Luci was already growling when Zubair opened his eyes.

Not the bark of alarm, not yet... just a low, rolling sound that came from deep in the dire wolf’s chest. It seemed to echo in the primary bedroom as he stared out the window like the enemy was about to crash through at any moment.

Zubair’s hand found the rifle beside him out of habit. It was impossible to know how long they had been sleeping. The house was still bright, the same unchanging light that had stretched across the fields since they entered Country M.

He glanced toward the window. Nothing moved in the yard. There was no wind, no insects, no birds, everything outside was quiet.

The only the sound came from Luci’s warning.

Rising to his feet, he heard it then. Three soft knocks at the front door.

It wasn’t a pounding sound, it wasn’t frantic. Instead, it was polite.

Three measured, polite taps on the front door.

Lachlan lifted his head from where he was leaning against the headrest of the bed, his eyes narrowing at the window. "Anyone else hearing that?"

"Too quiet," Zubair murmured. He stood, the rifle loose in his grip.

Elias closed the book he’d been reading. Alexei’s knife whispered from its sheath. "I wouldn’t say too quiet so much as too polite," Alexei grunt coming to his feet.

Sera didn’t move right away. She was still tucked under the covers, the monstrous dire wolf pressing her down. She looked at Luci instead—the way the beast’s ears flicked back and his fur bristled, though his gaze stayed pinned on the door.

Finally, she stood, curious rather than alarmed, smoothing the front of her black corseted dress as if preparing for company.

The five of them walked down the stairs on silent feet with Luci going first.

The polite knocks came again.

"Stay back," Zubair warned, moving to the doorway.

But Lachlan had already beaten him there. "Relax, big guy. I’ll handle the social call."

He drew the bolt halfway, just enough to peer through the crack. A sliver of sunlight caught two figures standing on the porch.

A young man and a girl.

They looked wrong only because they looked perfect.

The outside of the house looked like it had come out of a horror movie, and yet, here these two stood looking like they were well fed, freshly showered, and with smiles on their faces.

All before morning coffee.

The young man wore a pressed white dress shirt, a black tie, black slacks, and shoes polished enough to flash light back into the room. His hair was parted neatly and slicked back with gel so that it would fly away.

The expression on his face was mild and kind.

Beside him, the girl held a binder close to her chest. She couldn’t have been more than twenty. She wore a pale blue skirt with a white blouse, and a white cardigan overtop. Her brown hair was pulled into a high ponytail tied up with a ribbon perfectly matching the color of her skirt.

Her Mary-Jane shoes were just as spotless as the man’s and her white socks didn’t have a speck of dirt on them.

"Afternoon," she said brightly when Lachlan opened the door a little wider. "We just noticed your truck in the driveway and thought we should stop by to say hello and introduce ourselves."

Her voice was warm, cheerful, and very much practiced.

"Introduce yourselves?" Lachlan echoed, baffled. "To a bunch of strangers?"

The man smiled as if the question were sweetly naïve. "Neighbors shouldn’t be strangers," he said. "It’s dangerous to live without community these days. Besides, a stranger is just a friend you haven’t met yet."

He reached into a leather satchel and pulled out a thin booklet printed on good paper, colors too crisp for this world. The Fold of Light — Eternal Life in the Second Dawn.

"Do you want to live forever?" the girl asked, tilting her head. "Because we have the key to eternal life."

Behind Lachlan, Sera stepped forward.

Her black eyes caught the light like oil on water. The man’s smile tightened for half a breath, but the girl’s didn’t falter.

Sera stood beside Lachlan, studying them with open curiosity. "I don’t think I want to live forever in a world like this," she said softly.

The girl nodded, her expression full of sympathy. "I agree," she said. "But this—" she gestured to the fields, the empty road, the endless bright sky—"is exactly what was promised in the Book of Revelation. The old world must fall before the new one rises. He’s coming soon, and we have to be ready."

The man held out one of the booklets. "There’s room for everyone who believes."

Zubair’s voice came from behind them, low and controlled. "Belief doesn’t keep the roads safe."

The man looked past Lachlan to him. "Safety is an illusion and temporary. Salvation is eternal."

Something in the cadence of it made the hairs on Zubair’s neck rise. Too synchronized. Too rehearsed.

Elias shifted closer to the window, observing. "Their shoes," he murmured. "No dust."

Zubair caught it too. The porch was dry dirt and grit, but their black shoes shone like they’d just come from a carpeted hallway.

Sera noticed the same thing. Her head tilted, almost mirroring the girl’s earlier gesture. "You walked here?"

"Of course," the girl answered brightly. "Just like the Disciples, the Fold walks everywhere. It’s the only way to find those who still need light."

Lachlan frowned. "There’s nobody for a hundred miles in any direction."

"Then maybe you were the ones meant to be found," she said gently. "God has a plan for everyone’s life."

For a moment, even the air seemed to listen.

Alexei leaned against the wall near the kitchen doorway, his expression unreadable. "How many of you are there?"

"Enough to fill the Lord’s table," the man replied. "And every day we prepare one more seat."

Sera’s lips curved slightly, more amused than uneasy. "What happens if the wrong person sits down?"