"Last summer," he said. "I woke up four-years-old, the day I was burned." The day his parents, his whole way of life, died. Grey had been there, that day, had comforted him and tried to ease the burns on his back. Aurora, Curtis. He'd had friends who'd eased his sufferings, unlike when it had truly happened.

Trying not to thin too deeply on any of it, Rat headed toward his building.