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."

rose inside me as I won the small victory, and I instantly started walking towards

can call me Raven," I called

entered the bar before he

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

would expect

I personally liked to have a drink,

I wasn’t here today for that.I was

scent as it slowly became stronger the

I walked past, but none

the time I’d done a lap of the entire

where the hell was he? I kept walking, heading towards

I finally

within the room itself, but veering

that held a sign saying

obviously that wasn’t going

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

space seemed pretty untouched for the most part, clearly not used

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

I could trace his scent, which was already

as I

I found myself falling into that trance

to explain, but seeing him again made me start to

had been

he was

in front of him, within feet of being able to touch

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

in every

impossibly so.It took everything I had inside me to not just immediately rush into his arms...though I couldn’t say the same

embrace me, but it was that

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

himself as I took a

and it caused a shiver to spread through me at the sound of his

you have any idea

one losing my mind, and yet this guy was almost certifiable, acting a s though we were

Was I missing something?

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

to give you some time to cool down before I explained a few things to you, but it’s almost as if you don’t exist," he

you, trying to find out how I could contact you, but out of everyone I spoke to, only one person seemed to know of you.Something that they even admitted to not

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

the hell were you looking for me?" I

scheme? Drug a girl then stalk her? Why are you

you’re experiencing is

I said, cutting him

function...or work...or do anything.I tracked you

it more than anything if I wanted

work like that.I can’t just

I pulled out

did to

this would be a civil conversation but he was proving to be stubborn, giving me excuses rather than

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

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

take it easy fora

let him lull me into

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

just as skilled, proving that

suddenly he was wielding one

that looked

fact, upon closer inspection, it was definitely mine.He

"Calm down!" he yelled.

explain everything but you need to just chill for a

But I was angry.

felt before in m y

I wasn’t used to, all jumbling

at him, at

at my situation… and

of going home, knowing I would b e losing both my father’s respect and my

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

to

me and we can go our separate

to be on the defensive as

as if he'd been doing this sort of thing his entire

it was the first time facing someone who was anywhere near

impressive and concerning at

not

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

and faster I moved, but nothing seemed

as quickly as I was at full

I knew

?" I yelled