Page 62 of Outlaw Witch

Then my foot goes to reach the next rung, but there’s nothing there.

I dangle in the dead air, my heart pounding.

My fingers slip off the ladder, slick with sweat, and then I’m falling backward.

Into a pair of strong arms.

Thank fuck.

I’m hoisted gracelessly into the air and then carefully deposited on the ground like a wobbly sack of potatoes. “You all good, honey?”

Apart from nearly peeing my pants in fright. “All in one piece,” I rasp, wiping my sweaty hands on my pants before Roscoe threads our fingers together and pulls me into a small, dimly lit room. The smell of dust in here nearly makes me choke, but I have to say it looks promising.

All the shelves are laden with heavy, thickly bound books.

“Vampiric Lore: Myths, Mysteries and Marvels,” Roscoe says, reading off the nearest book title. “Hey look, this one’s called, ‘Vampiric Curses and The Taint.” He giggles like a twelve-year-old, holding it out to me.

I flick through the book, snapping photos with my phone as I skim through the information as quickly as possible. It feels like it took us hours to get down here and we don’t have an endless amount of time before someone notices our presence.

While I’m busy, Roscoe pulls out random handfuls of books and goes through them.

“Ooh, this one’s got a lot of sexy pictures and alotof stuff about turning young virgins by moonlight. I don’t know whether to be grossed out or turned on right now.”

Then a couple of minutes later. “Ergh, did you know what happens to a vamp that can’t feed? It’s nasty. Look.” He thrusts the book in my face.

A few minutes after that. “There’s some really gross stuff in this one too. Did you know there’s a curse that can mess up their immortality and make them continue to age? They’ll stay alive but keep on aging forever until they’re basically a gross, walking husk. Wild, baby. This is all wild.”

I scrunch my eyebrows together, torn between listening and ignoring him. It must be exhausting being inside Roscoe’s brain. The guy has a lot of thoughts all happening at once.

Alotof thoughts.

“Anything else about curses?” I ask, peering up from my own book and fighting a sneeze.

“Nah, nothing else.”

I turn to my new librarian friend and try not to move my lips as I ask, ”Any suggestions?”

“Hmm.” She taps her chin. “That one on the far right there is—”

I reach my hand out and grab it before she can finish the sentence.

Which turns out to be a mistake.

A big one.

“—covered by its own security measures that stops anyone taking it away.”

The words hang in the air as a black cage forms around me. It’s opaque and solid. Impenetrable.

“Oh, shit.” I slam my hands against the walls, and it’s like slapping solid steel.

I’m trapped.

“Why the hell do they have this on the shelves if you can’t touch it?” I hiss.

“It’s dangerous,” the ghost lectures me. Apparently,shecan move through the impenetrable walls. “Full of information that no vampire will want getting into general circulation.”

Dammit. I bet the book still clutched in my hand is the exact one we need.

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