Chereads / Blessed by Night / Chapter 8 - Invitation

Chapter 8 - Invitation

'Ugh, my head…'

Malachi groggily awoke on the couch in the living room.

The sunlight peeking through the curtains revealed to him that it was now early morning, and he relaxed slightly when he realized he wasn't being overloaded by his new powers.

He suddenly realized he could hear a heartbeat next to him, and turned his head to see Aubrey sleeping on the floor.

'Wait, hear a heartbeat?!'

Malachi's hearing was now so finely tuned he could hear his sisters heart thumping away in her chest clear as day.

He also noticed that his sense of smell had improved drastically and he could pick up so many more scents than before. 

"Bastet's blessing no doubt..."

Malachi suddenly heard hurried footsteps approaching from outside, and soon smelled a familiar scent of blood and roses.

'So she called her after all.'

He didn't bother to get up since Aisha already had a key and his body felt sore.

The door unlocked with a click and his best friend entered with a worried look on her beautiful face.

'Was she actually worried about me?' Malachi was unbelievably touched.

"Gods, I hope I look okay..." Aisha was continually fixing her dress and straightening her hair, as if she wasn't already the most beautiful girl in the city. 

'...This bitch is only worried about Aubrey!'

Malachi quickly sat up with an annoyed look on his face.

When Aisha's bright red eyes landed on the man who she only barely recognized, she was stunned into silence.

"Mal?.."

In response he simply offered her a middle finger.

That small provocation was enough for her to snap out of her trance and return to normal.

"You.. you really got blessed."

"Seems like it." Malachi removed his shirt that had been choking the life out of him ever since he'd woken up and sighed in relief.

"Did Freya bless you?"

Seeing her friend's perfectly sculpted muscular body and his enchanting new appearance, she thought it only logical that he received a blessing from a goddess of war and beauty. 

Malachi only shook his head. "I'm sure she would've, but no."

"Then which god blessed you?"

"Gods." Malachi corrected.

"Pardon?"

Malachi's yellow eyes stared deeply into Aisha's bright red ones. "I was blessed by multiple gods, not just one."

It only took a second for her to process the information before she showed a pristine white smile that only those she loved were allowed to see.

"Mal! That's great, this changes everything!"

She excitedly hugged him, seemingly unbothered by the fact that he was currently shirtless.

He'd actually managed to get dual blessings just like her! This was amazing!

This would change everything about his future and his money troubles would be a thing of the past!

"So which gods blessed you?! Come on, tell me!"

She was so excited, she didn't even notice her yelling had woken the young girl that was asleep on the floor until now. 

"Hm? Oh, Aisha you made it."

Aubrey flashed the blessed woman a groggy smile that made her heart skip a beat.

Malachi of course heard it and rolled his eyes.

"Y-yes hello. You look as beautiful as ever." Aisha complimented.

"How can that be true when I just woke up?" Aubrey giggled before moving to offer the white haired woman a welcoming hug. "Thank you for saying so though. It feels nice."

Aisha's face soon turned an unhealthy shade of scarlet and she desperately fought the urge to sniff the hair of the girl in her arms.

Malachi watched all of this with a dry gaze and when his sister finally remembered he was here she quickly hugged him as well.

"Mal, how did this happen?!"

He sighed before he calmly retold them the events of last night.

Though when he told Aisha and Aubrey how he lost his job, he had to physically hold the girls down so that they did not turn Melanie into meat paste and Derrick's store into rubble.

Once he'd calmed them down he explained how he ended up at Ms. Aihara's to which prompted both of the girls to give each other cheeky grins.

Malachi elected not to comment once again and then he came to his encounter with Nyx in the park.

Now Aisha was not laughing, smiling, or drooling over Aubrey.

She knew just how incredible it was for her friend to receive a blessing from a primordial god.

But that would prove the least shocking thing she heard today.

Her friend that she thought was blessed by two gods, was actually blessed by four.

In the entire world, no one possessed more than two blessings.

The fact that her friend could store all those powers in his soul was an accomplishment in itself.

Not only that, but they also came from different pantheons!

Of course, Aisha did not believe it at first but then Malachi attempted to use his his powers for the first time.

Black lightning crackled from his finger tips.

His hands changed into clawed paws with black fur and his eyes were now permanently catlike.

He snapped his finger and golden flames appeared in his palm.

He attempted to use his blessing from Nyx as well, but it proved much too difficult so he just told her what happened last night and how he saw everything, including who she spent the evening with.

She was so shocked by the information, she wasn't even bothered by the fact that he'd seen her having sex with her personal assistant. 

After his story was completed, both girls stared at him for a full minute.

They were looking at him like they were seeing some kind of freak of nature.

'Well I guess I should start getting used to things like this, huh?'

Suddenly Aubrey leaped up and gave her brother the biggest hug imaginable.

"My brother is amazing!!"

Seeing Aubrey's sudden action allowed Aisha's brain to properly reboot and she congratulated him as well.

"Do you want to join my guild?" She suddenly asked.

Guilds are organizations formed by blessed that provide all manner of services.

They train new recruits, go on gate raids, deal with gate breaks and some are even law enforcement specifically for blessed.

"You mean Immortal Moon? Isn't that an all women's guild?" Mal asked with a shocked look.

"Well yes, but I'm certain the guild master would make an exception for you."

"I don't know.. seems kind of weird."

"There's an 850 million signing bonus for recruits that have a B rank aptitude or above."

"I'll adapt quickly."

Mal's hesitation disappeared immediately.

All that money was going to help him move Aubrey somewhere nicer and he could even hire some maids to help around the house so she wouldn't be alone all time.

Even though he probably could've made that money somewhere else, the chances of him being taken advantage of at Immortal Moon were relatively low since Aisha was a fairly high ranking member.

"Shit… I have a paper due today." Malachi sighed when he realized he still had to go to school.

He'd always promised his mother that he'd graduate college and he wouldn't change that for anyone, not even the gods.

He wouldn't be the first blessed to attend college, but he would still gain a lot of attention.

"No sweat, we can go after." Aisha immediately waived away his concern.

"But…" she noticed quite a pronounced problem.

She looked down at his tight work pants and saw the large imprint that wasn't being hidden in the slightest and gave him a dry look.

"Are all of your clothes like this now?"

Malachi followed her gaze to his crotch and felt his face get hot.

"…yes…"

Aisha could only sigh.

"It's fine, you dressed like shit before anyways."

"You bitch!"

She rose to her feet and stretched her lean muscled body while ignoring his outburst. 

"Guess that means we're going shopping."