Page 20 of Road To Runes

Hecate's body warmed so suddenly under the force of her magic that I flinched. She was a great hot water bottle in the winter months.

"Laura's in the forge, and Edward's painting in his room. Priya's at work, and..."

"And?" Gods, she knew how to maintain the suspense.

"Asher is napping in the living room,"she said.

Napping? Had my luck turned or what? There was no better time to snatch his phone.

"You're a gem," I said, hauling her off my shoulders and kissing her on the top of her head before putting her down on the ground.

I sneaked to the half open living room door and peered inside.

Sprawled on the sofa, one arm dangling off the edge and his lips slightly parted, Asher slept. On his chest, with his fingers curled around it, lay his phone. Bingo.

Tiptoeing into the room, I sealed my mouth shut to breathe through my nose, although a slight whistling noise every time I exhaled had my hackles raising. If he caught me trying to steal from him, I was going to get an intervention from the entire house.

But once I had made my way to his side and reached toward his phone, my gaze landed on his face; expressionless, calm, and serene. Memories rocketed to the forefront of my mind and with them, the feelings of safety and intimacy that had accompanied them. We had set our own schedules and run our lives together, and as such, never got up before 9am. Instead, we used to lounge together in bed, in each other's arms without a care in the world.

The sensation of his lips against my forehead still lingered even though months had passed since last experiencing his touch. It was my favourite place for him to kiss me. Well...second favourite.

But every glorious memory was almost instantly tarnished with his betrayal. Without warning and without explanation, he had turned his back on me, and for that, I would always hate him. But no matter what I did, apparently, I would also still love him. And I was doing myself no favours by denying it.

I inhaled a big breath through my nose. None of that changed what I needed to do. Gods, I had to stop letting him distract me.

Holding my breath, I reached toward Asher's phone. My fingers brushed the back of his phone but the second they did, Asher's head snapped around, his eyes zoning in on me.

"What are you doing?" he asked, blinking rapidly as his eyes struggled to adjust.

Every nerve in my gut lit up like a Yuletide tree, and it was all I could do not to flee.

"Trying to strangle you in your sleep," I said, my cheeks warming. "Guess I'll wait until you're in bed."

"Right." Asher frowned at me, suspicion leaching into his eyes as he stuffed his phone into his pocket. "Do you mind? I'm trying to sleep."

"In a public place," I said, straightening up, my limbs jerking a little as I forced a casual walk toward the door. "Really making yourself at home here, aren't you?"

"Thisismy home, Bea." Asher rolled onto his side and adjusted the cushions under his head. "Like it or not."

Well that was a bignotfrom me.

My cheeks remained hotter than a ghost chilli burrito as I left the room. But all I could think about was the angelic look on his peaceful face as he slept.

"Happy Birthday!" A giant package in my arms obstructed my view as I made my way into the kitchen the next morning.

Just over the top of the box, I spied Priya serving up a hearty breakfast onto many plates, and Laura surrounded with presents at the kitchen table. Asher leaned back in a chair at the head of the table next to Laura, a smile on his face as she held a present in her hands. Edward leaned against the counter with a tea towel draped over his shoulder as several mugs of tea brewed at his side.

"Thank you!" Laura shot me a grin as I set the package down on the table. "Tell me you didn't break the bank buying that."

"That's not for you to worry about," I said, as Hecate jumped up next to the package.

I tried to avoid Asher's gaze, but when it inadvertently flicked toward him, I could see he was tryinghisbest not to look at me either. Great. If we could just manage that for the rest of the day, we would have no problems.

"Go on, open it," Asher said.

Laura's shoulders hiked up around her ears with excitement as she tore it open, thankfully oblivious to the tension in the air.

My eyebrows raised a half inch as Laura opened up the jewellery box and a beautiful sapphire necklace glistened inside. Well, someonehaddecided to break the bank.

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