Page 49 of Road To Runes

“No,” I said.

“Then consider our agreement binding. Look out for my email with everything you need.”

They hung up, the dial tone ringing in my ear for a solid minute before I had the wherewithal to put my phone down.

I ran my fingers over the rune.Promise.

As much as I needed the intel this person was going to get me, my gut screamed its distress, and I doubted it was down to breakfast.

What had I just signed up for?

My escape for some breathing room hadn't exactly made me feel freer, I realised as I parked my bike back in the house garage. That phone call had contorted the bars of my cage even closer, and the claustrophobia only increased. Worse still, I had a mark on my body that I would have to hide. Asher had enough experience with this person to know what the mark meant. Long sleeves it was for the time being.

The sun was on its way up so I set about making breakfast, turning on every hob and dumping bacon, eggs, and hash browns into frying pans. It kept me busy as a war waged in myhead; had I done the right thing? Being beholden to someone, especially someone whose identity remained a mystery to me, was something I despised. But what other option was there? Who else would find the power I needed?

Whoever they were, they were right: I needed to find Romilda too badly to let my doubts get in the way. If they wanted a grimoire, they would have one, and then I could get rid of this mark once and for all. Nice and simple, just like they said.

Priya was the first one down, as always, and was still rubbing her eyes when she walked in. She had on a sarong-style skirt that morning, and a blouse adorned with gold thread and intricate, colourful designs. Given the dropping temperatures, it was safe to say she was having a day at home.

She blinked at me for a few moments, as if surprised to see me there. It was true, my household responsibilities had slipped since my breakup with Asher, and they had all been really generous in allowing me leeway. With so much on my mind, a little housework definitely wouldn’t hurt, even if I didn't have the energy. I needed to keep busy.

"Need a hand?" she asked.

"Sure."

We cooked together in silence, the eggshells barely cracking beneath our feet. When I went to put the plates out, Priya eyed the stack in my hands.

"We only need six," she said, flipping a piece of bacon. "Asher left late last night."

I nodded, put one of the plates back in the cabinet, and turned my back on her to set the table. Finally, the tears had dried up, and a prominent but dulled ache pulsed in my core. I knew from the past just what a true, all encompassing numbness meant: emotions too severe to handle. Did I even feel sad that he was gone, or was I happy to have the space to cope?

Sorting out my emotions was hard enough, but sinking into this fog and numbness made even deciding what I was feeling harder still.

Before I had put the final plate down, an arm wrapped around my neck and Priya pulled me into a one-armed side hug.

"You're a real trooper," she said, ruffling my hair with her other hand. I pulled a face at her. "I wouldn't have handledmyex coming home nearly as well as you have."

I snorted. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah! You haven't fought with him or anything, you've just kept your head down. I'm proud of you, Bea. This couldn't have been an easy time for you."

Finally, something broke through the uncomfortable cushioning that had enveloped my ability to feel. A tsunami of sorrow crashed through the numbness, smashing it into shards of glass that pierced my core in too many places to stem the flow of agony.

Tears spilled down my cheeks and the remaining plate clattered out of my hands and onto the table.

"Oh,Bea!" Priya wrapped her arms around me and I buried my face in her shoulder as sobs wracked my entire body. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."

Even if I wanted to tell her, I couldn't. How Asher's return and all he had said and done had left me hollow again. How I had thought when he first arrived that just having to live with him would be the worst of my problems. If only. Avoiding him would have left me far less heartbroken than this.

Priya sat me down and took a chair next to me, and holding onto both my hands, she leaned right into my space. "Don't tell me you've been holding this all in the whole timeanddealing with Penny?"

I chuckled in between the sobs and grabbed a napkin off the table, burying my face in it. Taking care of Penny's problems hadbeen a welcome distraction from my own, but even then Edward had taken that off my plate, too. Selfish git.

The urge to tell her everything pushed words up my throat, but my lips were too occupied with sobbing to let anything else past them. Priya let me cry for a little while, squeezing my hand and rubbing my back as I folded over to press the napkin to my eyes. As if that would stop the tears. In that moment, I doubted anything would.

But before long, my energy drained away with my tears, and I straightened up, sniffing. I met Priya's gaze, her eyes brimming with sympathy.

I wanted to tell her all about what had happened between Asher and me; what he had said to me, and how he had helped me take one more step toward finding out about my prophecy. Most of all, I wanted to tell her about the deal I had just made to take the very next step, and how at my core, I wondered if I had made a mistake in doing a deal with this unknown contact.

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