Page 19 of Road To Runes

"Maybe...not right now," she said. "I don't know, it's all just a bit...ambiguous. I don't want to make any drastic changes yet. But thank you, Bea. I really appreciate it."

I sighed and cupped my chin with my hand. Dang it. For a second there, I could have had a roommate who was on my side with the whole Asher thing. "Okay, just know you've always got a place with us if you need it."

Penny smiled but it didn't extend to her eyes. Whoever this gross new boyfriend of her mum's was, he would need to watch his back if I ever happened across him.

"If you're proposing I move in with people, I should probably at leastmeetyour other roommates before you start foisting me on them," she said.

I blinked. Sometimes I forgot Penny hadn't actually come around to my place before. She had met Asher when we were dating, and Priya once in passing, but she had never met Edwardand Laura. In the three years we had known each other, we had always hung out at her place or gone out on the town.

"You'll meet them at Laura's birthday night out tonight, then you'll have no excuse," I said.

"It was ever so nice of her to let me come," Penny said.

I nodded, not wanting to tell her the real truth. Laura had suggested Penny come with us so I had someone with me given that I would have to suffer Asher all night. I appreciated the gesture, and I could introduce Penny to everyone in preparation for bugging her to move in with us.

"If it'll help you get away from that creep, all the better," I said.

"Anyway, enough about my rubbish," Penny said, stroking Hecate with one hand and grasping her mug with the other. "How's your life going since yesterday?"

Down the drainpipe to put it lightly.

"Oh, I didn't tell you?" I asked, rolling my eyes. "Asher showed up for some vacation from his stupid job and now he has the audacity to think he can tell me what to do."

Penny's eyes widened. "Nooooo. What happened?"

"I went out to get the powers I needed for the grimoire commissions and he followed me to one of them, saying that I couldn't steal from them because his company had just signed a contract with them. Then he has thegallto say that I shouldn't be taking powers anymore because it'll 'get me into trouble'." I mimicked his voice with the most whiny, petulant tone I could muster.

"After he got you into that business in the first place? The cheek." Penny glared at me over the top of her mug.

"Right? And just when I need to start looking for another power to help me track down that stupid prophet," I said. "Not that I'm having any luck with that, anyway."

"How come?"

"I can't find anyone with the power I'm looking for and it's driving me crazy."

"Hmmm..." Penny stared into her mug, biting her lip.

I narrowed my eyes. "What?"

"Well." Penny chewed her lip harder. "Didn't Asher know someone he used to get information like that from? That contact he would call whenever you guys couldn't find a power you were looking for?"

All sound left my ears, as if I'd been plunged into a vacuum. She was right.Asherof all people, had the resources I was looking for, tucked away in his back pocket.

Chapter 10

Ihad planned to spend the entire day as far away from home as possible, but after my chat with Penny, there was nowhere else I would rather be. Once we finished lunch, I high-tailed it back home with Hecate and went to scout out the house as if it was a new target property. No, I couldn't think like that. Itwasa target property with something I sorely needed inside it, but I had the added benefit of blending in with the crowd.

I reminded myself not to get too complacent as I took my shoes off at the front door. Asher worked in security now and his lifetime of burglary and trickery made him a less than ideal target. But I had managed hundreds of thefts without getting caught, so I was no wallflower either.Although, I thought,everything I knew in that department was because of Asher.

"What are you up to?"Hecate asked, still draped on my shoulders.

"Mischief," I said. "Maybe a little havoc thrown in. You game?"

"Oh, all right then. But after that, I'd like a nap."

I wouldn't have that any other way. Without her afternoon nap, Hecate had the demeanour of a pre-haunting Scrooge on Christmas Day.

"Sure," I said. "Can you sense where everyone is?"

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