shook, and the stench of carrion breath washed over us, trailed by the sound
of claws scrabbling against the stone.
“It sounds stuck,” Savannah said as we wound up the stairs and emerged
in a long cave that served as a wine cellar. Relentless scratching and grunting
echoed up the stairwell, but it didn’t draw any closer. The basilisk was
wedged. For now.
Savannah bent forward and braced her hands on her knees. “Thank God
the stairs down there are narrow. I really hope there’s a way out the front
door.”
To my surprise, her scent wasn’t fear, but rather elation—the thrill of the
chase. I inhaled deeply, delighting in her. “Nice move with the shadows. You
saved my ass.”
“It’s a nice ass. Where the hell are we?” she asked, breast heaving. I had
to tear my eyes away from the sheen of sweat that glistened hypnotically on
her chest.
Amal traced the thousands of gouges that covered the stone wall. “In
some old, hand-cut Etruscan caves. A lot of the buildings here use them for
storage. Speaking of which…”
She pulled a silver case from her pack and clipped it on her belt, then
passed one to Savannah. “This is a potion bomb cartridge. Just flip the lid to
pull one out. They’re labeled – firebomb, shockbomb, and stunner. I should
have passed it out earlier.”
“Yeesss,” Savannah said. “I’ve heard of those.”
Potion bombs were unstable, designed to break on impact, and they didn’t
play together nicely. I gritted my teeth. “Are you insane, running around with
those?”
Amal shrugged. “The cases are pretty rugged.”
I placed my hand on Savannah’s arm. “Emergency use only.”
However, I was pretty sure my warning completely missed the mark.
Savannah had an eager gleam in her eyes that reminded me of her half-mad