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

me Raven," I

before he could

was mostly a lot of people sitting

sort of atmosphere one would expect from a

place I personally liked to have a drink, but I

today for that.I

his scent as it slowly became stronger the further

walked past, but none were of the man I

the entire floor, I was beginning to worry I’d walked past him

he? I kept walking, heading towards

that’s when I

not within the room itself, but veering off through a door to

a sign saying ‘Staff

that wasn’t

staff weren’t looking, I slipped through the door and

seemed pretty untouched for the

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

to know I could trace his scent,

in my head but, as I rounded the corner, everything seemed to

I found myself falling into that trance as [ met his expectant

but seeing him again made

been scratching

he

front of him, within feet of being able to

met, he wore a perfectly fitted

in every possible

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

soon as he caught my eye, he instantly moved forward as if to embrace me, but it

to fix this exact issue, one which was

himself as I took

almost relieved, and it caused a shiver to spread through me

days.Do you have

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

Was I missing something?

managed to say, so extremely confused by this

some time to cool down before I explained a few things to you, but

asked several different people about 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 anyone

the hell were you looking for

a girl then stalk

anything.What you’re experiencing is

said,

become infatuated.It doesn’t stop them from being able to function...or work...or do anything.I

it.I needed it more than anything if I

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

I yelled, and I pulled out

what you did to me.Right

hoping this would be a civil conversation but he

blood or going back to

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

take it easy

didn’t let him lull me into another trance,

knifepoint; just enough to scare him into

also just as skilled, proving that back when

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

weapon that looked awfully

it was definitely mine.He must have kept

"Calm down!" he yelled.

need to

But I was angry.

I’d ever felt before in m y entire

inside that I wasn’t used to,

was angry at him, at my

at my failures, at my situation…

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

dagger again, angry tears beginning to form at my eyes

have to hurt

fix me and we can go our separate

to be on the defensive as

been doing this sort of thing

who was anywhere near as skilled, if not

impressive and concerning at the

this might not be

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

I moved, but

was moving as quickly as I was at full

that I knew

?"