Chapter 143

The tremendous squeaking of rats sent a chill crawling over every inch of Matthew's skin.

Having become, somehow, quite knowledgeable about rats, Matthew could tell from the sound alone that there had to be at least a hundred of them crammed inside Janice's room.

He'd hoped his guess was wrong. It wasn't — it was understating it. Janice's room held well over a hundred rats, packed in without a single inch of floor to spare.

"Find my lady. If you can't, I'm turning all of Brume into a den of rats!"

Wasn't that exactly what the rats would want to hear? Janice was issuing a rather muddled threat to a room full of rodents. Matthew, unable to bring himself to actually step inside, reached a hand out instead.

"Janice, calm down."

"Steward, do I look like I can calm down? My lady's missing!"

Janice shouted, her voice sharp with nerves.…