A Gift from the Goddess
Chapter 92

Chapter Ninety-Two

"My last words?” I asked, my breathing heavy. “Yeah... I guess I have something to say.”

Or at least, I have something to do.

“Fuck you,” I spat.

And with that, I grabbed the blade firmly within my one good hand and pushed it backwards withall of my strength in one quick movement. Strong enough for it to fly right into Thea's face, sendingher straight to the ground.

I waited a moment to make sure she was down before proceeding to throw the sword into a corneras far away as possible. With two injured hands, it was impossible to wield it so removing it from thefield entirely was better.

I didn’t waste time after that though. Somehow, even though I was still weak, I then slowly managedto get back on my feet. I had to use the wall to support me, pressing against it until I could stand onmy own unsteady legs.

However, my legs were probably the least of my current issues. After all, with two severely damagedhands and a sword wound to my shoulder, the condition of my body was already terrible.

Despite my grim situation though, I was thankful for one thing at least. Thankful that she hadn'tanticipated my attack. I'd picked up on the fact that she was acting as though she“d already won.Her grip had been loose, barely even trying to hold it steady against my chest, and that had costher. A mistake born from her over-confidence.

“You bitch,” she yelled, getting back to her feet.

But I didn't wait

Immediately, I stepped forward and kicked her directly in the chest with all my strength, sending herflying right into the opposite wall.

..And everything instantly swayed around me. As if the walls were living creatures.

I wanted to throw up.

FOCUS

Before I could fall down, I quickly shot my leg out to the side and steadied myself, allowing me ashort moment to balance again.

“You think that will be enough to hurt me?” I heard her say from somewhere in front of me.

And with that, a blow was then suddenly dealt to my face, stinging pain replacing where her handhad just been... and, before I knew what was really happening, the ground looked a lot closer than Iremembered it being.

I reached out with my arm, grabbing for the wall desperately, and thankfully prevented myself fromcompletely falling down at the very last second.

“You think a child like you is worthy of such a thing?” she continued.

..And it was followed by yet another blow. This time it was a kick to my ribs that forced all the airout of my lungs... and a metallic taste to fill my mouth.

“t's a good plan... but you need to adapt better," I suddenly heard Aleric’s voice say in my head.They were the words he’d said to me the day we were sparring in the gym, an echo of a distantmemory now.

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*You can't expect the other person to just stand there and not counter it. You need to think aheadmore. Visualise how your opponent will move."**

But that was easier said than done when it was already taking all of my energy just to not pass out. Icould forget about using any of my abilities to sense her moves right now. I would be lucky if I justsomehow managed to survive the next few minutes alone.

Though I couldn't help but think it was a little ironic. How, of all times to recall that memory, I wasremembering that day in the gym right now. Because, just like how Aleric had been during thatpractice fight, I now, too, didn’t have use of my hands anymore. With one dislocated thumb andanother with slices embedded into it from the sword blade, it was almost as if the roles werereversed. Though, obviously, I would rather my hands be handcuffed behind my back as opposed tomy current painful situation

.. But maybe that was the exact reason I had dredged up the memory.

Just a little longer. I wanted to survive... for just a little longer.

And so I pushed myself off the wall, immediately turning my body as I saw her move in for anotherhit, and narrowly managed to dodge her attack. Once again, it seemed she had underestimated meseverely and was surprised by my quick evasion. In fact, she had underestimated me so much thatshe didn’t even expect me to use her own momentum against her, kicking her leg out from underher mid lunge, and sending her flying back to the ground.

It was the same technique Aleric had once used against me. I'd spent so long trying to win againsthim that day that I must have learnt a few of his tricks in the process.

But the move came at a cost though, one that immediately took its toll as the whole room began tosway once more. Worse still, it was followed shortly after by specks of black dots that began tocloud my vision. I wouldn't be able to keep this up for long. My body was already past its limit.

“You stupid...” Thea started, pulling her leg up in what would have been an attempt to kick me fromthe ground.

But I quickly jumped away as fast as I could.

Although, that ended up being maybe a little too fast.

The sudden jerk to my body caused me to wince from the pain and I grabbed at my shoulder, teethgritted.

“Enough!” Thea roared, now completely furious.

..And I cautiously took another step backwards to be safe.

Her eyes were filled with nothing but malice as she got back on her feet. So much anger... so muchhatred. It was as though she wanted my death more than she even wanted Selene’s in that moment.I could feel the sheer frustration and aggression rolling off of her in waves.

*This was the creature inside my head all these years.

"Why are you prolonging the inevitable? Do you think you can actually win against me? In yourcondition?” she sneered

And I barely dodged another hit to my face, avoiding it by not even an inch as her fist flew past myeyes. I didn't respond though, instead I just silently countered the attack by kicking her knee outfrom the side, focusing everything on just my will to keep going. The move was weak but it at leastforced her to spin into a crouch in order to prevent herself from hitting the ground again.Unfortunately for me though, she didn't let it stop her for long. Instead, she took advantage of thenew position and used it to try and counter kick me, this time aiming for my shins in an attempt tosubmit met

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chawki Ninely lwo

o the floor. If she could manage to get me down, we both knew the fight would be over. I wouldn'thave the strength to get up again.

And, though I did end up successfully jumping backwards to dodge her attack, I quickly realisedshe'd done just that anyway.

Checkmate.

Whether her last attack hit me or not, it didn't matter. No, she had just been betting on me beingtoo injured to have any real sense of spatial awareness, jumping away from her until my back wassuddenly pressed up against the corner.

..l was trapped.

"Answer me!” she demanded and threw another punch towards me.

..But I moved quickly, bringing my sliced up hand in front of my face and grabbing her fist before itcould make contact. And, as a result, I could feel the cuts there begin to bleed once more.

"You keep..." I tried to say between breaths, my body beginning to slump. Already my grip on herhand had slackened, forcing me to release her. “You keep underestimating me... because of what Iam. Because... because you think you're better than us.”

“If you think we're equals then you're grossly mistaken. Possessing a piece of a God does not makeyou better than what you are. The fact you have even tried to fight me like this is proof of howdelusional you are.”

“But I wasn't...” I said weakly, now starting to slip towards the ground. “I wasnt trying to win, Thea. Iknew i t was over... the moment you pulled that blade back out of me.”

“Then I don't understand. What was the point in attacking me? In causing yourself further needlesspain?”

“The point was... the point was to distract you... to keep you here... Just long enough for...”

And then the thunderous sound of footsteps suddenly exploded from the top of the stairway, amelody of growling to accompany it.

I'd never heard such a sweet song before. A fitting tune to die to.

It was the sound of allies... the sound of my pack.

Brayden had done exactly what I hoped he would do. He'd rallied up an attack unit. Not just a fewstray warriors who had been standing around upstairs... but a real force, with substantial enoughnumbers to be able to handle someone like Thea. It meant he had figured out that I was planning todelay her.

And a small smile crept to my lips as Thea’s face slowly turned to one of horror, the realisation ofher situation now dawning on her.

She may possess strength far greater than any Alpha but even she wouldn't be able to defendherself against an army of trained wolf warriors. Not in such a small enclosed area as this.

..Your move, Thea.

She looked frantically between where I sat to where I could only assume her secret passage waslocated. It was like I could see her trying to calculate the time required to complete each task in herhead, the cogs quickly moving to figure out what she should do... and it would have made me laughif I physically could have

I already knew if she took the time to kill me now, that she would likely be surrounded by wolvesupon finishing the job. Even almost dead, I wasn't going to make it easy for her; something sheshould have realised by now. I would squirm and dodge as much as possibly could just to makeevery second count.

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Which meant she had to put her faith in me dying of my own injuries. It was the only way to utilisethe time needed to escape. However, for someone like Thea, I knew that even that would beexcruciatingly difficult for her. The only person Thea truly trusted was Thea; even if it was just to puttrust in me to die of injuries impossible to recover from.

And with every second ticking down, she had maybe a minute before my pack made it down allthose flights of stairs.

“Better... start running. Thea,” I smirked.

But she had other plans.

She immediately reached down and grabbed at one of my ankles, now determined to drag me awaywith her. It was almost suicidal to waste time doing something like that. Something she surely hadto realise, especially since the unit was so close by.

"What are you...?" I started asking, before I used my other foot to kick her hand away. It was the verylast ounce of energy I could muster but it was luckily just enough to free myself.

It seemed even Thea was surprised I had enough in me for that, her anger only burning further. Infact, if looks alone could kill, there wouldn't have been a reason for Thea's current dilemma. Forsomeone with such a pretty face normally, that scowl sure did not suit her.

The real question now though was why would she attempt to bring me with her..? To attemptsomething s o reckless?

Not unless...

Not unless she needed my body too. That my death alone wasn't going to be enough to retrieveher power back.

Well, then. It looked as though I'd managed to royally screw her out of her long-awaited victory. Mylast ditch effort to stall her might have been far more effective than I initially intended. Maybe mydeath wasn't going to be the beginning of the end as I originally thought.

We stared at each other silently for a moment, our faces resolute as we both refused to let the otherget what they wanted. But unlike Thea, I wasn't playing a game as bad as hers. For her, the situationwas growing more dangerous as every second ticked by.

But, in the end, it resulted in just the way I thought it would. One where, finally, with a last cursespat towards me, she bolted towards where a stack of boxes laid in the corner, shoving them asideand disappearing behind them.

Finally, she was gone.

I breathed out a sigh of relief upon her exit and laid staring up at the ceiling. And every time I wouldstartt o feel myself let go, I would quickly reel myself back into consciousness.

I still wanted to hang in there... for just a little bit longer.

That memory from earlier was still dancing in the front of my mind; the one that had helped me tofight against Thea for as long as I had. I'd been so reluctant in agreeing to spar with Aleric that dayand yet it had ended up being the thing that possibly just saved thousands of people. Now Iwouldn't even get the chance to tell him or thank him.

I'd won that fight too,’ I recalled with a small smile. I remember squealing in delight over how happyI'd been to knock him down. And I remember... I remember how it had been the most excitement I'dfelt in years That, in that moment, it was a reminder of how I was still strong despite it all; despitethe collar and my situation

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And, as I continued to reflect, I remembered something else too. Something I'd buried over the lastfew months. I remembered what happened right after that match.

..How we'd kissed.

What would have happened if I hadn't fallen asleep that day? If I'd gone back to speak with him andworked things out like I wanted to? There never would have been a misunderstanding about Lucy,no confusion over my parents’ death... I never would have given in completely to Thea due to myfeelings of grief and betrayal.

Thinking back now, it had been her voice screaming at me to pull away from him that day, filling myhead immediately with doubt instead. But then... didn’t that mean the feelings I'd had for him weregenuine during that moment?

I guess I wasn't going to replace out.

But if I was lucky... maybe, just maybe, I would get to see him one last time if he arrived with theattack unit. Was that too much to ask? To want to die with confirmation that he didn’t loath me formy actions? That, even in my last moments, he didn’t lose faith in me despite everything I'd done...despite that being more than I deserved? More than I ever did for him in either life...?

I'd let him become his own destruction the first time, too weak to save him from Thea. I despisedhim for years because of the things he'd done that were out of his own control. And, unlike him, Ihad missed all the obvious signs. The signs that he had immediately picked up on inside me; theanger, the rash behaviour... his inability to feel the mate bond. Because they had all been there thefirst time... I'd just wrongly assumed that it was purely because he hated me so much.

He became a monster in that life, completely unrecognisable from the man I knew today. A creatureof pure hate and drive to acquire power. Now, knowing exactly what Thea's influence felt like, it wasa wonder he held on as well as he did for the almost ten years he was involved with her. Id livedthrough just three and already I'd succumbed to almost killing everyone.

And yet, with the roles reversed, he hadn“t once doubted me in this life. He'd kept fighting, keptbelieving that whatever made me become this way, wasn't actually my fault. That I was still me deepdown... somewhere. Something even Cai had given up on.

He might not have been able to fix what Thea did to me... but he did save me. Save me frommyself... and save others from me.

He'd been doing it since almost the beginning too. Countless times he'd stopped me from makingmistakes based on negative emotions, quickly becoming the only one to truly get through to me; atask that even my father and Cai had previously failed at. He'd been a voice of reason to call me outon my rinsanity, never being afraid to step in if he thought I'd gone too far. It was the sort of thing Icould have

used most after giving in to The.... yet I'd imprisoned him.

If only I'd trusted him sooner, if I'd judged him based on the man he actually was instead ofcontinuing to believe he would inevitably become the same person I'd known. Maybe I would havebeen able to rely on him earlier and prevent all of this from getting so messed up.

“I'm sorry.” I whispered, closing my eyes.

I wanted his forgiveness as I plunged into the darkness; for leaving now and making him pick up thefight i n my absence. Leaving behind a world where I, once again, was unable to save him fromThea.

“I'm sorry..."

I was sorry to Cai too. I'd turned a good man who once only saw good in others, into someone whohated even the sight of me. For a time, he was my best friend... someone who I loved and reliedupon. If not for him, I would have followed in those same steps which led me to becoming anotherdocile Luna. Who

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Chapter Ninely Two

knew where I'd be now if he hadn't shown me that I could be more. That I was stronger than whatothers

saw me as.

“Aria.” I heard a voice yell nearby.

The warriors had arrived. They would need to hurry if they wanted to catch Thea. I knew they wouldbe able to track her scent through the hidden passage without any issues but they would havetrouble replaceing her if she made it outside. With her skill, it would be too easy for her to hide onceshe was back in an open space.

“Arial”

“..I'm sorry,” I replied weakly, unable to open my eyes again. “l wasn't... I wasn't strong enough.”“Hang in there.”

But it was too late for that. “Hanging in there’ implied that there was a chance of survival, of whichno person was capable of doing. Everyone knew the effects of silver were merciless.

“Protect... the morgue,” was all I could say with my final breath. My last and final warning to helpthem in their future battle.

And I let myself relax, the pain finally shutting off as I gave in to the darkness enveloping me.

I didn’t get my final wish but maybe that was only fair. I didn’t deserve the absolution I desired. Ihadn’t done anything worth receiving that blessing.

For what it was worth though, I couldnt be too disappointed in my current state. After all, myregrets and guilt did tell me one thing in my final moment.

It told me that I truly was still capable of caring. That I truly was still myself... deep down.

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