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."

inside me as I won

me Raven," I

bar before he could ask any further

far quieter than I’d expected.It was mostly a lot of people sitting close together

of atmosphere one would expect from

kind of place I personally liked to have a drink, but I was familiar with the

here today for that.I

his scent as it slowly became

the faces of every person I walked past, but none were of the man I met

entire floor, I was beginning

hell was he? I kept walking, heading towards another small group

when I finally

the room itself, but

a

wasn’t going to

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

space seemed pretty untouched for the most part, clearly

here of all places...? It was

I could trace his scent,

but, as

once again I found myself falling into that

hard to explain, but seeing him again made

inside that had been scratching away was finally

he

I was in front of him, within feet of being

met, he wore a perfectly fitted suit, his dark

in every

impossibly so.It took everything I had inside me to not just

instantly moved forward as if to embrace me, but it was that very same

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

as I took

almost relieved, and it caused a shiver to spread through me at the sound of

looking for you for days.Do you have any

one losing my mind, and yet this guy was almost certifiable, acting a

Was I missing something?

to say, so extremely confused by this turn of

cool down before I explained a few things to you, but it’s almost as if

I could contact you, but out of everyone I spoke to, only one person seemed to know of you.Something that they even

I didn’t end up slaying

the hell were you

this your grand scheme? Drug a girl then stalk her?

didn’t do anything.What you’re experiencing is completely

said, cutting

and instantly become infatuated.It doesn’t stop them from being able to function...or work...or do anything.I tracked you down

than anything if

can’t

yelled, and I pulled out

you did

a civil conversation but he was proving to be stubborn,

blood or going back

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

take it easy fora

lull me into

holding him up at knifepoint; just enough to scare him into taking me

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

could get my dagger anywhere near him, suddenly he was wielding one of his own as he deflected

weapon that looked

it was definitely mine.He must have

"Calm down!" he yelled.

everything but you need to just chill

But I was angry.

felt before

I wasn’t used to, all

at my own new inability

my failures, at my situation…

of going home, knowing I would b e losing both

so I swiped my dagger again, angry tears beginning to form at my eyes as

don’t have to hurt you,"

we can go

dagger again and proceeded to be

doing this sort of

who was anywhere

both impressive and concerning at the

not

attacking, aiming for areas that I thought he left

I moved, but nothing

moving as quickly as

I knew

are you! ?" I yelled in