Chapter 12 · When the Lights Die

The lights go out before Aiden can answer.

Not just the cafe lights. The streetlamps outside. The traffic signals at the corner. Every window in every building goes black at the same instant, like someone flipped a switch on the whole damn city. The only glow left is the debt tracker on Aiden's wrist, pulsing slow and red.

"They're here," Ink says from the counter. The raven's eyes catch the tracker light, two silver coins in the dark. "Council doesn't do warnings. This is the audit."

Leah's already moving. She grabs her phone but the screen stays black. Dead. She tries the light switch by the door. Nothing. "How long do we have?"

"Depends how mad they are." Aiden's voice comes from somewhere near the espresso machine. "Could be ten minutes. Could be ten seconds."

Vera's shape flickers near the window, barely visible now without the cafe lights. "There's people trapped in the elevator across the street. I can hear them screaming."

"Not our problem." Leah's hand goes to the blade at her hip. The council-issued one, the kind that cuts soul chains clean. "The audit's on you, Aiden. Not them."

"Everything's your problem when you work for the council."