Suzy's POV
His touch… his fucking touch is burning me alive.
I collapsed onto my bedroom floor the moment he left, letting out the breath I'd been holding since Kaelen touched my waist in the sitting room. My skin still tingled where his fingers had been, like electricity coursing through my veins.
What the hell is happening to me?
Truth is, Kaelen's been my childhood crush since we were seven, quiet, nerdy kid who always sat alone until I decided to make him my personal project. I used to tease him relentlessly, punch his arm when he said something dumb, drag him around school like a lost puppy. But it was all innocent back then. Friendship stuff. He left when he was twelve and came back three years after, and we became bestfriends.
Now? Now I can barely look at him without my heart trying to escape through my throat.
Something's changed about him these past few days. I find it hard to poke fun at him now, his gaze burns and he can silence me whenever he's so close. The way he carries himself, the confidence in his voice, even that stupid hair color he switched to, it all makes him look… dangerous. Hot. The kind of guy who could pin me against a wall and make me forget my own name.
And when he gets close? Forget about it. His eyes seem to see right through me, like he knows exactly what I'm thinking. What I want him to do to me.
"Fuck," I whispered, pressing my face into my pillow to muffle the frustrated scream building in my chest.
I want him inside me. The thought hit me like a slap, raw and desperate. I want Kaelen inside me so badly it hurts.
The wetness between my legs was becoming unbearable. I needed relief, and I needed it now.
I grabbed my favorite pillow, the soft, firm one I'd been using for this since I turned fourteen and discovered my sister's hidden stash of… educational videos. Technically I was still a virgin since no guy had ever been inside me.
I positioned myself over it, straddling the plush surface as I let my imagination run wild. In my mind, it wasn't fabric beneath me, it was Kaelen's strong thighs, his hands gripping my hips as I moved against him.
I started slow, grinding my hips in gentle circles, letting the friction build gradually. My breathing got heavier as I picked up the pace, imagining his voice whispering dirty things in my ear, his teeth grazing my neck.
"Kaelen…" I moaned softly, my movements becoming more desperate, more needy. The pillow was soaked now, but I couldn't stop. I was so close, so fucking close—
The orgasm hit me like a tsunami, making my whole body shake as waves of pleasure crashed over me. I bit down hard on my bottom lip to keep from screaming his name loud enough for the whole neighborhood to hear.
When I finally came down from the high, I felt embarrassed and satisfied at the same time. This was getting out of hand.
After a long, cold shower that did absolutely nothing to cool my thoughts, I tried to focus on homework. But within minutes, I was reaching for my phone and texted him.
Me: Have you done your assignments?
His reply came back almost instantly: Yeah, do you need help with it?
The innocent offer made my pulse race. Help? In my room? Alone? With me still thinking about what just happened on this very bed?
Me: No, I'm fine.
I dropped the phone like it was on fire and buried my face in my hands. "Get it together, Ariel," I muttered. "You're losing your mind over a guy you've known forever. Grow the fuck up."
But even as I said it, the thought of him coming over, sitting close enough to smell his cologne, maybe brushing against me accidentally…
I was getting wet again.
"Shit." I cranked up my music and tried to lose myself in calculus problems, but Kaelen's face kept swimming in front of the numbers.
This was going to be a long night. My sister wasn't coming back home tonight as she had gone on a business trip with her colleagues.
Kaelen's POV
The fluorescent lights in the supermarket buzzed overhead as I wandered the aisles, grabbing random shit I didn't really need. My mind was elsewhere, specifically on the silver-haired goddess who'd vanished from my apartment like smoke.
That's when I heard the commotion near the toy section.
"Hunter toy! Hunter toy! I want one, Mom!" A little kid, maybe six years old, with a band around his dark hair, was jumping up and down in front of a display of action figures.
His mother's face went white. She grabbed his arm and yanked him away from the toys. "No. Absolutely not."
"But I wanna be a hunter when I grow—"
She slapped her hand over his mouth so fast it was like she'd been expecting this. Her eyes darted around frantically, checking to see if anyone had heard. Lucky for her, most people were too busy with their own shopping to pay attention.
Unlucky for her, my hearing was very sharp.
"I told you never to mention that word again," she hissed, dragging the confused kid toward the exit. "Do you want the bad men to come take Mommy away?"
What the fuck?
I watched them leave, my mind racing. Hunters existed in this world? And apparently talking about them was dangerous enough to make a grown woman panic in public.
I paid for my stuff and headed home, but I couldn't shake the feeling that I'd just stumbled onto something important. The system had retained my hunter abilities. That mightn't have been a coincidence?
Back in my apartment, I fired up my laptop and typed "hunters New Haven City" into the search bar.
The results made my blood run cold.
"Local Historian Reveals: The Dark Century of New Haven's Hunter Guilds"
"Why the Hunter Prohibition Laws Still Matter Today"
"Remembering the Great Collapse: 100 Years Since the Rift Wars"
I clicked on the first article and started reading.
For over six centuries, New Haven City was home to one of the most powerful Hunter Guilds in North America. These warriors, blessed with supernatural abilities and divine weapons, protected the city from demonic incursions and otherworldly threats. But their golden age came to a catastrophic end exactly one hundred years ago during what historians call the "Great Collapse."
"There was another disaster a hundred years ago?" I paused before continuing.
The details remain classified, but eyewitness accounts describe massive rifts tearing open across the city, releasing horrors that took months to contain. The official death toll was over 10,000 civilians, but many believe the true number was far higher.
In the aftermath, the surviving city leaders implemented the Hunter Prohibition Acts, making it illegal to practice hunter arts, possess hunter weapons, or even discuss hunter activities in public. The justification came from a prophecy warning "When hunters reach too far beyond their mortal bounds, they shall tear the veil itself and bring about the end of all things." Since then, hunters are hunted and killed on sight. The former protectors now live as fugitives
My hands were shaking as I closed the laptop. They'd forgotten the world was saved by hunters
Hunters might still be alive and probably in hiding.
My phone buzzed, a text from Suzy asking about homework. I replied automatically, but my mind was elsewhere.
And in a few hours, I'd be hunting down a goddess who might have answers.
By 11:30 PM, I was pacing my apartment like a caged animal. The anticipation was killing me. What if the tracking ability didn't work? What if she'd already left the area? What if she was deliberately masking her presence somehow?
What if she doesn't want to be found?
The thought made my stomach clench. Maybe walking away had been the wrong choice after all.
At exactly midnight, I called up the status window.
"Activate Goddess Tracking."
[GODDESS TRACKING: ACTIVATED]
Scanning 5-mile radius…
Divine signature detected: 2.3 miles Northeast
Warning: Signature fluctuating - subject may be concealing identity
Duration: 30 minutes before ability enters cooldown
Northeast. That would put her somewhere in the downtown district, probably near the old industrial area that had been converted into trendy lofts and late-night venues. My heart hammered against my ribs as I grabbed my jacket and headed out.
The streets were surprisingly busy for a Tuesday night. Clusters of college students and young professionals bar-hopped between the converted warehouses that now housed everything from craft breweries to underground clubs. I weaved through the crowds, following the subtle pull I could feel tugging at my consciousness, a magnetic draw that grew stronger as I moved in the right direction.
But as I got closer to the location, something felt off. The pull was scattered, like it was coming from multiple directions at once, then disappearing entirely before flickering back to life somewhere else.
She's moving. Or changing forms.
I found myself standing outside a place called "Nexus"—one of those trendy rooftop bars that attracted the young professional crowd. The divine signature seemed to be coming from inside, but it kept shifting like smoke in the wind.
I paid the cover charge and took the elevator to the rooftop level. The space was dimly lit, filled with the low hum of conversation and ambient electronic music. Groups of well-dressed twenty and thirty-somethings clustered around high tables, their faces illuminated by the glow of their phones and the soft lighting from hanging fixtures. Busy enough to blend in, empty enough to spot anomalies.
The tracking sense was going crazy now, pulling me in three different directions at once. My eyes swept the crowd systematically, looking for anything that seemed out of place, any face that might trigger recognition.
Nothing.
I ordered a drink I didn't want and found a spot near the railing where I could observe the entire space. Whoever she was, she was here. But she was good at hiding.
Think, Kaelen. What am I missing?
The original tracking had detected one signature, but now it felt like multiple sources. That meant either there were several divine beings here, which seemed unlikely, or she was somehow splitting her presence, maybe jumping between different forms. But that seemed impossible in such an open space.
I closed my eyes and tried to focus on the sensation itself rather than trying to pinpoint a location. The divine energy felt… mischievous. Like she was enjoying this game of hide and seek. There was an undercurrent of amusement in the tracking signal, as if she knew I was looking for her and found my confusion entertaining.
When I opened my eyes, I started looking for patterns instead of faces. Who had been in the same general area each time the signal spiked? Who seemed to be moving through the crowd in sync with the fluctuations I was feeling?
That's when I noticed them.
Not the goddess herself, but the ripple effect she was creating. A blonde woman near the bar who kept glancing in directions where I'd felt the strongest pulls. A brunette by the DJ booth who seemed to be watching the same spots. A redhead on the far side of the terrace who was nursing a drink she never actually sipped.
They weren't looking at each other, but they were all tracking the same invisible presence. They could sense her too, which meant they weren't entirely human either.
Other supernatural beings? Shit, this world really isn't as normal as it pretends to be.
She's using them as camouflage, hiding among creatures that would naturally mask her divine signature. That was clever.
I was so focused on this revelation that I almost missed the moment when the tracking sensation suddenly crystallized into sharp, unmistakable clarity. The source was directly behind me.
"You're getting better at this."
The voice was like liquid music, angelic, and achingly familiar.