Page 4

Chapter 4

H ecate 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.

"I know ," 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 felt much better 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 my own business. 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 that would 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.

I drove straight into the glob of magic and was immediately accosted by winds that whipped at my leathers, sending multicoloured hues like an oil slick dancing across them. Roaring out the other side into a field, I skidded a little as my concentration lapsed. Hecate mewled indignantly over the hum of the engine.

"Sorry," I said, loudly.

The attendant on the other side pointed me toward the gate onto a country road. But in the distance, I could see my target location: Cambridge. After a few minutes of traversing the smaller roads, we sped down the city's fancy streets, weaving around cars with a much higher price point than back home.

Alongside the humans' prestigious university, Cambridge also held the most popular of the UK's few magical universities: Astra. It had an open door policy, making its library open to the public, and free tuition. For that reason, Penny tried to talk me into signing up at every opportunity.

I couldn't deny having thought about it a few times, and even logged onto the website to look at some courses. But I barely had time for all the commissions coming in as it was. Trying to earn a degree on the side would seriously dent my income.

I soaked in the regal vibes of the city until I reached Astra's car park. Whatever humans saw when they passed this place, it wasn't a university. Astra was heavily cloaked with magic, and any human who came near it would find themselves distracted with something irresistible in the other direction. Magical hallucinations were wild.

Once I parked up and removed my helmet, Hecate jumped back onto my shoulders. I stowed my helmet in her carrier and locked it up.

"Are you going to behave around Penny?" I asked, as I headed toward the glassy building. "Stealing from Laura is one thing, but-"

Hecate pressed a giant paw across my mouth. "Penny is special. Don't treat me like a child."

"Maybe don't act like one then," I said, flinching as she batted my cheek with a clawless paw.

I smirked as Hecate took her paws away. She had a soft spot for Penny, who had the day-to-day demeanour of someone who had just won the lottery. Hecate's refusal to steal from her had come about when she stole Penny's keys. This had quickly caused Penny to panic and cry because her mum would get angry with her.

I had never seen her give anything back before, let alone so quickly. Ever since, Penny had become the only member on Hecate's 'do not steal' list. I had hoped the experience would make Hecate consider her kleptomaniac ways more carefully, but no such luck.

We stepped through the revolving doors into the entrance atrium of the university, and as was habit for me, I craned my neck against Hecate's body to look up at the ceiling multiple storeys above. A galaxy swirled up there; a glorious feat of magic that gave me the sensation of flying through space. I decided all the time that I would sign up to a degree just to see it every day. But I had never said so in front of Penny.

Lifts and escalators carried students and teachers up to the countless floors above, the corridors winding around the outskirts of the atrium. I had once seen someone drop their phone from the fifth floor by accident and it had suspended feet above the heads of the people walking below. The safety magic in place made me want to jump off the top floor just for kicks.

I took the escalator up to the second floor and headed for one of the many cafeterias in the university, and our collective favourite, after having tried and tested them all. It had booths, like 1950s diners used to have, and I ordered a pot of tea and pastries before taking up our usual spot at the back of the cafeteria.

Hecate put her two front paws on the window and peered out across the array of gardens below, complete with lunch tables for socialising and study spots, and an abundance of flowery bushes that were in perpetual bloom. Considering how much work went on here, it made sense to have a serene environment for everyone to chill out in. Penny was always flustering about one final or another.

"So you made it." Penny slid into the booth with her satchel in hand, snapping me from my daydream. "I wasn't sure after your late night."

She flipped several locks of blonde hair over her shoulder with a hand adorned with rings. Penny's aesthetic naturally leaned into her status as a tarot witch; bright colours, handmade clothes, and handcrafted jewellery. The ying-yang necklace around her neck was a gift from me for her birthday and I had never seen her without it since.

I smiled weakly at her comment. Penny was the only person who knew about my escapades, given that everyone I lived with would have tried to talk me out of them. Well, everyone except Hecate who encouraged the chaos.

"Did you have any luck?" she asked.

Grabbing my croissant, I bit off a chunk and chewed it before answering her. This wouldn't be easy to talk about.

"It was a setup," I said. "She conjured an illusion instead of actually being there, just to tell me to stop following her."

"How is she-? I can't even with that-. Ugh!" Penny set down the teapot so hard the table rattled. "Who does she think she is keeping such an important secret from you? I can understand the Bishops doing that but prophets are supposed to have more sound morals than that."

Supposed to.

"I don't know," I said, as Hecate jumped up on the table and into Penny's lap to welcome her. Penny gathered her up in both arms and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "But the more she tries to keep it from me, the more I want to find out."

Each time Romilda evaded me, the urgency to know grew within me, and I felt one step closer to losing my mind. But breaking focus would allow her to weasel even further out of my grasp. I had to keep a level head.

"So, what's the plan now?" Penny asked, sipping her tea carefully over Hecate. "Oh, wait!"

She put down her tea and stuck her hand into her satchel, retrieving a deck of tarot cards. I chewed more croissant, watching her shuffle the deck while eyeing me with what looked like threatening optimism.

"Let me guess. The cards will know," I said.

"They certainly will. If nothing else, they will point you in the right direction," Penny said.

"Don't you want to get a new deck?" I asked, noticing the torn edges and folded ears of some cards.

"I wish. I could barely afford this one."

I helped her clear some space on the table as she drew three cards, which was typical of a quick reading for her. If I wanted the real deal, Penny needed squashy cushions, silence, and incense... and perhaps a cookie.

"Now, let's see. How is Bea doing at the present moment?" Penny flipped over the first card and sucked her teeth. "The High Priestess in reverse," she said. "A lack of centre and repressed feelings."

I drank some tea to cover my face with the teacup. Those things were annoyingly accurate.

"After last night, I can't say I feel great about my centre right now," I said. "What else?"

Penny cleared her throat and stroked Hecate a little before placing a finger on the next card. "How should Bea go about the next steps?" She turned over the card, and I nearly choked on my croissant. The Lovers .

"Ugh," I said, and turned the card back over. "Next, please."

"Oh, don't be silly, it doesn't mean... him ," Penny said. "Can I say his name yet?"

"No."

"Fine. It doesn't have to mean that kind of partnership, just an alliance maybe. You might need someone's help to get the answers you need."

"Not Asher's."

"Oh, so you can say his name?" Penny said, rolling her eyes.

"So I can spit it onto the floor, yeah. Anyway, what's next?" I asked.

Rearranging Hecate in her arms, Penny placed a finger on the final card. "Will Bea achieve what she is hoping to achieve?"

Penny made to turn the card over but out of the corner of my eye, I spotted something moving toward us at a speed too quick to be good news. I turned my head to watch as a whirl of magic shot toward our table.