Now that Magda and her friends were finally under arrest, life went back to normal for Robert and Jenna. Well, as much as "normal" was ever an option for them. The Priest and the creature he let out were still on the loose, but there was nothing they could do about it. The MAGE officially thanked them for what they did so far, and not officially asked them to be ready when the time comes. Rose murmured something about being on the Met's and the MAGE's payrolls and somehow still not getting paid.

Ayana was still working on the statue, or rather, was working on a new and stronger one. Marcus was away: he didn't say details, but there was something going on in Egypt apparently and his bosses sent him there. Martin was sure that one of those old mummies went rogue and Robert could only hope that it wasn't the case.

Jenna went back to work as well, but she didn't move back to her apartment. They moved in together out of necessity, but it worked out just well so they decided to leave things as they were, for the moment being. Well, it wasn't entirely true: Robert said now that the danger was over, they should probably talk about their relationship and Jenna immediately took off her T-shirt to distract him. It worked splendidly and an hour or so later she just said that she was "kinda happy or whatnot" and didn't want to change anything, if Robert was okay with that. He was.

Robert himself was still on sabbatical leave, but he didn't mind it anymore. He missed the classroom, sure, but the fact that he lost the ability to use most of the Runes made it uncertain if he would ever return to teaching. But he had months to figure that out: for now on he wanted to concentrate on art. Jenna's gentle support pushed him to draw much more than ever before already, and he felt passionate: he wanted to try new ways and tools and techniques.

And of course, he was working with the little magic he still possessed. He experimented with them and figured out new and exciting uses for the two Runes. The latest idea was flying: while directly affecting the living human body with magic was incredibly hard, he was confident that he could make it work somehow. He got the idea from Ghost: she didn't fly as such, she pushed and pulled things that were stable enough to move herself. Robert tried the same but so far he only managed to damage his surroundings. There must have been a trick or just a thought to keep the magic at bay he didn't find just yet.

With the lack of flying abilities, he had to take his car when he went for a shopping tour to the city. Usually, he tried to avoid using it in Zone One because of the several very creative fees but today he was planning on spending a small fortune anyway, so it didn't really matter. The back seat of his car was already packed with bags full of paints, canvases, brushes and other tools. He even bought a digital drawing tablet.

Covent Garden was one of the most famous and popular tourist centres in London. Now, not even a full month after a horrific terror attack on another famous and popular spot of the city, it was strange to see how many people didn't care about the potential danger. The narrow streets and the actual market building both were flooded with them. Robert saw a few police officers, maybe more than usual, but if The Priest decided to strike here next, that won't be enough.

This was always the Londoner answer for terror and violence: do exactly the same they did before. Some of them said it was a message saying "we aren't afraid" but Robert always thought that it was more like "we aren't smart". Either way, the crowd remained and he had to make his way in it somehow.

It wasn't the first time he caught himself thinking about leaving London. The city had fallen already, the hordes of tourists claimed it for themselves. Maybe it was time to let them have it and leave for a more simple place. Would Jenna consider that? Living in the countryside, or even abroad? She was more Italian than Briton anyway, as she said, maybe she would be happy to live in Italy for a while? Robert knew that he would. Far from London, far from his father and far from the responsibility that being a Montgomery meant.

Well, maybe one day. After they stopped The Priest and put the Goddess back into her statue. Yes, that sounded like a plan. One last city-saving then off he went, to live a simpler life.

But for that last heroic occasion, he needed to be stronger. Now that he tried out his new, limited abilities in action, he could see some room for improvement. And he knew just the place to go.

The shop he was headed for was hiding in an alley, taking place right before a big, Tudor-style building closed the alley turning it into a dead-end. The shop-front couldn't be more simple: above the glass door, there was a black sign, with the name "Fletcher" written on it with elegant golden letters. Next to the door a lunette showed jewellery, gloves, wands and a number of other things all carved, sewed or painted with Runes.

Somewhere deep in the back, a little bell went off as Robert opened the front door to walk in. On his right there was a closed, glass show-case full of necklaces and bracelets and other kinds of jewellery. They were the highest quality, pure silver and gold with diamonds and other gems. And of course, they all were magical in one way or another. Necklaces tended to be amulettes: strong protective spells you can wear with a stylish nightgown. Rings were more practical, a widely accepted way for noble sorcerers to wear their Runes.

On Robert's left side a cabinet with shelves took place. It was the home of the wands: all size from the smalls like a pencil up until the canes Robert liked. All material, too: while wood was the most popular, the shop offered more expensive options. Robert knew that this was where Marcus bought his white-gold and silver wands with the useless and unnecessary diamond inserts.

From the back came a little man. He was older, with declining white hair and big, round glasses. The arms of them were engraved with Runes and even the edge of the lenses had got some. The little man wore a grey waistcoat and a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He looked like a tailor.

'Professor Montgomery, sir!' he said with a happy smile. 'What an unexpected pleasure! Have you already destroyed your new cane?'

As a matter of fact, he had and he wasn't keen to admit that he got his newest one from somewhere else. Mr Fletcher was very proud of his shop and his inventory that he made with his own hands and he never missed to notice if one of the regular customers had a piece on them from another shop.

Robert visited the shop for fifteen years now, and he knew that before Mr Fletcher the keeper was another Mr Fletcher, and again, another one before that. It wasn't clear what kind of relation connected them, all anyone knew was that on this spot there was a shop and a Mr Fletcher for the last couple of centuries.

'Today I had something else in mind,' Robert said. 'First of all, tell me about that necklace there.'

'I'm particularly proud of that one, sir, if I may say. It is very simple, yet powerful, perfect for everyday use. I suppose you are shopping for a lady?'

'A very special lady, yes,' Robert nodded. 'A lady who doesn't like "fancy stuff" as she would say.'

'Then you found what you were looking for, sir,' the shopkeeper said.

The pendant of the necklace wasn't "fancy" at all. It was shaped like a teardrop or more like an egg, with several Runes on the surface. It was a masterpiece indeed, even so simple.

'What powers it?'

'I managed to make the smallest thunder orb and put it into the pendant,' answered Mr Fletcher proudly. 'I had to make some compromises regarding the power but it's still very effective. Only works against spells I'm afraid, but I have some other items you may be interested in that offer physical protection.'

'How effective is "very effective"? Robert asked, still looking at the necklace.

'I have an employee, an ex-soldier, a former "Para" and his entire job description only contains that he has to do everything in his power to breach my defending spells in any magical way possible before they are getting out on the shop front. I don't doubt you could overcome it, sir, but let's face it, you are one in a million. My man couldn't do it.'

Robert knew that Mr Fletcher's man could probably kick his bottom with his eyes closed and one arm tied back as things were for him right now, but that was one of the reasons Robert came here today.

'I will take it,' he said.

'Good choice, sir. Can I interest you in my new ring collection as well?'

'No, I think it is still early for rings,' he said with a smile, 'However, I'd like to take a look at your… Less conventional items. I heard rumours that you have a few things you wouldn't put out in the window.'

Mr Fletcher's white eyebrow ran up. Robert never needed to see those things before. They weren't exactly legal, and they didn't exist, officially.

'I'm running a series of experiments on magical safety,' he lied. 'I want to try out some of those smart little things to see if they are acting the same as normal spells.'

'I see,' the little man nodded. 'Well, I think I have just what you need, as always, if I may add. If you would follow me, sir.'

The little man showed him behind the counter, where a simple grey door led to, Robert assumed, the storage room or the actual workshop. Before he opened this door, Mr Fletcher looked at the one on the front and on his round glasses a few Runes lit up. The door he was looking at locked itself with a discreet clack. The sign which up until this point said "OPEN", now turned to "CLOSED".

'This way, Professor Montgomery, sir,' Mr Fletcher said and opened up the grey door. Behind it was a storage room indeed, with a workbench in one corner, under a lot of lamps that all leaned over the bench in different angles. Next to it stood several cabinets, all full of ingredients. The shop-ready items took place on the other side of the room, boxes of high-quality wands, magically enhanced, heavy metal safes for the jewellery, shelves packed with Runestones and such.

They didn't stop at any of them. Mr Fletcher led Robert to the plain, exposed brick back wall. The little man touched a number of bricks, so quickly Robert couldn't even follow his movements, and the wall opened like a door. Behind it, Robert saw a descending staircase. He didn't think that Mr Fletcher would try to lead him into a trap but wasn't actually keen to go down a suspicious hidden staircase either.

'After you, Professor Montgomery,' said Mr Fletcher politely and that sounded like something a person who wants you to trap under his shop would say. Robert took a deep breath to send his paranoid thoughts away and started to walk down. Even if he was able to use some magic now, his self-doubt and occasional anxiety still liked to visit him at least once a day, just to keep him on his toes. Robert hoped that the things he was about to buy would help him feel safer.

Not even a minute later he arrived in a well lit little landing in front of another door. This one looked thick and heavy, made out of metal and had a few dozens of spells engraved on its surface. Mr Fletcher took out a big, old-fashioned key and put it into the lock. It opened up with a very loud crack, and all the Runes on the door went dark at the same moment.

The place they stepped in was almost as big as Robert's flat. It wasn't really a room, the word vault described it better. The walls were all metal, and there were low showcases in the middle and taller ones along the wall. Those latter ones had armours in them, literal, magical armours, way better ones than Robert's coat, or those the Met gave to his officers, for that matter. They were all knife, bullet and magic-proof yet so light one could wear them under his regular clothes unnoticed. Robert couldn't see any price tags, but he knew that one set of this must cost more than a new car.

Some of the weapons Mr Fletcher offered for sale were so dangerous that people normally needed permission to buy and carry them. Robert didn't have one, but neither did Mr Fletcher for selling them, so they reached an easy arrangement.

'This is not official you see, and I wouldn't show it to anyone, but you are a very old and loyal customer, sir. Look at these items as my hobby, if you will: after a long day on the shop floor I like to sit down and make something that is capable of bringing down a medium-size building and you still can carry it in your pocket.'

As disturbing as the thought itself behind them was, the weapons themselves were impressive.

Magical traps that were strong enough to catch a speeding car, unbreakable handcuffs, bullets that always hit their targets, tubes that looked like a little firework for a birthday cake, but acted like real flamethrowers, daggers that were flying around their masters, killing everyone the master wanted to, cursed everyday items that caused their victims burn injuries, headaches, hallucinations, blindness or even unbearable nightmares… The list was long and dark.

Of course, that was only one of the showcases: another one had potions and poisons for every possible problem, and next to it there were the instant spells, the things Robert was the most interested in.

Most of them looked like those little marbles kids used to play with, except these had smoke in them in different colours instead of a piece of colourful paper. Actual, working spells, suspended in time, waiting to happen. They were called instant spells because one didn't need to be a sorcerer to use them: they activated when the glass that trapped them broke. The catch was that even the simpler and least dangerous ones were forbidden to have for people that weren't sorcerers. Lord Montgomery and his alliances in the Parliament worked hard for years: they couldn't let everyday, simple people have magic. The idea itself scared them to death.

It took more than an hour and a half for Robert to carefully pick up everything he might have needed in the future. He ended up buying things he would most likely never ever use on the ground that better have it and don't need it, than the other way around. He left Mr Fletcher's shop with two huge bags.

Robert knew that Jenna wasn’t dating him for his money, and that was a good thing, because a significant amount of his life savings was now in one of Mr Fletcher’s many handcrafted, professionally enhanced safes.