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The girls ran on all fours through the store, their digitigrade gargoyles legs more suited to it than any human’s. “Electronics section. No good,” Veronica said, reading signs.

“What are we going to do?” Maeve asked.

“Well, if I ever see the Patriarch again I’m gonna chisel a dick onto his face with a pickaxe, I tell you what,” Veronica said grimly. “Ooh, tools section!” she interrupted herself happily. “I’mma grab one. —A pickaxe, not a dick.”

“No, I mean what do we do right now?” Maeve clarified.

Veronica selected a pickaxe and sat. “Maeve, I’m sorry but there’s no other choice,” she said earnestly. “You have to do your pop-out-a-boob-hit-him-with-a-rock move again. It’s unstoppable.”

Maeve crossed her arms over her chest defensively. “Veronicaa!”

Grinning, Veronica cocked her thumb at another aisle. “Ooh, home improvement! Okay, Maeve, your boobs are gonna be Plan B. I want to show you something.”

“I hope it’s not your boobs!” Maeve retorted.