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.

been long. Perhaps too long for an impatient man such as my father. I knew it would be punishable

had happened, simply just trying to get

about Kieran anymore. He didn’t exist

was only me vs… them.

presence, an entire species probably soon intending to hunt me down. Because if a war could span over fifty years because

Allison’s face still haunted me

said to myself in the confines of a dark office.

me from within the floorboard, promising to give me the very thing that had started all of this. What my father had been desperate

because of you. Perhaps if you’d never existed, I could have lived my life

my tongue. There was no pain because I was fine. Completely fine. Just… a

investing enough in

my father

could

dust. Yes… Miles was a smuggler, but at some point he must have switched sides. Probably working for someone who had it in their best interest to see my father finally

even if it meant losing his daughter. All to save

I was shuffling the papers back together, I did catch one thing. Something that wasn’t quite like everything else. It

written pencil notes around it, wondering if the passage pertained to an associate or partner in

that fact every day by my fortune; with my business

for as long as I could remember, my father had always been alone; both in business and in personal life. Never even so much as bringing a casual one-night stand over to the house, let alone ever speaking about a woman with such adoration;

knew of. Not the cold-hearted, business focused father who

Not Eric Reid.

folder of documents closed,

it to begin with, such a thing would get me in trouble. But I’d figured since I’d already broken every rule, that adding ‘snooping’ to the list wasn’t that bad.

it seemed I’d been wrong about that, if only for unexpected reasons. The

And I sighed.

only lead me

broken… evil… a mistake.

and got back into the car, throwing the documents on the passenger seat. My father could have them back and secure his business, just as he wanted. It was a testament to my loyalty,

as I threw them down that the juxtaposition of my life really

fell next to

out of curiosity at the time but then

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

two choices as they laid side

a book with a title

the front cover read. ‘A history of The Winter Mist and

Silver Lake’.

at least. I could only imagine the bias I would find inside upon reading. Though some information was better than

was I really going to chase down

millionth time. It felt as though I’d had a part of myself torn away when I’d left, tearing

My other half.

My… mate.

I lo-.

No.

wasn’t going down this

Rae or Rheyna… I was Raven.

for

exactly what

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…

A needed one.

brightly through, emanating from down the hallway. I

father was

be angry? Had he somehow discovered what I’d been up to