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 the small victory, and I instantly started walking towards the

call me

I entered the bar before

it was far quieter than I’d expected.It was mostly a lot

would expect from a

I personally liked to have a drink,

for that.I was here to find

now, I could still catch his scent as it slowly became stronger

carefully, screening the faces of every person I walked past, but none were of the

the time I’d done a lap of the entire floor, I was beginning to

I kept walking, heading

that’s when I finally found

within the room itself, but veering off through a

a sign saying ‘Staff

wasn’t going to

I was certain all the servers and staff weren’t looking, I slipped through the door and continued to follow his scent until

seemed pretty untouched for the most part, clearly not used

all places...? It was almost as if he knew

to know I could trace his scent,

questions were swimming in my head but, as I rounded the corner, everything seemed

again I found myself falling into that trance as

to explain, but seeing him again

been scratching away

because he

of him, within

a perfectly fitted suit, his

in every possible

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

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

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

stopped himself as I took a step

caused a shiver

you for days.Do you have any idea how

I was thinking that I was the one losing my mind, and yet this guy was

Was I missing something?

 "What…? " was all I managed to say, so extremely confused by this

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

you, trying to find out how I could contact you, but out of everyone I spoke to, only one

I didn’t end up slaying at the event long enough to meet

the hell were you looking

grand scheme? Drug a girl then stalk her? Why

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

I said, cutting him

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

more than anything if I wanted to stay in my

it doesn’t work like that.I can’t just undo it.It has to

I pulled out

what you did

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

it was between drawing blood or going back to my father empty-handed, the choice Was

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

take it easy

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

charged towards him with the intent of holding him up at knifepoint; just enough to scare him into taking me seriously.I was quick and had

e was also just as skilled, proving that

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

weapon that looked awfully

closer inspection, it was definitely mine.He must have

"Calm down!" he yelled.

explain everything but you need to

But I was angry.

than I’d ever felt before in m

many feelings bubbling inside that I wasn’t used to, all jumbling around confused

at my own new inability

at my

losing both my father’s respect and

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

to hurt

and we can

the dagger again and proceeded to be on the defensive as

as if he'd been doing this sort of

the first time facing someone who was anywhere near

both impressive and concerning at

might not be as easy as I’d

that I thought he left open, and yet he somehow managed to defend

faster I moved, but

was moving as quickly as I was

speed that I

are you! ?"