Page 7 of Road To Runes

"If I ever say 'no' to that, just shoot me."

"Great." Laura sat up and opened her eyes to smile at me. "And you and Asher...you'll be okay being around each other?"

I dabbed at my eyes a little more, though the tears were gone. The salt stung my skin a little.

The idea of spending time around Asher made my stomach clench so tight that it would have turned breakfast into a weird full English diamond. That, and drinking around him would likely make me regurgitate all the horrible things I wanted to say to him that I usually kept to myself. Everyone around here still loved him, after all.

But I could do it for Laura. Pacing myself and choosing low-alcohol drinks didn't sound like the wild nights I usually enjoyed, but to avoid ruining her birthday, I would.

"I can only speak for myself, but I'll behave," I said.

"And so will he." Laura tapped her feet excitedly on the ground. "I'm so glad you said yes. I wasn't sure."

"Of course I'm coming. This is your last big one until your thirtieth, and by then you'll be too old to want to go out drinking."

"Maybeyouwill." Laura grinned at me as she got up. "Thanks for having a talk with me. Still need those clasps and corners?"

"As soon as you can," I said.

The finishing touches on my grimoires gave them the luxury vibe I charged plenty extra for. Luckily, Laura would make them for me in exchange for taking her out on shopping trips. I shuddered to think how much of her wardrobe had come out of my pocket.

Laura blew me a kiss and headed back to the forge.

As soon as she was out of sight, my smile faltered. I wanted nothing more than to celebrate Laura's birthday with her. But for everyone's sake, I hoped going on a night out with my ex didn't destroy the fabric of my new family.

Chapter 4

Hecate voiced her hunger with a series of loud meows from the comfort of the bed as soon as I got back to my room from having a shower.

"Iknow," I said, pulling on my clothes. "We'll eat when we have lunch with Penny."

My best friend had attended university for the past two years to get a business degree. As a tarot witch, she had an insight into people's personal fates. Which she wished to bake into the pastries and bread of the customers at her future bakery.

She had decided upon the idea when Asher had dragged me out of the dead-end job Penny and I had shared where we met. Running around with Asher to help him with his underhanded dealings had feltmuchbetter than working retail. We had worked together 'acquiring' items for people, both magical and not, and gotten into our fair share of trouble in the process. But perhaps most important of all, Asher had taught me everything I needed to run myownbusiness. Even if it wasn't exactly above board.

Hecate jumped onto my shoulders and curled up as I locked my door. I made my way downstairs, acutely aware I would have to pass the kitchen to get to the garage. Given that Edward worked from home and today was Priya's day off, I had little chance of avoiding them. Talking about Asher's return with Laura was one thing, but I was still angry at Priya, and Edward would just turn it into a joke.

"Bea-" Priya's voice had a pleading edge to it as I strode past the kitchen archway

"Nope!" I pulled open the front door and left.

After the stunt she pulled last night, she could live with a little silent treatment.

In the garage, I hopped on my motorbike and Hecate jumped into the carrier I had secured onto the back especially for her. I thrust my hand into it and rummaged around for anything else she might have stolen.

"Satisfied?"she asked, her tone petulant.

"For now."

I kicked the engine to life and we roared onto the main road, the rumble of the engine easing the tension that gripped every muscle in my body. Rolling my neck, I winced at the nasty crunching sensation it made. Boy, did I need a massage or something. Or maybe just less stress. Although, I wouldn't have said no to both.

I wove around the midday traffic out of Chichester toward a small village called Tangmere off the highway. Slowing for the speed cameras, I spied an old lady walking her dog, and a grandfather pushing a pram. Tangmere was the perfect place to hide the local area's teleportation portal.

While the village itself was sleepy and packed with historical buildings and aircrafts from the Second World War, it had a through road just busy enough to justify the number of cars thatwould queue up to use the portal for their morning commutes. But with midday approaching, the queue was short.

I drove up to the line where the attendant's booth stood, my eyes glazing over as I stared into the swirling pool of magic. About the size of our garden at home, the entire spectrum of colours folded in on each other, enveloping the Kia that drove into it. They had set up the portal on a section of concrete that used to belong to the village's airfield, back when it was war-worthy.

"Next!" The attendant waved me forward.

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