The wind had teeth that night. It was biting at any exposed skin like piranhas sensing blood. It worled at the seams of Tatterdemalion’s coat, slid its fingers down her collar, and gnawed at the skin beneath as if trying to claim her outright. Snow hissed sideways along the street, stinging like thrown sand. The city had gone hollow and mean, the kind of quiet that only shows up when the cold decides who gets to keep breathing.

They arrived just as the light began to fail. The road narrowed to gravel, then to something that barely deserved to be called a road at all. Trees leaned inward, their branches knitting together overhead as if trying to close the world behind them. Max slowed the car, letting it idle forward, every sense tuned sharp. The destination had no sign, no marker—only the certainty Maggie carried like a compass under her ribs.

They climbed into Max’s car without ceremony, like this had always been the plan and they were just late getting to it. Maggie took the passenger seat, eyes forward, already elsewhere. Suki slid into the back, shutting the door softly behind her. The engine rumbled as Max pulled away from the crossroads. The road narrowed, asphalt stretching thin toward the hills.

Max sat in the driver’s seat with the door cracked open, the late afternoon heat drifting in like a held breath. The crossroads had gone quiet again—just wind, a ticking engine, and the faint buzz of power lines overhead. Maggie and Suki waited by the pumps, giving him space. They knew better than to rush him. He unfolded the newspaper one last time and turned to the crossword.

They met where two highways crossed and neither seemed to lead anywhere important on a map. A gas station squatted on the corner, sun-faded signs buzzing softly. Max leaned against his car as Maggie pulled in, dust trailing behind her tires. She stepped out first. Same steady eyes, same way of scanning everything before settling on him. Older, maybe sharper. Beside her was Suki—late teens, backpack slung over one shoulder, headphones resting around her neck like a pause button.