A Gift from the Goddess novel Chapter 120

Over the next few days, I found myself feeling anxious.

Under the constant watchful eye of both my father and Gavin, I continued to play along with my usual daily routine.

Acting as if nothing was amiss.

Doing all the training that was asked of me.

But, inside, I was thinking back to that keycard.

The one I’d hidden under my mattress.

Waiting for exactly the right moment for when I’d be able to use it.

...A moment I found finally presented itself on the night of the third day.

With my father expected to be staying overnight elsewhere for a late meeting and Gavin only working until seven o’clock, I saw an opportunity to take advantage of the soon-to-be quiet house.

And I devised a plan to leave as soon as the sky grew dark.

A few hours later, I was slowly scaling to the ground from my bedroom window.

This being something I did with ease and without being seen.

And though I never thought to use my abilities to go behind my father’s back, I certainly couldn't deny that it came in handy.

Soon, before much time had passed at all, I found myself facing the door I’d been thinking of so incessantly.

The door I’d been wondering about every day, contemplating all of the things I could possibly discover once I entered through it.

A door that might just possibly change my life forever.

And I stared at it.

...And stared.

......And stared.

And I kept staring, even while my hand reached out several times to knock, failing every time to go through with it.

..I’d been so certain in my decision and come all this way, only to—.

But then, suddenly, the door opened in front of me.

"_.Are you just going to stand out there all night?" came a voice from inside.

It was his voice.I recognised it well now.

"I ah...," I started, feeling a little awkward for being caught.

"I’m sorry.I just...I—."

"It’s okay.No need to be sorry," he said, his face then appearing from the other side of the door.

Instantly, that same effect started to hit me, a reassurance spreading throughout as his presence held me.

"I get it.If you need more time to think, I can just leave this open.I’m not pressuring you to “

 "No!" I quickly blurted out.

"No, it’s okay.Everything is okay...I’m ready."

I came here with determination to get answers.I couldn’t back out now.

Whatever happened tonight, at least I could say that I tried.

My mistake would only lie in wanting to hope for a better life.

"Okay...well, come on in," he said.

I was ready to step through the door but was stopped a s he held a hand out to me.

Just as he had done so once before.

However, the last time he’d done that, I had been too overwhelmed to reciprocate.

Too many thoughts and questions holding me back, so unsure of everything that had been happening at the time.

Now, when I looked at his outstretched hand, I sawa possible beginning.

"T just need you to trust me," he had said to me that day.

Well, I couldn’t be sure if I was ready for that just yet, but I was at least willing to believe.

Believe that there was a chance of this being real...if only for a moment...And so I cautiously reached out...hesitating once or twice as I moved...before, finally, those same sparks tingled along my skin in greeting upon contact.

"I'm really glad you came back, Raven," he said, his voice low and eyes so intense.

And, instantly, I felt as my cheeks began to burn ever s o slightly.

..Clearly, I would need to be careful in more ways than one around him.I could see how easy it would be to become distracted from the mission at hand.

"This doesn’t mean I trust you," I clarified.

"And I… I'd like some sort of proof.I’m risking a lot by coming here and I feel it’s only fair that you prove you are what you say you are."

He gently pulled me forward through the front door and closed it behind me, his gaze never leaving mine.

From where I stood, he towered over me, something that I became painfully aware of as I became trapped between him and the exit.

"_..I think I can manage that," he said.

Now that we were completely alone, the way he looked at me only intensified.

As if he were somehow devouring me with his eyes.

Eyes that I could have sworn appeared darker for a split second.

Or maybe it was just the lighting.

"Make yourself at home."

He finally stepped back, releasing me, and quickly I walked around him into the living room.

Desperately trying not to let myself become too comfortable around him.

Inside, the room was huge.

As I'd suspected the other day, the place was definitely some sort of penthouse.

Honestly, it felt larger than some people’s houses in here.

Room enough to host an elaborate party without feeling even remotely cramped.

"I would normally advise against doing anything like this indoors but...well, the city isn’t exactly an ideal place to do something where people might see," he said as he walked behind me.

"We’ll just have to make do with the space we have here."

Space? Space for what? But as I turned to look at him, I had to fight the urge t o just spin right back around again.

Because he stood to the side as he watched me, slowly starting the process of unbuttoning his shirt.

"What are you doing?" I yelled in surprise, unable to stop myself from looking.

He didn’t seem phased in any way though, his lip twitching into a smile.

"It’s my favorite shirt," he said, as if it were obvious.

"I don’t want it to get ruined."

My eyes caught sight of his chest as he continued unbuttoning, his actions undeterred from my cries in protest.

The skin that was revealed seemed moulded around perfectly sculpted muscles underneath.

A sight I never would have expected to be hiding behind his shirt.

Sure, I knew he was strong...but this? I swallowed and quickly tried to refocus my thoughts.

"_..Ruined?" I asked feebly.

"Yeah...for the shift?" he said, almost a little confused.

"You asked me to prove we were the same, remember?"

Oh.

Right.

But, wait...

he wasn’t going to do that in here, was he? And my mind immediately recalled the massacres I would wake up to post-change.

"Isn’t that...dangerous?" I quickly asked.

"Do I need to lock you inside a room?"

This immediately made him laugh, much to my embarrassment.I was here for answers.

Right now, I could only make assumptions based on the knowledge I had.

And that knowledge...it wasn’t pleasant.

I glared at the ground, becoming lost in thought over my prior experiences.

So lost that I didn’t even notice when he appeared right in front of me.

And, instantly, a shiver ran through me involuntarily.

"Raven," he said quietly, drawing in my attention.

"I promise you, there is absolutely nothing in this world that could ever make me hurt you.I am the last person you will ever need to worry about."

And a part of me wanted so badly to believe him.

Before I could respond though, he moved past me to start pushing couches and other pieces of furniture out the way, clearing an area in the middle.

By the time he was done, there was a semi-large open space i n which he stood looking at me expectantly.

"Are you ready?" he asked.