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They were in the parking lot of a grocery store, charging their vehicles at the small group of cristala stations at the far end of the lot—the first place they’d come across that didn't have a lineup.

Despite the late hour, the city was booming with traffic, the citizens and people who were passing through having been pushed behind schedule by the security breach. Those who were unwilling to risk traveling to their destinations were rushing to find accommodations, and those who were daring enough to try were quickly charging their vehicles and leaving again.

Paradisi, being a border stronghold, was one of the safest cities in the state. But the fall of night brought a sense of urgency to any community, no matter how protected—it was the same all throughout Terra, the massive amount of nocturnal demons forcing most people to retire to their homes before sundown.

Darien kept his eyes on the gauge as he sifted through his jacket pockets, searching for a packet of smokes. He found one and opened it, extracting a cigarette with his teeth.

A soft whistle floated through the warm desert air. “Can I bum one of those, big boy?” Jack called from where he charged the car at the next station. He was grinning like an idiot—he always grinned like an idiot. Darien swore he’d still be smiling when he died.

Darien held the packet out in offer.

Jack pushed away from the car with an even wider grin, walked over, and slid one out of the packet. He helped himself to another with a wink, and tucked it into his jacket pocket.

“Since when did you start smoking again?” Darien asked, his words slightly muffled by the cigarette in his teeth. He put the packet away and lit the smoke.

“Since the Blood Moon,” Jack said with a new smile, as if anything about that night was funny. He returned to the car and leaned against the back of it. Darien tossed him the lighter, and he caught it with ease. “Thanks.”

Darien blew a stream of smoke through pursed lips, the nicotine already loosening his tense muscles. “Does Ivy know?”

“Nope.”

“Is that why you’re smoking while she’s in the store?” She and Tanner had vanished inside to grab a few things, leaving Darien and Jack to charge the vehicles, and Joyce to monitor Loren.

“Yup.”

They smoked in silence for a while. Darien kept his eyes on the needle that was inching toward half-full. Another fifteen minutes and they’d be ready to go—and they wouldn’t be stopping again until they made it to Yveswich. It was just after eight; they would arrive mid-morning, if all went according to plan. And once they arrived, they would need to find Roman.

This all felt exactly how Travis had described it back at Hell’s Gate: fucking weird. Darien knew his cousin would agree the moment they showed up at his door, after years of hardly even speaking.

As Darien waited, he listened to the sounds of the city—cars starting up in the parking lot, grocery store doors sliding open and shut, vampire wings beating overhead, power flowing up from the anima mundi. The latter was a sound too quiet for mortal ears, but Darien was so used to its steady buzz that whenever it vanished during an outage, the resulting silence felt too eerie to be peaceful.

Jack said, “I’d be doing the same thing as you, you know.” Darien looked up to see that his brother-in-law was no longer smiling. “If it were Ivy,” he finished, a haunted look in his eyes. That look was so rare, Darien could count on one hand the amount of times he’d seen it since meeting Jack—since he’d come onto Ivy at a casino and dared to kiss her right in front of Darien. Back then, Darien hadn’t wanted to admit it, but he’d liked Jack right away. He was cocky and stupid sometimes, sure, but he was fearless and loyal to a fault.

He took one last drag on the cigarette before putting it out and flicking it into the ashtray by the charging station. “I’d expect nothing less from you, Jacky.”

Darien looked over his shoulder, through the tinted window of the truck, to see Joyce checking Loren’s pulse. “All good?” he called.

It took Joyce a moment to answer, and when she did she didn't turn—she just nodded.

Darien’s brow creased, and he was about to prod when she called, “All good.”

Jack suddenly pushed off the car. “Whoa whoa whoa.” Panic choked his voice. “Darien—”

Darien followed his line of sight across the parking lot.

The lights inside the store were flickering. People were fleeing and screaming. Glass was shattering—

And the truck wasn't charged.

Darien swore. “Is that done?” he called to Jack as he stalked toward him.

“Is what done?”

“The car—is it fucking done charging?”

“I fucking think so!”

Darien was at the driver’s door of the car in under half a second, ripping out the charging cables as he moved. “Stay with Loren and Joyce!” he barked, whipping open the door and throwing himself into the seat.