Page 52 of Grave Beginnings

“Yep,” Angel agreed.

I swallowed, and nodded. “Lead on, then. Promise you won’t leave me lost over there.”

“The route is straightforward. This part of the tear between worlds was one of the first, and oldest. It might help your anxiety to experience it when it’s not in the middle of a murder case.”

“True,” I agreed, and followed him out. Not being attacked by shadow monsters the second I crossed over would help, but we’d start with a jaunt to the bakery.

A lot of the office had emptied out as we worked. Angel mentioned they were on Active Rotation this week, trying to give me time to adjust. While I appreciated it, I hoped I wasn’t holding them back. The trip out of the building and down the half block to where the world mixed felt like any other walk, but turning into an alley to find the sunny day changed to fog and darkness made a chill rise on my skin.

“You okay?” Angel asked as he bumped my shoulder, keeping close as we headed down a long street filled with old shops, some lit, some dark. This section across the Veil wasn’t as distorted as the one I’d ended up in.

“Why is it so different from yesterday?”

“When the Veil tears, it tries to merge the otherworld—which is really a mix of a thousand supernatural realms—over ours. What you see here is how it settled. Some things remain, others vanish completely.”

While the streets remained mostly bare of people, occasionally someone passed us. I tried not to stare too hard to determine if they were human or something else.

Angel led us to the end of the street and a corner shop with a door and no windows to the outside. “This building merged with the other side, creating an unusual layout, but they make it work.” He held the door for me, and I entered, surprised by thedelightful scent of baked goods, fresh bread, and the dim lights. I’d expected darkness with limited displays of food, but there was easily a dozen baked goods cases, backlit to show off the delicious treats.

“Ours is over here.” Angel gripped my bicep and led me over to one side. “Best stay away from the other. It will turn your stomach. The bakery has treats for a lot of things that only exist on this side of the Veil.”

I raised a brow, curious but also horrified by what could possibly be on the other side. Thankfully, the wall of pastries provided a divine distraction. “This has to be heaven,” I muttered. “They have real red bean paste buns? I love those things.” Yogurt cake, cheesecake, mochi donuts, croissants both sweet and savory. “I want it all,” I said absently as Angel shoved a tray and tongs into my hands. “Oh, this is dangerous.”

He laughed, and it sounded light and happy. “I’ve tried everything, I think. At least, on this side of the bakery.”

My phone rang. “Fuck.” Please tell me it wasn’t an emergency. I scrambled to get it out of my pocket. Unknown number? “Hello?”

“Jude?”

It took me a beat to recognize the soft voice, as I’d heard little of it. “Ivan, hey. Nikki got your phone set up. That’s great.”

“Yeah. She’s nice. Thanks for the phone.”

“Sure. Did you eat?”

“All the groceries arrived, and it’s a lot.”

“I wanted to make sure you had food,” I told him.

Angel took my tray from me and waved at the case, silently asking me to point out what I wanted. I began with the mochi donuts filled with real vanilla cream, because why not?

“I had some cereal.”

“Good! But you need protein, right? I ordered some cold cuts if you don’t want to cook. You said you didn’t like red meat, so I ordered chicken and turkey.” Had I gotten bread? Fuck, I atebread rarely, and didn’t know if I’d ordered it. “If I forgot bread, I bet Nikki has some. Oh, and I’m at a bakery right now. They seem to have some bread, so I’ll bring some home.”

Angel added a few other things to my tray that I’d never seen before, but it all looked good.

“I’m good. I ate,” Ivan said. He hesitated another second. “Is it okay if I use your internet?”

“Uh, yeah. You live there now too, Ivan. It’s your internet, also. Use away.”

“Mom and Dad didn’t want me online…”

“I’m not going to defend them, but social media sucks for mental health. Are you okay enough to be online?”

“I like reading webcomics,” Ivan confessed.

“Oh! Did you know Nikki draws those?”