## Emil POV Driving back to the diner felt like falling back into continuity. With Aurelian in the passenger seat and Isha in the back, reality returned to me. I wish I hadn’t brought Aurelian into this. I wish I’d said something when *he* was talking down to Aurelian. I wish I was a man without any history. But the scarecrow monster vaulting out of the diner towards our truck reminded me that there was no time to languish. Inside the diner, Jonny was under attack from a horde of demonic rats.