A Gift from the Goddess

Chapter 61

Chapter Sixty–One 

“...What did you just say?” I asked, my voice thick with disbelief. 

“I said they‘ve declared war,” Alexander repeated. “They‘ve said that if we don‘t release Caius before sunset tomorrow that they will officially announce their intent to bring him home by force.” 

Less than twenty–four hours. I had less than twenty–four hours to free him or we would be initiating a war. 

...And it would be my fault. 

“It‘s not enough time,” I whispered, the panic rising inside me once more. “...It‘s not enough time... It‘s not enough time.” 

I took a step backwards as my mind continued to whirl. This was it. Everything had been leading to this moment and it was finally here. 

“Is there anything else I need to know?” Aleric asked him. 

Alexander frowned as if he‘d expected him to have a different reaction.“... No? Just that we received a letter from the Silver Lake just now... —” 

“You can go then,” Aleric interrupted. “Thank you for telling me as soon as possible.” 

“What? ....Uh, yeah, okay...,” Alexander said, confused. 

He took a few steps backwards, still unsure as to why he‘d been dismissed so quickly, before finally turning around to leave. 

As soon as Alexander was out of sight, Aleric immediately turned his attention to me. 

Everything was spinning, making it hard to focus. What could I possibly do to stop this now? Maybe confronting Thea myself and trying to get her to confess again? But no... that energy inside me had become disconnected, like a flickering light whenever I tried to grasp it. I remembered how sick it made m e last time and didn‘t think I could force anyone to follow my orders right now even if I wanted to. A parto fme knew that doing so would be reckless... potentially deadly. 

“Aria,” Aleric said, his voice cutting through my thoughts. It was enough to make me look up to him, meeting his gaze directly. “Breathe. In and out.” 

As he said the words, I realised my breathing had become shallow, my concentration on thinking taking priority. Slowly, I breathed in deeply and back out again. 

“You‘ve got that same expression that worries me,” he said. “The one where I leave you alone to calm down, only to find out you’re acting completely insane a few days later. We don‘t have time for that anymore. I need smart Aria right now, not self–destructive Aria.” 

He was right, I needed to slow down and think properly. Confronting Thea myself was far too risky and 

almost certainly wouldn‘t work out in my favour. 

And so, I closed my eyes, my breathing still shaky, but I did my best to focus. 

I went over it all in my head, thinking through the different possibilities, the different outcomes... but with the limited time we had left, there wasn‘t much we could do. 

Shaking my head, I frowned. “There‘s no time, Aleric... our best hope is that Jonathan accidentally reveals himself tomorrow or Thea slips up.” 

“... That‘s cutting it pretty close,” he said. 

“I know... which is why I have one more solution as a backup plan that is almost guaranteed to work.” 

He crossed his arms, his brow furrowed. “If it‘s quaranteed then why don‘t we just implement that one first instead?” 

I bit my lip, unsure if I should tell him. I already knew what his reaction would be. 

“Well... because..,” I started hesitantly. 

His frown deepened for a second before finally, he understood what I meant without me even needing to finish. I could see the recognition on his face when he realised what I was planning. 

“No, no way,” he said, a tone of finality in his words. “You‘re not doing that.” 

“Aleric, I don‘t have a choice.” 

“You‘re throwing your life away,” he argued. “Everything you‘ve worked towards, everything you‘ve fought for. You‘re going to give it up for him?” 

“I‘m not giving it up for him... I‘m giving it up for the pack. Both packs. I‘m giving it up to save innocent people.” 

his head. “Aria,

I‘m going to confess. There is no other way. The side effects of

too many wars already and knew too well the destruction they left behind. This time the cause wasn‘t even for power or territory... it was over releasing an innocent man. A man accused

Winter Mist, and I know you do... you‘d let me do this. Please don‘t ask me to stand by and let

save you from that, Aria. You know as

for the rest of my life before killing me. He likes the

You‘ll

reason. “That‘s at least a more manageable problem. One thing at a time here. First, I‘ll call an emergency meeting scheduled for just after lunch tomorrow. In the morning before that, we‘ll see how Jonathan goes with Thea then… well… worst–case scenario, I‘ll be using

he said flatly.

with the devout follower backlash or is this about something else? is it Cai? Do you really hate him that much? I know you guys don‘t get along

whatever.” He sighed in frustration, giving up on whatever he wanted to

were you going

“Nothing. Forget it.” 

Chapter Sixty–One 

irritation. “I say something or do something and

making smart decisions and knowing when some things are better left unsaid. Would you like me to teach

usurp you one day? Gather followers of the Goddess around me and take over what you feel you‘re entitled to? Let me give you

just pick and choose which title you want whenever it

right, I had overstepped that line. Instead, a moment of icy silence hung between us,

running a hand through his dark wavy hair. “Just... do what you think is right, Aria. We‘ll deal with whatever happens after when we

I knew that. We had burnt ourselves out with this investigation the last few months, spreading our free time too thin with all the additional work it brought us. It was no surprise really that we were both now in each other‘s faces the second that war was finally at our doorstep. It was a cocktail for

seemed off, I had to give him credit where it was due. If it hadn‘t been for his support over these last few months, I would have

it was now just as much Aleric‘s choice as it was mine since it was technically his life on the line as well. He‘d lied about my involvement and had been helping me during all of this mess. If he was

too,” I mumbled. “It‘s not like I want to do this, Aleric. Just... trust me. You‘ll have my

eyes. “Aria... that‘s not... Yep. Okay, sure.

okay,” I said with a small smile. “Maybe we‘ll

“Hopefully.” 

he looked as though he wasn‘t exactly pleased with the outcome, but I was happy that he seemed to be on board at least for

towards the car. “I‘ll drop

you going?” he asked, starting to

Chapter Sixty One 

I needed to go next. Only it wasn‘t somewhere I wanted to

to go prepare for the worst–case scenario,” I replied.

that, I found myself walking down a cold hallway, my feet leaving an echo as I went. I‘d come here frequently enough that I was now familiar

the last but my respect for him had remained. Those last moments he‘d gifted me with my

me, inclining

in acknowledgement. “James. How is the

“Same as always.” 

instead opened

familiar gold ones staring right back at me. He was seated at a small

I couldn‘t. Not here, not today, and definitely

how are you?” I asked stiffly.

even once since coming here but I knew it had to be

“It‘s good to see

almost made me lose my composure. I could see in his eyes what he was really telling me and it only

tried to

but, seeing him now, I couldn‘t bring myself to do it. He would know what that meant, what two paths would potentially

and make sure you‘re still hanging in there,” I

“Can‘t complain. Since being upgraded to the larger room it at least feels a little less... prison –y. Kind of feels more like home arrest now… if

slightly but I couldn‘t bring myself to give him a smile

time, neither of us knowing what to say. I couldn‘t speak freely with him and yet there was so much I wanted to speak about. It was torture. He was right there in front of

silently. James was at the door within listening range but

Cai couldn‘t hear me, I hoped desperately that he saw just how sincerely I meant that. How much weight I really meant

looked at me with concern, as if he was sensing exactly what I was feeling, and inside I could feel that pit of guilt clench. Everything was becoming too much.

the strength for this anymore. I felt overwhelmed, like I couldn‘t breathe. “I should be

to stand up when his hand suddenly shot out, clasping my

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