The neon sign of The Lantern flickered against the damp evening fog.

I wiped down the laminate counter for the third time, the smell of burnt coffee and cheap bleach filling my nose.

Felix Crane, my manager, was pacing near the cash register, his fingers twitching over his greasy apron.

“He’s coming,” Felix muttered, looking out the fogged window. “The Iron Saint doesn’t like to wait, Mara.”

I kept wiping the counter, my muscles aching from a double shift.

I knew who Dante Moretti was, and I knew his reputation.

Every driver on this stretch of highway knew to stay clear when the Moretti convoy rolled through.

A low rumble shook the diner’s double glass doors.

A black heavy-duty truck pulled into the gravel lot, towing a custom steel horse trailer.

Behind it, two black SUVs parked, their headlights cutting through the mist.

From the trailer, a sudden, violent thud echoed across the asphalt.

The metal walls of the trailer shrieked as a heavy hoof struck them.

“He’s going to tear the rig apart,” Felix whispered, his face turning pale as he backed away from the window.

I set my rag down.

Through the glass, I saw Dante Moretti step out of the lead truck.

He wore a tailored dark coat, his face cast in hard angles under the parking lot lights.

Behind him, three guards scrambled toward the back of the trailer.

Another muffled scream from the horse rattled the diner windows.

That wasn’t just anger; that was the sound of a horse in pain.

I pushed open the heavy glass door of the diner before Felix could stop me.

The cold, damp air hit my face as I walked toward the gravel lot.

“Get back inside, girl,” one of the guards, a man named Marco, barked at me.

Marco was holding a heavy lead rope, his knuckles white, his face sweating despite the chill.

Dante Moretti didn’t look at me; his eyes were fixed on the trailer doors.

“Calm him down, Marco, or I will find someone who can,” Dante said, his voice quiet and deadly.

Inside the trailer, Vesper, the legendary black stallion, reared again, his iron shoes clanging against the steel floor.