Page 36 of Night Shift

Ghoulish Grinds glows like a portal at the end of the block.

Inside, Rose is sprawled facedown across the counter, muttering into a muffin wrapper.

“Am I dead?” she asks when the bell jingles.

“In your heart, yes.”

She rolls over and blinks at me. “Calliope. Thank God. Or not God. Whatever. I thought you’d been eaten by a squid.”

“I was by the bay.”

“Worse.”

She pushes herself upright and spots Erebus lingering by the window.

Her eyes widen.

“Did you make the sun explode?”

“No,” I say quickly.

Erebus opens his mouth.

I point at him. “Do not help.”

Rose rubs both hands down her face. “School board already called a weather closure. Nobody’s supposed to drive until they figure out what’s happening, but the Fish Shack opened anyway.”

Of course it did.

The Four Horsemen could ride down Main Street and Blackthorn Fish & Fry would still be selling hush puppies through the apocalypse.

Rose peers toward the window. “You’re not worried?”

“I like the stars. Besides, if the world ends, I don’t have to pay rent.”

A crash sounds from the back.

Then Petra appears.

She barrels through the kitchen door in a damp jacket, wet hair scraped into a bun and fury radiating from every geological layer of her body.

She sees Erebus.

Stops.

For one perfect heartbeat, the café goes silent.

Then both of Petra’s hands slam onto the pastry case.

“THREE HOURS.”

Erebus lowers his head slightly. “I did not intend⁠—”

“YES, YOU DID.”

I wince.

Petra advances.