A Gift from the Goddess

Book Two-Ch.# 37

“NO!” Kieran roared.

And right as the dagger pierced the surface of my shoulder, Daniel was promptly pushed off me.

“I said *don’t touch her*,” he growled.

The weight of his words fell over everyone in the room, and once again I experienced the tangible sway of his order.

“Kieran,” Daniel huffed out, unable to get back up to his feet. “She-.”

“No, enough! You’re hereby forbidden from moving until further notice,” Kieran said. ” That goes for you too Allison. Sit down. Now. And I don’t want to hear another word from either of you.”

Allison gritted her teeth but did as she was told.

“What… What is that?” I asked. “What did you do to them?”

Kieran looked defeated as he straightened back up, unable to meet my eyes. He simply stared at two people he held dear as they were trapped on the floor.

“An Alpha heir order,” he said. “It’ll only hold them long enough until a full ranked member arrives though.”

“Kieran-.”

“Leave… Rae,” he said quietly. “I can’t do anything else for you now.”

The pain in his voice was clear, an echo in it that stung me. I didn’t want to upset him further, and so, with one hand covering the shallow new wound to my shoulder, I hobbled back to my feet to grab the book and dagger.

“There’s a cupboard to your left which has an emergency hidden staircase inside it. Use that and follow it all the way down. It’ll take you to the car park outside safely without being seen.”

Just as he’d said, upon inspecting the cupboard, there was indeed a staircase inside. But as I stared into the dark passage ahead, I hesitated once more.

…This was the last time I might see him. Did I really want to leave things like this? With lies intended to push him away and a head full of questions?

“Kieran… I…,” I said, my voice trailing off.

So many things I wanted to say, to explain, to ask about. All of which would take too long to get through. And so, in the end, I settled for one thing.

Just one line.

“…I’m sorry,” I whispered.

And I slipped through the doorway without another word, beginning the descent down.

“This isn’t over, Rae,” he called out behind me. “I’ll find you. I promise.”

But I just wiped at the stray tear that had escaped my eye and kept walking.

There were a lot of promises that were made lately. Too many.

“Do yourself a favour for both our sakes, Kieran,” I said quietly. “…Forget about me. My survival might just rely on that very thing.”

I knew what awaited me now. The only remaining path left.

A path that would lead me to the one place I ever truly belonged.

Back into the shadow of my father.

But first… first I had a job to do.

that my absence had been long. Perhaps too long for an

I wasn’t quite ready to acknowledge everything that had happened, simply just trying to get through the day without breaking down. To keep

I couldn’t think about Kieran anymore. He didn’t exist as of

was only

days of the past. Now, I’d need to work even harder to hide my presence, an entire species probably soon intending to hunt me down. Because if a

face still haunted me every time I

you are…,” I said to myself in the confines of a

at me from within the floorboard, promising to give me the very thing that had started

existed, I could have lived my life in ignorance until death came for me. That sounds better than this… than now living with

no pain because I was fine. Completely fine. Just… a girl doing her job. And I pushed back the feelings threatening to break me.

not investing enough in security, but soon

my father

could

must have switched sides. Probably working for someone who had it in their best interest

to get back… even if it meant losing his daughter. All to save the

back together, I did catch one thing. Something that wasn’t quite like everything else. It looked almost like a journal entry in my father’s handwriting, one dated a few years

notes around it, wondering if the passage pertained to an associate or partner in crime but… but I wasn’t so

glory,’ it read. ‘What I have, I owe to her, and I am reminded of that fact every day by my fortune; with my business and my Raven. It is through her continuous instruction that I have loyally served

business and in personal life. Never even so much as bringing a casual one-night stand over to the

like the man I knew of. Not the cold-hearted, business focused father who I’d lived with for years.

Not Eric Reid.

I instantly snapped the folder of documents closed, no longer wanting

in trouble. But I’d figured since I’d already broken every rule, that adding ‘snooping’ to the list

about that, if only for unexpected reasons. The

And I sighed.

that would only lead me into situations I was better avoiding. Just like how chasing after Kieran had led me to the

broken… evil… a mistake.

teeth and got back into the car, throwing the documents on the passenger seat. My father could have them back and

I threw them down that the juxtaposition of my life

fell next to the book

the Ashwood Archives. One I’d picked up out of curiosity at the

path of opportunity for me to take, one that could possibly lead

choices as they laid side by side.

documents… or a book with a title topic I was slowly

Council of the Silver Mist’ the front cover

Silver Lake’.

least. I could only imagine the bias I would find inside upon reading. Though some information was better than nothing. Better than… being

chase down another search into who I

Kieran for the millionth time. It felt as though I’d had a part of myself torn away when

My other half.

My… mate.

I lo-.

No.

I wasn’t going down this

Rheyna… I

it was time for me to go

what I did.

of my home greeted me as I entered the house, the place quiet now within the late hour of the night. This was my longest time being away and it felt almost… safe being back here.

A needed one.

light shone brightly through, emanating from

was awake.

he be angry? Had he somehow