Page 17

Chapter 17

" W ell hello madame, may I escort you to your carriage?" Edward jumped away from his car and descended into a bow as he caught sight of Penny and me approaching.

Penny giggled, a blush creeping from her cheeks all the way down her neck, and she took Edward's outstretched hand. I rolled my eyes and made my way around to the other side of the car as he opened her door for her and helped her inside. Apparently some things could be cute and gross at the same time. Well, I knew that already, considering the piles of cat puke I sometimes happened across when Hecate wasn't feeling well.

I could get lost in my thoughts with Edward and Penny chatting each other up the entire ride home. Hecate curled up in my lap to sleep. Considering we had work to do that night, I couldn't fault her decision.

My promise to make dinner that night ricocheted through my plans to get ready for the home invasion the moment we stepped in the door. Instead of heading upstairs to maybe take a nap and strategise, I cooked chilli in the kitchen while Edward and Penny flirted across the kitchen table.

Once I called everyone down for dinner, I all but shovelled the contents of my plate down my throat. Not only did I have things to do, but being in Asher's presence was still too uncomfortable to bear for long.

"Have you not eaten today?" Laura asked, chuckling at me from down the table.

"She had lunch," Penny said.

"I'm just... behind on a commission," I said in between bites. "Got to get a book finished by the end of the week."

"So you're not joining us for movie night?" Edward asked, pulling an expression that reeked of false innocence.

"No," I said, flatly. "You can have your girlfriend all to yourself."

"Oh, stop it." Penny flushed and dug into her dinner.

"Ouch, Hec!" I hissed, as a shooting pain lanced my ankle. Hecate spat and growled for a second until I lifted my foot. Shoot. I had accidentally stepped on her tail in the dark.

Making my way down the stairs in pitch blackness wasn't exactly easy, but when Hecate insisted on zigzagging down in front of me, she made it harder still. I couldn't risk waking anyone up by turning on a light. Last time someone knew I had snuck out, Asher had stopped me getting a power.

"Can you look where you're going?" Hecate grumbled.

"I can't see , so no. Keep away from my feet and you won't get smushed."

"You're a bumbling ape."

"Listen, you sentient ball of fluff," I muttered, as I grasped the banister to shimmy down the stairs. "If you don't want to see another piece of fish again for a month, you carry on mouthing off."

Hecate didn't respond but I could only imagine she had given me some sort of offensive nonverbal sign in the dark.

With my sight basically written off, I focused on listening for anyone getting up. But as we made our way to the garage door, nobody uttered a peep upstairs. With any luck, if my bike woke anyone up, we would be long gone if they decided to investigate.

I slipped into the garage, leaving the door open for Hecate until I felt the brush off her fluff against my ankles. But before I had even shut it behind us, the light flicked on. My heart tried to leap out of my chest and I stumbled back against the door, slamming it closed. I slapped my hands against it to steady myself, and searched the garage for who had turned on the light switch.

Asher strolled next to my bike, raising his eyebrows at Hecate whose fur stood on end, poised to attack.

"Going somewhere?" he asked.

"Okay, that's it." I strode up to him, stepping awkwardly over Hecate who refused to get out of the way, and stared up at him with my fiercest expression. "I've had it with you."

"I'd never have guessed." Did he emphasise his Scottish drawl just to sound sexier?

"Shut up." I thrust a finger into his face. "You're going to go back upstairs and forget you even saw me. I've got something important to do and you will not stand in my way. You don't get to show up here and disrupt my life after everything you've done."

Asher folded his arms, putting a welcome barrier between the two of us. "You're being reckless."

"And that's not your problem. So leave."

"Yeah, it is my problem. This isn't just about you , you know. If you get arrested then everyone in this house could get roped into your issues.," he said.

"Right. Because that's why you stepped in last night." I snorted.

Asher threw his hands out, his eyes widening. "Uh, hello? I'm not going to just let someone assault you."

"It's. Not. Your. Problem," I said, annunciating every word so clearly that he couldn't possibly misunderstand. "You need to stay the hell out of my life because I can't handle this."

"What? Someone watching out for you?" Sarcasm leaked into his tone and I wanted so badly to give him a shove.

" You being all up in my business. You opted out of that, remember? So back off and let me do my job." I gave in and shoved past him to get to my bike, but he stood in front of it, re-folding his arms.

I twitched as Hecate leapt up Asher's chest and he instinctively curled his arms to catch her. She pressed a paw to Asher's cheek and his eyes glazed over.

What would she even need to tell him? I was doing fine fighting my own battle.

"Wait." Asher paused as his eyes slowly focused again. "You're chasing the prophecy again?"

Are you serious? I mouthed at Hecate. What was she thinking telling Asher something that important?

"I thought..." Asher's arms fell as Hecate jumped out of his arms and wound herself around my legs. Way to suck up after dropping that bombshell. "Bea, I thought you decided you didn't need to know?"

I had never felt that way. No matter how hard I tried to convince myself that I did, the urge to discover my prophecy still burned like an ember in the pit of my stomach. When my life had more security and...happiness, I could ignore it more easily.

"Maybe I don't feel like that anymore." I picked up my bike helmet and wiped a muddy spot off the visor. "But again, it's none of your business. So get out of my way or I'll run you over."

I expected Asher to snort or make some other derisive action. Instead he stood there, gaping like a befuddled goldfish.

"I'm coming with you." After a moment, he marched over to my bike and threw his leg over the back.

"You are not ." I shoved him, but he barely budged. "Get off."

Hecate jumped into her case and stared at me with her starry eyes. "Let him come. We need all the help we can get."

"You be quiet. You're already on thin ice tonight," I said.

Why was Hecate ganging up on me with Asher ?

"Let me put it this way." Asher leaned forward on his hands, a smug satisfaction seeping into his eyes. "Either I come with you, or I wake everyone up in this house to stop you. What's it going to be?"

My jaw cracked, and a liquid rage lit up my veins. I glared at his infuriating face, wanting in equal measure to punch it and kiss it.

I jammed the helmet over my head to conceal my face. Great. Now I had no choice but to pilfer a rich boy's power with my ex. Could this day get any better?