Page 42 of Outlaw Witch

I pull my magic back into myself and turn over in bed, finally giving in to sleep. It’s been a long couple of days and something tells me things are only going to get worse from here.

13

Roscoe

Somehow, later thesame day Silver moves into our building, I wind up giving our delightful new neighbor a tour of the district. I don’t really know how I persuade Silver to come out with me, considering she seems kind of tired and not all that chatty. But Fabian doesn’t get out much and Z likes to curb my freedom when we head out together. Plus, I feel kinda bad we’re making her live here, so I figure the least I can do is familiarize her with the place I’ve lived my entire life.

I mean, it’s not like I feelbadbad. Not bad enough to have her go home to that total shithole every night. We need her close by, spending every free minute helping Fabian.

Apart from the free minutes I’m stealing for myself, like the next couple of hours.

What can I say? I like her pretty eyes. It’s like I’ve got a new toy just out of the box. One that’s not already sick of my shit.

We’re going to get alonggreat.I can just feel it.

We wander along with no clear destination in mind, passing through the busy streets. It’s early and things will only start to liven up once the sun goes down. Right now, it looks like any other street in any other district. Except there’s this raw energy in the air that you don’t get anywhere else. Symbols and runes mark the pavements and Silver deftly avoids each of them. You find them for absolutely everything. Anti theft and anti-haggling are two of the most common ones around here. Neon signs flicker, warring against the mild sunshine and bathing the mismatched storefronts in colored light. People walk with purpose around here, even the ones who don’t have anywhere in particular to go have this keen awareness to them, like they're expecting to get pickpocketed any minute.

I love it. Which means I can’t help bounding along, pointing out random things.

It’s unlikely anyone would get robbed out here in the open, though. Most of the pickpockets hang around near the Luminary District. Those idiots are never on their guard. They think everything is sunshine and rainbows and are always opening their wallets and practically letting the cash fall out.

So damn easy for a few notes to find their way up someone’s sleeve and into my pocket.

I like to go over that way every so often, just to test my skills and I always wind up with a buzz like no other.

It’s not evening yet but there are already people laughing and chanting and spilling from the tavern doors along with the scent of beer and cooked meat.

It’s a good kind of chaos and I feel the hum of it under my skin.

“Everything you might need,” I say with a wave of my hand. I use my other hand to grab onto Silver’s, threading our fingers together. I can’t seem to stop touching her.

“We have stores selling anything you might want. Clothes, potions, whatever. If you need new furniture to make your apartment feel more like home, you can get them from the next street. You can even get artifacts if you need them. No need to go around stealing any.” I grin and she rolls her eyes at me.

She doesn’t say anything though, doesn’t yank her hand away either, which is kind of a surprise. I’m still half expecting her to run away like a frightened bunny again if she gets the chance.

“What’s the deal with all the places without signs?” she asks. “I’ve always wondered, but people around here don’t tend to like you asking questions.”

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