Monroe Jessa Rhodes !exclusive! — Cali Carter Alexis

Pioneer Springs was not charming. It was a collection of boarded-up storefronts, a single blinking traffic light, and a gas station that looked like it had last seen a customer during the Carter administration. The pump wheezed when Cali pulled in. A crow sat on the roof of the empty convenience store, watching them with ancient, judgmental eyes.

“Because you said, and I quote, ‘Road trips build character and are excellent for spiritual bonding,’” Jessa replied.

He was tall. Wearing a long coat. His face was lost in shadow, but in one hand he held something that glinted—not a weapon, but a film canister. Old. Tin. cali carter alexis monroe jessa rhodes

Alexis and Jessa exchanged a glance—the kind that said okay, that’s definitely a plot hook —but Cali just nodded, folded the crackers into her bag, and thanked him.

Cali smiled, a rare, slow crack in her usual composure. “We’re almost there. The map says the festival is twenty miles past the next town. ‘Pioneer Springs.’ Sounds charming.” Pioneer Springs was not charming

Cali didn’t answer. She was already on her feet, stepping forward, because someone had to. Because that was her role. The anchor. The one who walked toward the strange man in the long coat while her friends stayed behind.

The man just grunted. He slid a pack of peanut butter crackers across the counter. “On the house. And listen—if you see a man in a long coat on the road, don’t stop. No matter what he’s holding.” A crow sat on the roof of the

The three of them had been driving for hours. The Nevada desert stretched out on either side of the cracked two-lane blacktop, a hazy ocean of beige and brown beneath a bleached-white sky. The rental’s AC was doing battle with a dying compressor and losing, badly.