A Gift from the Goddess

Chapter Ninety–Three 

...What the hell is this? 

I should be dead. I know I should be. I‘d received a lethal blow to my shoulder with silver. No one could survive that. 

And yet... 

And yet I couldn‘t help but notice that, if I were dead, then the Abyss smelled oddly like a hospital room. A new renovation they must have added since the last time I visited. 

Everywhere in my body ached, everywhere felt... cold. Except for one place. My hand. My right hand felt warm compared to the rest of me. 

So, if I‘m not dead... then what sort of intervention had Selene done this time? Was this the same year or had she brought me back to an earlier time? 

Honestly, it wouldn‘t surprise me if she had just sent me on my way without even telling me. After all, I did try to kill her the last time we met face to face. That probably didn‘t instil a desire to catch up and chat. 

Though how many times could she do that without completely destroying herself? I‘d seen the way Selene looked after reviving me the first time... she‘d basically faded into nothing from exhaustion. Knowing what I knew now, I was pretty certain that she‘d already used up whatever she could spare. 

But if I was alive… didn‘t that mean I could warn the others? Tell them everything I‘d learnt? 

And with that thought, all the past events suddenly started to swarm at me inside. The things Thea had told me, the fighting, the pain... all of it. The weight of the memories finally hit me and I felt my face wincing under its brutal reminder. 

Cold. My hand abruptly felt colder now. As if whatever had been warming it just disappeared. 

“Aria. Are you awake?” 

It was a voice I was familiar with. 

And my breathing caught in my throat, relief instantly flooding me. 

So, I really was alive... and he was here. 

Despite all my failures, I‘d somehow been given my final wish after all. 

I slowly opened my eyes and turned to see Aleric by my bedside. 

I‘d never seen a sweeter sight. 

Only, he looked tired. His black, wavy hair out of place, appearing the same way as when he was woken u p too early. Though, all things considered, that didn‘t really surprise me. He‘d probably been out leading the search for Thea for however long I‘d been in here 

...But that would mean I was still in my own present time, lessening the chance of Selene being involved. 

Which then still begged the question... 

“...How am I alive...?” | asked, my voice barely louder than a whisper. 

He didn‘t look surprised or taken aback by my question. A reaction that told me he probably knew just as well as I did that my survival shouldn‘t have been possible. 

“I guess you could call it a medical miracle,” he answered. “One that you can thank your old silver collar for.” 

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Chapter Ninety Three 

“My... collar?” I asked, frowning. Maybe I really was dead as that would have made more sense than what he‘d just said. 

“The doctors are pretty confused too but everyone seems to agree that the collar is the most likely cause of your survival,” he said, “They think that, because you were exposed to silver all day, every day, for such an extended period of time, your body built up a sort of… natural resistance to the poisoning effects. Trace amounts must have been entering your system via the irritation it left on your skin.” 

When Elder Luke had once said that the effects of prolonged silver exposure were unknown, I don‘t think anyone would have predicted this. This was... completely unheard of. 

“I‘m immune… to silver?” 

“Silver ‘poisoning‘,” he corrected. “And, no, not entirely. Just a better resistance. I guess it‘s sort of like when people regularly subject themselves to low doses of poison if they deal with venomous animals. Makes the effects not as bad should they ever get bitten.” 

“I don‘t...,” | started but wasn‘t sure what to say. I was so confused… but at the same time, none of this seemed possible even if it were true. “I saw the blood… there was so much of it. Too much to survive.” 

“Don’t remind me,” he said, his eyes narrowing from the memory. “Honestly, I‘d never felt so sick in my entire life before when I saw you just lying there, lifeless as your blood embellished the walls and floor.” 

He then paused and took a deep breath before continuing. “…But, that being said, you managed to start healing before it became irreversible. In fact, by the time I arrived with the others, you‘d already stopped most of the worst bleeding on your own.” 

get the handcuffs off then. Resistance or not, I wouldn‘t have been able to use my natural accelerated healing had I not taken extreme measures to

understatement. Over the last few days, you‘ve undergone several surgeries and a blood transfusion to fix what your body couldn‘t do on its own to stabilise. You‘re

wall, completely in shock over everything he was

then.... 

because of

imprisoning me in silver, forcing me to suffer through the humiliation and burning for over a year, had become the very thing that had allowed me to live. If I still believed in

heard Aleric then softly chuckle under his breath, catching my attention to see he held a small smile.

little at seeing him do so; to see his smile.

like

not dead,” | reiterated.

“... Not dead.” 

things were perhaps beyond even Selene‘s interference. The chances of this

rest of

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feel that it had basically completely

was a lot of work to

I wanted to start working through everything I remembered before I forgot. Especially when the information included theories of,

her, the one to stall her for time. Otherwise I was sure she could have just meddled inside

she wasn‘t perfect. And her arrogance had given me more clues from just within a ten minute encounter alone than out of

going to be easy. In fact, if my theories were correct, it might not be possible at all for a while; not whilst I was recovering anyway.

wasn‘t all bad and I even felt a little satisfied. Because if I focused enough, I could still feel that nagging bond inside that used to be the place I mistook for my ‘past self‘. I might have let her in, allowing her to dig through, but it was also a two–way street. It meant that I could be certain of one, very important

that she would know I had survived... and she would be

our battle, somehow I‘d managed to dig my claws in enough to

a little alarmed when I started to suddenly move. “You

trying to sit up in bed but immediately hissed from the pain in my shoulder. I wanted to start work a s soon as possible. There was too

up,” I huffed,

looked less than pleased by this idea but probably assumed I was going to do it whether he helped me or not,

request when I first thought of it; asking someone to help me sit up. Only I

of just how close his body was as his arm wrapped around

my head right now, his face

picking up little details I probably wouldn‘t have normally noticed. Things like his calm breathing, the warmth seeping into my skin from

wondered

was about to pull away, but, before he could even take a step, 1 quickly

finding myself reaching out for the comfort his presence gave me. Having almost lost it forever made me now critically aware of just how much

hesitantly, unable to meet his eyes as I stared at my

to say before dying. So much I thought I‘d never

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Cluple Nuitty Ihree 

him and more. A debt I was never going to be

done to him. To hear from him that things hadn‘t

I was the dangerous, unpredictable

me, I wanted to know I hadn‘t ruined

I said, unsure how to say the words I

**‘ was what he‘d said to me not long ago. ‘*“Almost as though the world just

just him describing the effects of the mate bond. I knew all too well what it was like to want to hate someone under its influence; to be trapped by the emotions the bond forces you to feel. I‘d often found

wrong of me to

would want t o hate me... and it meant that, if I were to ask him for a straight answer right

.Broken.‘ 

...Insane.’ 

... Monster. 

as Thea‘s influence reared its ugly head inside me. A reminder to stop this chain

I still

topic for the time being. Something that would need to wait until ! could process all the information I‘d gathered and work on countering what

“Aria?” 

wearing off,” I lied, letting him

get up. I‘ll get a doctor.”

“That‘ll just knock me out. We both know it‘s more important to discuss what happened with Thea first.”

hesitated, probably realising I was right. This information could b e time–sensitive and who knew how long medication might

helpful,” he said, giving in to my request “There is only so much he remembers because he doesn‘t have any context for what you and Thea were

the lineages, or even Thea‘s involvement

worse. Before now, Thea wasn‘t able to touch me; or any of us, for that matter, directly. It was caused by some