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They’re all like that, he thought to himself.

He’d heard Grimm griping about FUC enough times to know they had a reputation for arrogance and superiority complexes.

Nari also liked to bemoan the shaggy agents, but Anson found it ironic because she was no more humble than they were.

It was clear Nari thought she knew everything.

FUC or ASS, the agents he met all had that air about them.

Anson stopped himself from rolling his eyes at the thought.

Her eagle eyes would catch the gesture and jump on him for it, and though he bet she’d look really cute when angry, Anson decided not to test her patience for the time being.

“The look that means you have a lot on your mind. It might help you to talk about it,” Nari said with a shrug that he thought meant to convey indifference.

His ears prickled at the slight change in the tone of her voice, as though her pretense of friendliness was slipping.

He kept his face impassive, but suspicion swirled inside of him.

Is this an interrogation tactic? Anson’s mental wall slid back up to protect him. He’d rather share his deep and dark thoughts with an actual snake. He redirected the conversation. “It would help if I could eat.”

“I know, I know, you said it enough times. ‘As a shrew shifter, I need lots of calories a day.’” She pulled out a silver-foil-wrapped burger and handed it over. The delicious scent wafted over to him, and his stomach growled in response. Without another word, he snatched the burger.

“There’s four more where that came from and some fries too…” Her voice trailed off as Anson focused fully on unwrapping the burger and chowing down.

He’d finished in a few bites before returning to his senses. Nari had apparently been watching him as she sipped from the straw of the fountain drink, making her best duck face, before pulling another silver wrapper from the bag. She unwrapped the hamburger and took a bite.

Nari’s eyes hardly left his face, as if searching for what he wasn’t saying. She said nothing, yet kept her eyes on him as she dug into her food. She looked every bit the bird of prey nibbling on a carcass in her talons.

Anxious for her to stop looking at him like she was trying to read his thoughts, he threw out the first excuse that came to mind.

“What is the plan here? Are you expecting me to take you to Grimm’s lair?

Because I gotta be honest. Firstly, I don’t have any idea where he’s moved to, and secondly, I think it would be a really bad idea for you to go up against him on your own.

At any time, he could have a ton of people working for him, ready to take down agents like you.

” Anson riffled through the paper bag, ignoring the dark patches of grease spreading on its surface like a rash.

He pulled out a container filled with yellow fries. Their salty scent made his mouth water.

“How about I worry about me, and you worry about finding Grimm. You don’t know where he moved to, but word has it that you’re good at tracking. So track.”

“Rumors of my prowess may have been overexaggerated,” he admitted before stuffing a handful of fries into his mouth. His stomach grumbled its approval. High-calorie food was heaven to him. Especially when he was starving.

“Good to know.” Her delicate chin tilted toward the ceiling. She looked deep in thought. Her face was the perfect size for Anson to cup it with his hands, to hold her close and...

He banished the thought as quickly as it popped into his brain. If she noted the change coming across his face, she didn’t let on. Anson unwrapped his second burger and took a large bite. He couldn’t possibly think of how cute Nari looked if he was busy focusing on his food.

“I should go back to my house,” he finally suggested. “If I have access to my encrypted network, I can see if Grimm has sent me any messages.” Grimm hadn’t reached out to Anson via cell phone, most likely staying silent to avoid giving FUC any possibility of tracking him.

“Not alone, you’re not. I’m not letting you give me the slip.”

“Fine.” The butterflies in his stomach coalesced into a ball of heavy concrete.

Nari wasn’t exactly his friend, and if he took her back to his place, there would be no turning back.

What if he gave up too much? What would Dr. Grimm do to Ariel if he found out Anson was working with an ASS agent? The thought made him nauseous.

“Where is it?” she asked.

“It’s a few towns over, maybe an hour or two from here.

” Sharing that much felt like he was giving up too much information.

Though, if he told Nari about his house, he had to tell her where it was.

Still, he hung his head. It was a step he couldn’t turn back from, and one that had him feeling like he betrayed Dr. Grimm.

Would his sister still be safe if the evil scientist knew he was providing an ASS agent with real information?

Or was he playing with fire, risking Ariel’s life?

He’d seen some of Grimm’s experiments. They were messed up, some of them unable to be a part of regular society again.

If he did that to Ariel… Anson realized Nari was looking at him as if waiting for a response. “Did you say something?”

She snorted out a laugh. “I said we’ll head there tomorrow morning. That gives us the night to lay low here in hopes of not running into any FUC when we get back on the road.” She polished off the rest of her hamburger before pulling out her container of fries.

“Yeah, the sooner, the better.” Anson put his food down.

Thoughts of his sister becoming one of the doctor’s mutated experiments had him losing his appetite.

The ball of anxiety in his stomach weighed heavily, feeling more like he’d eaten concrete.

He started wiping unseen dirt off his pants, hardly noticing he was doing it.

Dr. Grimm had taken Ariel over three months ago. What shape would she be in when Anson found her?

If he found her.