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Where should I leave it?
Was I actually hoping to get it back to the thief? I held it as I wandered back
into the kitchen, stared at the fridge for a moment , and then stuck it to the door over the magnetic phrase, “ Werewolf puppies !! ”
    Deciding there was nothing
else to be done at the moment, I fed the bird
and went to get dressed. I wasn’t exactly looking forward to seeing Mel, but if
he had answers about what had gotten into my
home and what had shown up in my office, I needed them.

 
    Chapter
Four

 
    I loosened my scarf as I stepped into the warmth of The
Internets half an hour early and did my best
not to make squeaky excited sounds at the sight of the pastries in the case. Madeline,
the owner, greeted me with a lift of her chin and a smile before going back to
the customer in front of her. The line was long, curving along the counter to
fold back around toward me. I rubbed my hands together as I tried to decide which geek-themed items I felt like eating.
    I’d tried everything from the butterbeer to the slice
of Lie (chocolate cake with cherries on top) and, since it all had at least
some sugar in it, it all looked good to me. Today the display case was filled
with plenty of cakes, cookies, donuts, and even pre-wrapped sandwiches. Half the selection was vegan but it wasn’t just that
Madeline and Chloe were in cahoots; Seattle has a pretty good-sized vegan
community and it’s getting less likely to see a place within city limits that
can’t adequately feed someone who, like Chloe, eschews animal products. I’m not
against vegan food but it seems to me that limiting oneself to a smaller
section of the sweets in the world will only end in heartbreak.
    I eyed the D-20 cookies,
despite their lack of eggs, butter, and processed sugar and decided it was
going to come down to their pink and white frosting versus the 1-UP cupcakes
and their green and white fondant. In the end, I went with my old standby.
    “ Hey, Madeline, ” I said as I stepped up to
the counter. She smiled at me again and I felt a curl of something velvety
reach out of her and snake around me. Madeline isn’t human but, as with the few other non-humans I ’ d
met , I ’d never had the guts to ask
exactly what she is. The fact that she’d never offered an explanation for her
strange, breezy emotions made me think she either didn’t know I had a power, or
she didn’t want to talk about it.
    I wasn’t about to risk her
peeling back her head like a Pez dispenser to reveal a giant mouth with teeth specifically
designed for chomping into an empath, so I’d never mentioned that I could tell
she was different.
    “Saw you eyeing the 1-UP
cupcakes, so I’ll assume you want your usual,” Madeline teased . Her affection for me brushed across my empathy like a soft
summer breeze.
    My lips tugged up in a goofy
grin as I absorbed her fondness easily and reflected it back. Since Madeline
had never offered me any harm and her emotions were pretty pleasant, I’d fallen
out of the habit of shielding around her. Thus, I usually found myself pretty
damn happy to see her once I was close enough. Sometimes, despite the fact that
she’s not much to look at, I was even convinced I had a crush on her.
    “ It ’s a bit early for sweets, though,” she said with a wag of her finger
and that was definitely playful and maybe even a little flirty. I shrugged, my
usual irritation at being policed for my food choices nowhere to be found.
    “I keep hoping to get a life
and yet, despite eating dozens of the suckers, I’ m still lacking. ”
    Madeline chuckled. “A friend stopped by, wanted
me to give you some things,” she said, leaning into the case. I frowned at her
through the glass as she scooped a green and white spotted cupcake and an
oatmeal carrot muffin onto a plate. She pointed to the muffin I had no
intention of eating. “This, and I’ m also supposed to
give you this...” Sliding the plate across the counter, she stuffed a hand into
her