Page 58 of Outlaw Witch

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“Shit, there’s anotherward. That one wasn’t on the plan,” Roscoe mutters as we finally reach what he assures me is the last door between us and the entrance to the forbidden archives. He once again activates the rune on his forearm that disables the ward almost instantly.

Getting this far has been no joke. We had to pass through wards upon wards and at least three locked steel doors before we got anywhere close to infiltrating the place. The entrance to the place was hidden way down in the basement of the city library, and the staircase down to it was under an incredibly powerful illusion spell that even Roscoe struggled to break. And then Roscoe spotted at least five different dummy entrances protected by some nasty hexes before we found the correct way inside.

Whoever designed this place, they didnotwant people stumbling across it.

“Hey, is it just me or is that statue watching us?”

I glance at Roscoe, then to the statue. It’s situated at the side ofthedoor, like a creepy sentry.

Dammit.

Roscoe begins unbuttoning his shirt, and I put a hand out to touch his wrist.

“Not sure this situation calls for nudity, buddy.”

He winks at me. “Oh, but so many situations do, sweetheart. You’d be surprised.” He continues to unbutton his shirt, revealing his bare chest. He then mutters something, tapping his skin, and I jump as a black jaguar appears out of nowhere.

A jaguar. Gleaming eyes. Muscular body. Big teeth.

Holy shit, Roscoe just summoned a jaguar out of his chest.

“How did I not know you could do that?”

I’d noticed the tattoo, of course. I just didn’t realize it was a rune, like most of the others, covering his body with their thick, dark lines.

My magic surges up inside me, just begging to soak down this particular trick and I only just manage to keep a handle on it. Me wandering around with my very own pet big cat would be a dead giveaway that I’m more than I seem to be.

“This is Mindy,” he says with a smirk, petting the purring cat on its head. “We’ll get her to go first. She can deal with the statues if they’re as creepy as they look. If they try to attack her, we’ll know they’re actually a threat.”

I glance at the statues and then at the jaguar and nod vigorously. “Yeah, that seems like a good plan.”

Roscoe mutters something to her and ‘Mindy’ charges forward, ready to do battle against one of the statues. As if her movement has activated it, the thing moves with startling speed. It does a kind of kung-fu move that’s both unsettling and weird as fuck to see in a statue.

And then it draws out a sword.

“Uh, Roscoe, pretty sure your pussy isn’t a match for a weapon that big or sharp,” I tell him.

He smirks at me. “Pretty sure she’s not an actual cat, Silver. Nice use of innuendo though, I appreciate it.”

“Pretty sure you’re a—” I don’t even know what witty comeback I was about to make, but I’m distracted mid-sentence by Mindy barrelling into the statue. It stumbles, but only slightly, continuing to stride forward with formidable single-mindedness.

“Do we leave Mindy to it and try the door?”

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