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."

as I won the small victory,

can call me

before he could ask

was mostly a lot

would expect

not the kind of place I personally liked to have a drink, but I was familiar with

I wasn’t here today for that.I was here

catch his scent as it slowly

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

of the entire floor, I was beginning to worry

kept walking,

I

scent, not within the room itself, but veering off through

a sign

wasn’t going to stop

the door and continued to follow his scent until it led me into a

pretty untouched for the most

had though was why was he here of all places...? It was almost as if he knew I was tracking him...but that

I could trace his scent, which

questions were swimming in my head but, as I rounded the corner, everything seemed to just...slip

once again I found myself falling into that trance as [ met

was hard to explain, but seeing him again made

been

because he

him, within

we first met, he wore a

every possible

just

as if to embrace me, but it was that very same movement that made

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

stopped himself as I took a step back

he said, sounding almost relieved, and it caused a shiver to spread through me at the

been looking for you for days.Do you have any idea how

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

Was I missing something?

to say,

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

spoke to, only one person seemed to know

would have to be him since I didn’t end up slaying at the

you

a girl then stalk

you’re

said, cutting

become infatuated.It doesn’t stop them from being able to function...or work...or do anything.I tracked you down for the sole purpose of making

if I wanted to stay in my

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

and I pulled out my

you did to me.Right

he

between drawing blood or going back to my father empty-handed,

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

take it easy fora

me

him up at knifepoint; just enough to scare him into taking me seriously.I was quick and had training, so it should have been a piece of

h e was also just as skilled, proving

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

weapon that

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

"Calm down!" he yelled.

need to just chill

But I was angry.

I’d ever felt before

to, all jumbling around confused with whatever he’d done

him, at

failures, at my

I would b e losing both my father’s respect and my usefulness t o

beginning to form at my eyes as my desperation

to hurt you,"

we can

deflected the dagger again and proceeded to be on the defensive

as if he'd been doing this sort of thing

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

both impressive and concerning at

meant that this might not be as easy as

attacking, aiming for areas that I thought he left open, and yet he somehow managed

moved, but nothing seemed

moving as quickly

speed that I

?"