Page 14 of Road To Runes

I took the empty crystal out of my pocket and tapped into my own power. With nothing but a small tug, the guy's power released itself from him and shot into the crystal as if it was happy to go on an adventure. I pocketed the crystal and turned back around to see that Hecate had disappeared.

I rolled my eyes and headed back into the hallway. The second she thought she could go hunting for swag, she was off.

By the time it took me to get back down the stairs, Hecate pottered out of the kitchen with a spatula in her mouth.

"Really?" I hissed. "I could buy you one of those from literally anywhere."

Hecate trotted up to me and placed a paw on the skin of my ankle to properly communicate her annoyance."He doesn't have much stuff and I want something."

"Why don't you just not take something this time then?"

Hecate looked at me as if I had thrown away a perfectly good tin of tuna right in front of her."Have you lost your mind?"

We didn't have time for this.

"Come on," I muttered. "We've still got two more of these to do."

"Good. I hope the next two places have better stuff."

The next place did in fact have better stuff, given that the owners were infinitely wealthier and in the habit of buying the fanciest possible version of everything both necessary and not. I had never seen a heart-shaped bathtub before in my life and I never hoped to again. Even if I wasn't fairly fresh off a breakup, it gave me the ick.

Our final stop was back in the UK and I parked my motorbike three streets away, as usual, before walking the rest of the way. I carried Hecate and stayed invisible as we arrived on the street of our target. This was one of the richer ends of Cardiff, wherecurtain-twitching was a hobby even in the wee hours. Insomnia was a thing and I didn't want to risk any tired and aggravated soul watch us skulking around in the dead of night.

The target house had a super sleek and fancy car outside, though in the darkness I couldn't make out the model, tucked safely behind an electronic gate and a high wall. But from the outside, there didn't appear to be any security alarms, magical or otherwise, just like the last time I had checked. Maybe this wealthy couple had more faith in the security of their community than was wise. At least, that was the case tonight.

"If you're going to pick yourself something out, please make sure it isn't jangly like the last one," I muttered into Hecate's ear.

I had had to stuff the bracelet into my back pocket because of all the racket it made when she pottered about with it in her mouth.

While I couldn't see her as we were both invisible, I could feel her glare piercing me even though there was technically nothing to stare at. Apparently, this was just another of her impressive powers.

I prepared to activate the borrowed power to walk through the front door when a hand clamped down on my shoulder and whirled me around. My breath left me in a gasp as Hecate tumbled out of my arms and my back pressed to the wall next to the door. An arm shoved against my collarbone, pinning me to the door as Hecate hissed on the ground, her fur prickling as she poised to strike.

But what she would strikeatwas still the question. I could see nobody in front of me, yet I grabbed at the arm holding me in place.

My heart bottomed out into my stomach, and all the blood from my face drained away with it, as a black-haired man with a jaw cut from stone and the only pair of eyes that could penetrate my very soul, rippled into view.

Asher.

Chapter 8

The world froze in time, without the need for Troy's stupid power.

A scent of cigarettes, coupled with hints of Rum Spice and Cedarwood from his usual cologne, rocketed straight to my head, instigating a flood of sensations that I hadn't experienced for months. Security, comfort...arousal. I yanked against his arm but it held me firmly in place. How dare he whirl his way in here and derail my thoughts and mynightlike this. What was he even doing here?

"Still up to your old tricks?" His deep Scottish accent melted every barrier I had put up since he left.

Nausea swirled in my stomach and rage bubbled up from even deeper within. All this time I had spent trying to undo the hold Asher had on me and it turned out I hadn't even budged an inch on getting over him. The distance between us had blindfolded me to the existence of my feelings, as powerful as they had been since the day before he left me.

Gods, I wanted to knee him in the nuts so badly.

He pressed his arm a little harder into my collarbone as I squirmed an inch out from under his grip. "Give it up, Bea. You've been caught."

I pulled my fiercest face before releasing the invisibility power from my control.

"How did you know I was here?" I whispered.

Asher tapped the side of his head with one finger. "Magical night vision contacts. They're standard issue at work. Invisibility isn't so useful against them."

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