Page 59 of Outlaw Witch

Before I can take more than one step, there’s a ‘whooshing’ sound as air kisses my neck. Just the world goes topsy-turvy as I’m bodily tackled to the ground.

By Mindy.

Her very large white teeth are then all up in my business as I lay panting on the hard stone floor. My ass and hip feel bruised, but otherwise, I’m unharmed.

“What the hell was that?” I don’t move since there’s still a jaguar with its massive paws on my chest and I don’t want to insult her by shoving her off.

“That was... er, Mindy saving your ass, I think.” Roscoe whistles and I’m released from the big cat’s weight. Sitting up gingerly and rubbing my sore butt, I glance over to see what he’s talking about.

Which is when I spot the sword. And the chunk of my hair floating to the ground.

The statue tried to chop my head off.

The statue gotincredibly closeto chopping my head off.

Holy shit.

I twist again, trying to see if it’s now sneaking up behind me. Instead, I spot it back in position beside the door.

Quirking an eyebrow at Roscoe, I push to my feet. “We’re going to have to try that again, aren’t we?”

He nods, looking as serious as I’ve seen him. “Looks like it’s not actually sentient. It just followed our movement.”

“And how do you propose we get around that?”

“I’m guessing it didn’t go after Mindy because it follows heat as well as movement. I’ll just whip out a bunch of illusions with their own heat signature and we’ll make a run for it while the statue’s distracted.”

I blink in surprise at his quick thinking. It’s as good a plan as any. Dusting myself off, I let Roscoe grab my hand, ready for the two of us to make a run for it.

Our second attempt is a lot more successful. Roscoe summons a dozen clones of himself and they all begin dancing around the statue, shaking their asses as it swipes at them with the sword.

I don’t have time to appreciate the insane scene in front of me. Instead, we both make a run for it.

We plow right through the door, dodging the statues and not stopping until we’re safely on the other side. We then find ourselves inside a narrow corridor with stone floors and walls. It’s dark as hell through here and Roscoe keeps a firm grip on my hand as we make our way further along, down a narrow passageway that feels creepy as hell. Judging by the spiderwebs and dust, it looks like no one’s been down here in centuries.

“Was the terrifying statue sentry not included in the information your underlings found out for you?” I ask, still panting and wafting my shirt away from my sweaty back.

Roscoe rubs the back of his neck, glancing at me only briefly before looking away. “Uh, well, there wasn’t exactly a huge amount of information once we got through the first set of doors. It seems like no one’s gotten this far before. Don’t worry though—” He squeezes my arm. “I figured we’d feel our way through.”

“Feel... fffffuck,” I stammer. Although if it was left up to me, I don’t think I’d even have gotten this far.

We creep further along at a snail's pace, scanning for more wards or booby traps.

I don’t know about you, but nearly getting decapitated makes me kind of leery. My palms and the soles of my feet are both sweaty as hell and I shove my hands in my pockets to stop them from shaking.

“You’ve done this kind of thing before though, right?”

He smirks at me. “Oh baby, I’ve been breaking into places since I could walk.”

I shake my head at him, hoping that he’s not bullshitting me. Something tells me we could really do with that level of experience right now.

The passageway steadily grows cooler and more airless the further we walk. It also feels like the floor isn’t level and we’re descending deeper below the library and the city.

“You scared of the dark, sweetheart?” Roscoe murmurs.

“Nope,” I reply. Although I can’t say I’d be happy coming down here on my own. His hand is still firmly wrapped around mine, and it’s comforting in a way I wouldn’t have expected.

“Zeph would hate this,” he continues. “He’s not a big fan of small spaces. Or the dark. Or grapes. Never understood that last one, myself.”

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