Page 23 of Road To Runes

I didn't let the incident affect the rest of the night. Penny on the other hand, decided not to leave my side until Laura finally called it a night. She and Priya had gotten too lost in dancing to notice what had happened, and I wanted to keep it that way. Laura had enjoyed her entire night, and I didn't want to ruin it for her.

Despite Priya, Laura, Edward, and me all repeatedly asking Penny to sleepover at our place, Penny insisted on returning home or she would get into trouble with her mother. So I volunteered to go with Penny in a taxi to take her home.

"I'm coming too," Edward said, tugging on his shirt collar with both hands as if it were some fancy tailcoat. "Got to make sure our lovely young lady gets home safe."

Penny flushed and ducked her head. I would let her know later how special she was for Edward to expend this much effort for her.

We flagged down a taxi as the rain spattered down and argued for a full minute about who should take it before Penny and I all but pushed Priya and Laura into it. I kept the door open for Asher but instead he waved at them.

"You're not coming?" Priya leaned over Laura with her entire body to narrow her eyes at him, earning herself a playful hair tugging from Laura.

She hadn't drunk a thing since the first shot, which she had only drank at Laura's behest anyway, and was the only one of us truly sober.

"Just in case." Asher jerked a thumb at Penny, who had sleepily leaned her head on the shoulder of a rather bewildered but happy Edward. "They're all too far gone."

"Fair. Get home in the next hour or I'm going to be mad." Priya waved at us.

"Yes, mum," I said, grinning at her before shutting the door on her scowl.

The taxi took off, and I turned my back on Asher to wave down another one. Sure, we had all had a bit to drink, but it still struck me as odd that Asher wanted to escort us. He had already overstepped his bounds once that evening and frankly, I didn't want him around any more than necessary. I would have thought he wanted the same.

When another taxi pulled up for us, I slid into the back with Edward and Penny. Asher took the front seat and looked back at us as he put his seatbelt on.

"Where are we going?" he asked Penny.

Penny slurred out her home address before closing her eyes and cuddling up on Edward's shoulder. I snickered and took a picture of her. Edward gave a thumbs up to the camera as I snapped the picture. She was going to be so embarrassed in the morning.

I must have fallen asleep for a few minutes because not a moment later, we had pulled up to Penny's house.

"Thanks guys," Penny said, as we clambered out. "I had an amazing time."

"Don't say goodbye just yet. We need to see you to the front door," Edward said.

Penny squealed as he swept her up in his arms and marched, army-style, up the steps to her front door. I snorted and leaned against the taxi, snatching a cigarette out of my handbag. After that long night I needed a bit of a kick.

Asher stood on the pavement, hands in his pockets, and the two of us watched Edward put Penny down carefully, as if lying down a silk dress.

A part of me wanted to confront him about his weird behaviour. Keeping my distance from him wasn't exactly easy when he barged into my business at every opportunity. He hadn't been like this the last few times he visited, although I had barely seen him let alone go on a night out with him.

I took a long drag on my cigarette and exhaled a plume of purple smoke. As much as I would have loved to have it out with him, verbally, I didn't want to make things awkward in the house. Plus, now Laura's birthday was over, I could avoid him to my heart's content. At least, until I had a plan to snatch his phone.

My gaze flicked to his back jeans pocket where the top of his phone stuck out. Iwouldget my hands on it. His phone, that is.

"What are you doing with thisstranger, Penny?"

A voice hoarse enough to have withstood a lifetime of drink and nicotine all but bellowed down the otherwise quiet street. I pushed off the car and stubbed my cigarette out on the wall as I headed to see what the commotion was all about.

Asher put a hand out to push me back so he could step ahead of me, but I swept his hand out of the way tai-chi style. He had done enough interfering for one night.

At the top of the steps, Edward still had a tentative hand on Penny's lower back, but the man in the door pointed a thick finger at him. The guy had a beanie on, a face full of too-long stubble, and the whites of his eyes had long turned yellow. He had the look of a perpetually angry bus driver just wearing a tracksuit instead of a uniform.

"That's none of your business, Carl." Penny spoke with confidence, but she shivered as she did so. "Edward's a friend."

I wanted to snort, but that wouldn't have helped matters.

"Get inside," Carl snapped. “I won’t have you bringing strange men into my house. It’s disgusting. This is the last time you’re going out again, mark my words.”

A ringing shot through my ears and a burst of adrenaline flooded through my veins. Even though we were outside, I felt like I was in a tiny room and the walls were closing in.

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