Rule one of the night desk: if a guest asks what year it is, do not answer.
The Marrow Hotel has stood in the old quarter for over a century — marble, brass, and a staff that never
quite looks you in the eye. Tonight is your first shift on the night desk, and the manager has left you a handbook.
It has rules for guests who check in after midnight: which ledger they sign, which floor they're given, and what to
say when they ask what year it is. Follow them, keep the lobby calm, and make it to dawn, and whatever you do, don't
go looking for the thirteenth floor.
