hair

in every

inside me to not just immediately

caught my eye, he instantly moved forward as if to embrace me, but it was that very same movement that made me

was to fix this exact issue, one which was causing me to feel this way about

quickly stopped himself as I took a step

almost relieved, and it caused a shiver

been looking for you for days.Do you

I was thinking that I was the one losing my mind, and yet this guy was almost certifiable, acting a s though

Was I missing something?

all I managed to say, so extremely

I explained a few things to you, but it’s

could contact you, but out of everyone I spoke to, only one person seemed to know of

to be him since I didn’t end up slaying at the event long enough to meet anyone

you

this your grand scheme? Drug a girl then stalk her? Why are you even

you’re experiencing is

I said, cutting him

able to function...or work...or

I needed it.I needed it more than anything if I wanted to stay in my father’s

doesn’t work like that.I can’t just

I pulled out my

you did to

a civil conversation but he was proving to be stubborn, giving me

was between drawing blood or going back to my father

"Woah...slow down," he said.

it easy

I didn’t let him lull me into another trance, choosing to act

to scare him into taking me

also just as skilled, proving that back when we’d met

him, suddenly he was wielding one of his own as

that looked awfully

closer inspection, it was definitely mine.He must have kept it this whole

"Calm down!" he yelled.

explain everything but you need to just chill for a

But I was angry.

before in

inside that I wasn’t used to, all

angry at him, at my

at my

I would b e losing both my father’s respect and my

beginning to form at my

don’t have to hurt you,"

and we can

deflected the dagger again and proceeded to

he'd been doing this sort of

the first time facing someone who was anywhere near as skilled, if not more so, than

and

this might not be as easy as

left open, and yet he somehow managed to

faster I moved, but nothing seemed

he was moving as quickly as I was at full

I

are you! ?" I yelled