He huffs in a way that tells me he should have guessed that. For … reasons, I guess? I have no idea what an Aries is supposed to be like, but I’m guessing it’s Perry.

“For fuck’s sake,” Lars mutters before handing over his phone.

Your luck is here, Aries! You’ve had a rocky few days, and you’re in for a close call or two, but you’re finally on the right path. Today is your day to ask for what you want, knowing it will be a yes. It’s time to take those yeses and spin them into gold, the way only you can do!

Close call or two? Ask for what you want?

Well, if that’s not specific enough for us, nothing is.

Lars is watching me, and I shrug. “We did say if it was relevant …”

“Well, fuck me.” Lars pulls a small set of keys out of his pocket and walks over to Perry. Before he unlocks the handcuffs, he spends a moment patting down his jeans—I’m assuming to make sure he doesn’t have a weapon on him.

“What is it?” Perry asks. “What did it say?”

“Today’s your lucky day.”

His whole face lights up. “I knew it. I had a feeling about today.”

Lars gives a wild look to the back of Perry’s head as he moves around to unlock the cuffs. “You had a feeling you were going to be shot at?”

“Of course not. I just woke up knowing I was going to like today.”

“You like being shot at and handcuffed to a chair?”

Perry, rubbing his suddenly free wrists, scowls. “You know, it’s like you’re deliberately misunderstanding me.”

“Why would I do that?” Lars flicks a look my way. “We’re friends now.”

“Really?”

I swear it’s killing Lars not to say no. “Well, we’ll see.”

Perry stands, hands stretching high overhead, wrists red raw. Then he reaches for the cup of water and takes a long sip. “Okay, so first, I need to be fed and to get out of these pants. After that, we work out what to do next.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

PERRY

Lars, being the great guy that he is, heads down to the cafe to pick up my backpack. His plan is to tell whoever’s working that I’m sick and not to expect me for a few days, but I don’t see how we’re going to unravel a whole-ass wannabe murder plot in that time.

Which means there is a very high likelihood that I’m going to lose my favorite job ever.

Maybe this is the universe’s way of getting even with me.