“Oh, I totally forgot. Stevie made these chocolates to thank everyone for picking up the slack while she’s out sick.” I open up the top of the container, holding out the box and watch as each employee takes a chocolate.

“Mmm,” Heather says as she pops it in her mouth, so does Otto, Glen, Lucas, Bethany, and Lilly. The only person who is missing is Jeremy. So if it isn’t one of them, then I will automatically know who did it.

Once everyone has swallowed. I don’t waste any time. “Who has been stealing from the restaurant?”

“Otto,” everyone says in unison, and it doesn’t escape me that he can somehow not answer the question. Appears he’s not mute by choice.

“Everyone can leave besides Otto,” I say and my employees all leave out of the front door. I wait until they’re all gone before I stare at the much larger man. If I didn’t have magic, I would be afraid of his larger presence.

“Otto, is this true? Have you been stealing from me?”

I can tell he’s trying to fight the magic of the truffle. Maybe he needed to eat two because he’s such a large man?

Finally, a nod of his head.

“Why are you stealing from me, Otto?”

He looks around, and his gaze is shaky and uncertain. He takes me off guard when I watch his body somehow get larger and he smacks me across the chest, throwing me back against a table and chairs.

It knocks the wind out of me, and I breathe heavily before I can speak. Cadere, I chant, hoping to knock him to the floor. He doesn’t fall and I check in with my magic, making sure it’s still there.

What the fuck is happening?

Otto keeps getting larger and larger in front of me, his form looking less and less human as he grows. He doesn’t look like he’s made of skin and bone anymore. It’s almost like he’s made out of clay. His stature is nearly seven feet tall now, his skin a reddish earthy hue. I wrap my brain around his appearance and wonder what he is.

Fuck. A fucking golem. I hired a gods damn golem and had no clue. I’m trying to think hard about what magic I can use on him. He’s not a corporeal person, he’s not a person at all, really. Before I can come up with anything, his large hand is around my throat, pushing me against the table. Blocking my airway and my ability to speak.