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.”

PROMOTED CONTENT

A

feeling of smug giddiness rose inside me as I won the small

me Raven,” I

entered the bar before he

lot of people sitting close together having intimate conversations in low

would expect from

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

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

as

walked past, but none were

entire floor,

the hell was he? I kept walking, heading towards another small

when I finally

room itself, but veering off through a door to

held a

wasn’t going

staff weren’t looking, I slipped through the door and continued to follow his scent until it led me

for the most part, clearly not used very

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

he would have to know I could trace his scent, which was already unnatural

as I rounded the corner, everything seemed to

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

him

had been scratching

because he

him, within feet of being able to touch

a perfectly fitted suit, his dark brown hair

in every possible

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

moved forward as if to embrace me, but it was that very

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

quickly stopped himself as I took

a shiver to spread

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

and yet this guy was almost certifiable, acting a s though we were close

Was I missing something?

I managed to say, so

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

spoke to, only one person seemed to know of you.Something that they even admitted to not knowing prior to the charity

end up slaying at the event long enough to

were you looking for

then

do anything.What you’re experiencing is completely

said, cutting

stop them from being able to function…or work…or do anything.I tracked you down

anything if I wanted

that.I can’t

I pulled out my

did to me.Right

but he was proving to be stubborn,

or going back to my father empty-handed, the choice Was

“Woah…slow down,” he said.

take it easy fora

let him lull me

of holding him up at knifepoint; just enough to scare him into

that h e was also just as skilled, proving that back when we’d

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

weapon that looked awfully

it was definitely mine.He must have kept

“Calm down!” he yelled.

you need to just chill for

But I was angry.

felt before in m y entire

feelings bubbling inside that I wasn’t used to, all jumbling around confused with whatever he’d done

was angry at him, at my own new inability

my failures, at my situation… and I

b e losing both my

angry tears beginning to form

to hurt you,”

and we can go our separate

and proceeded to be on the defensive as

he’d been doing this sort

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

impressive and

not be as easy as

kept on attacking, aiming for areas that I thought he left

moved,

as quickly as I

speed that I