A Gift from the Goddess by Dawn Rosewood novel Chapter 49

Chapter Forty-Nine With everything set and being put into action, I went home to wait. It was now up to Myra to pull off the next part.

The idea was that she would pretend to notice Thea was new in town and politely ask about her, even try to befriend her. With the two of them getting closer, I was hopeful that Thea would divulge a little about herself; information I‘d literally been paying a private investigator to obtain for years now.

In order for this to work though, I couldn’t be anywhere in sight or else I’d risk Thea catching on.

We agreed to meet again in an hour at a park down the street. It was rarely used at this time of the day and bordered on the forest. This meant we didn’t need to worry about being seen together. If everything went perfect then Myra would get the information I needed before I came to pick her up, and Thea would be none the wiser to the entire plot.

The time passed quickly and, with every second that passed, I could feel my own anxiety building. I’d waited so long for this and needed Myra to be successful so badly. I knew even the tiniest bit of information was going to help me stop Thea... and possibly even help me stop my own death.

And so, before I knew it, it was finally about that time. 

I headed downstairs, moving towards the car but spotted Lucy along the way down. “Lucy,” I called out. She looked up sharply at my voice, surprised to see me.

But then her face turned into a frown almost immediately.

“Miss, I didn’t know you were home,” she said. I walked over to her, taking the small detour since I knew I still had a little bit of time before I needed to leave.

“I‘m just heading out now. Any luck with the private investigator?” 

“Not really...,” she said, her brow only creasing further. “To be honest, I was going to wait a little longer before I spoke to you, but I think something might be amiss. He normally doesn’t take this long to get back to me.” I hesitated. “You think he might have run off with the money as I thought?” She nodded. “I do. It would confirm your theory too. However, I‘m still waiting to hear back from a few different leads so I can’t be certain yet.”

“Fuck,” I hissed, and gently hit my fist against the wall next to me. I had known this was a possibility and it was a risk I‘d been willing to take when I first hired him. Some people‘s loyalty cost more than what could be bought with money. It looked as if his greed had gotten the better of him.

Though there was one other possibility.... … That they’d been working together from the beginning. 

“Find him,” I said. “I don’t care what resources you need, 1’ll pay whatever the price. If he’s run off then he at least knows something about Thea. Even if that’s only because he made a deal with her.”

Lucy bowed her head. “Of course, Miss.”

It was just like it was in the past; Thea had her hand in manipulating the people around me. Some things really didn’t change.

But as I continued to mull on it, another thought hit me. One where I realised I’d just introduced my best friend… to my worst enemy.

But Myra wouldn’t… would she? That echo of pain from whenever I thought of my old attendant, Sophie, came to me. I had loved her like a mother and yet she had resorted to taking a deal from Thea in the end, sending me to my death regardless. It proved that sometimes a person wasn’t who you thought they were. I had to quickly push those thoughts from my head. I could trust Myra, I knew that. And besides, there were more important things to worry about right now. Like meeting up with her and discussing what she’d learnt about Thea. Without any further delay, I got into my car and drove back into town, heading straight to the park

The trip didn’t take very long to arrive and I immediately scanned the area without getting out. The entire space seemed completely clear of any people though; Myra included.

I didn’t want to rush anything, making me decide to wait another half an hour. I wanted to give her all the time she needed. But once that period came and went, I found Myra still hadn’t shown up. It was then that I couldn‘t help but start to feel a little worried. It was a very large area and so, naturally, I figured she probably hadn‘t realised I’d arrived yet, possibly waiting for me somewhere that I couldn’t see. I quickly slipped out of the driver’s seat, having already made sure that the coast was clear, and made my way into the park.

It seemed quiet. There was no play equipment for children here as this area was mostly just a collection of trees and nature. Not that I was complaining. It made for some great privacy when needed.

I continued to search for a few minutes until, finally, I found Myra in the distance by a tree. As I expected, she was facing the opposite direction to where I‘d parked so she must not have seen me.

“Myra!” I called out and started walking over to see her. She didn’t hear me and so I quickened my pace to reach her. “Hey! Myra! I’ve been waiting for you on the other side. How did it go?” 

But she didn’t reply. I couldn’t have been more than a few meters away from her now. She should have heard me.

“Myra..?” I walked over slowly until I stood in front of her, as If a part of me knew something wasn’t quite right

…But it was fine.

I could see she was completely fine. I had been worried about nothing.

And yet her blue eyes continued to stare out towards the forest, refusing to look at me. “Myra, I’m here.”

…She was acting so immature by not replying. I didn’t know why she would do that, it wasn’t even funny. I reached out and touched her hand gently. She felt a little cold but that was just the weather moving into winter soon. I knew she should have brought a jacket. When I had come to pick her up earlier I had even told her that she was going to regret not bringing one.

‘I can’t look’

“Come on. We need to go,” I said. “We have so much to talk about.” 

I could feel tears start to fall down my cheeks and I blinked them away. Couldn’t she see how her behaviour was so incredibly frustrating right now? She was wasting time.

“Myra, stop this. Please.”

‘I don’t want to look’

I tugged at her hand to get her to follow me, but instead, her upper body only lurched sideways in the direction I‘d pulled her. It was as if her centre was stuck in one place, completely unable to be moved. “…Please.” ‘Don‘t make me look’

I pulled again and shook my head as the tears began to increase.

“Myra… please….” 

‘I‘m not going to look.‘ “It’s time to go home, Myra. Your parents are waiting for you.”

‘Please don’t make me look.’

“The kids at the orphanage need you. You can’t stay here.”

…Please.’

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It was all Myra’s blood. What was I doing? Why was I wasting time? I moved quickly and put my hand to the stab wound, trying to close off where the blood had come from. Blood that had already stopped flowing long ago. I could see the knife had been twisted, skewed enough to make the entrance larger.