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“How’s that for a Grampalicious?”

* * *

I stood in the lobby of Sloane’s building, hands shoved into my hoodie pocket as Ari and Camden both lugged blanket-covered cages filled with rats through the side entrance. I didn’t know how, but Lincoln had somehow procured hundreds of them, and I shivered listening to their tiny claws skitter across the plastic. Ari was muttering to himself, his shoulders hunched like he was bracing for battle.

“You know what? I prefer Fifi,” Ari hissed. “At least she isn’t a rodent. Did you know these things spread the Black Plague? We could be doing that right now!” He peered around the blanket as if a rat was going to jump out and get him right then and there.

Camden smirked. “You mean Fluffy, andFluffywas ahe. Lancaster, it’s not hard to figure out what happened that night. You obviously offended the poor guy. Your big toe was his only option.” He sighed as we stepped into the elevator, and I punched in Sloane’s code. “But I agree, ‘dogs’ are definitely better than rats.”

“You said ‘dogs’ weird again,” Ari muttered as he stared at the cage he was holding. “These things are practically cats with tails. I saw them looking at me in the car. They’ve got murder in their eyes.”

“Rats don’t commit murder,” I said, sighing exasperatedly. “They’re more of a ‘scurry and scatter’ kind of creature. But also, quit talking about that night with Geraldine’s dogs, it triggers my PTSD.”

Camden smirked at me. “I don’t know, Rookie, seems like a good time if it was immortalized in stone.”

Ari growled at him and then shot us both glares. “Can we please not talk about Geraldine right now? We’re on a break until she starts appreciating me.” He winced as he adjusted his grip on his cage. “Also, you owe me for this. I’ll accept steak and tacos dinners for a year.”

“The only thing you want is steak and tacos?” Camden asked incredulously.

“Deal,” I muttered, glancing at my phone and checking the camera in Sloane’s necklace to make sure she was still out shopping with Olivia.

I grinned when the camera showed a rack of lingerie. Now,thatwas my kind of shopping.

“I want steak and tacos too,” Camden said and my smirk faded.

“Remember that whole thing about you owing me for the rest of my life after helping you get Anastasia?” I asked, raising an eyebrow as I tried not to think about…that night.

“Worth a try.” Camden shrugged.

We slipped into the condo, Ari trailing behind us, struggling with the cage he was holding, looking like he was ready to bolt at the first sign of trouble.

The place was immaculate, as always. Light filtered through the tall windows, bouncing off the sleek furniture and polished floors. My gaze instinctively flicked toward her paint studio, the one part of the condo that truly felt like her. I’d promised myself I wouldn’t let anything happen to it, and I intended to keep that promise. I strode down the hallway and closed the studio door.

Ari looked at the cage like it contained a ticking bomb. “How exactly are we releasing these things? Because I am not sticking my hand in there.”

“You just open the door and let them do their thing,” Camden said, lifting the blanket to reveal a cage full of beady-eyed creatures pressing against the bars. “They’re just…rats.”

“Says the guy who wasn’t locked in a shed with one as a kid,” Ari shot back, shivering. “You think they're just rats…until they turn on you.”

“Why is that story just now coming out?” Camden asked. “It almost seems like you made it up, Lancaster.”

Ari huffed. “I prefer not to talk about my trauma, Hero,” he said primly. “Rookie, these are your rats and your plan. You come open this cage.”

I snorted as I walked over.

Camden rolled his eyes and flipped the latch, tipping the cage on its side. “They’re not going to bite you. Probably.” The rats hesitated for a moment before scurrying out, their tiny claws clicking against the hardwood floors. Ari jumped back with a strangled noise, nearly tripping over the ottoman.

“Sweet mother of—get them away from me!”

Camden doubled over laughing, clutching his stomach until a rat ran over his shoe. “Ahh!” he screeched, jumping onto a barstool.

“You’re not laughing now. Are you, Hero?” Ari snapped, darting to the other side of the room.

“Did you see the size of that thing?” Camden yelped, pointing toward the couch where the rat had disappeared. “It’s a monster.”

I shook my head, trying to ignore my queasiness as I opened the other cage, and the rats scurried out. They were already exploring, darting under the couch and disappearing behind the TV stand. One particularly bold rodent climbed onto the coffee table, sniffing the air.

“Where did Lincoln even get all these rats?” I asked as I backed toward the elevator. “There’s like a hundred of them.”