“They found another kill. Early morning jogger saw a shredded carcass in someone’s yard. We think it was a homeless person. Killed last night. Nobody was in the home, thankfully.”

“You didn’t wake Stacia?”

“I took the new guy, Devaney. He’s apparently an early riser. Stacia’s been teaching him about tracking by scent and he got a whiff of the dentist office yesterday. Says it’s an exact match for the murder scene this morning. We tracked her for a couple of blocks, but then she got into a car and drove away.”

“So she killed the dentist, what? Two days ago? And another last night? Why a homeless guy?”

“She never fed on the dentist, at least not noticeably. This guy today was half gone.”

“Been using her powers and abilities, burning lots of energy. She had to fuel up,” Declan said.

“Exactly. Be careful today. Well, be careful everyday, but I mean if she took the risk to feed, she might be in more of a risk-taking mood, if you see what I’m saying?”

“Yeah, okay.”

One of the kitchen staff came out with a big pot of what looked to Declan like scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and hash browns, all mixed together. Chris thanked her and stood up. “Got round one of breakfast for you know who. Do me a favor? When they get the second helping ready, can you bring it by the guest quarters?”

“Sure thing,” Declan said, taking a bite of his own much, much smaller breakfast. Chris picked up the pot and left. After a few minutes, someone else approached the table and Declan looked up to find Justin Williams, Arcane student and werebear, looming over the table.

“Mind if I set down a bit?” the big kid asked, dark eyes watchful.

“Of course you can sit down, dude,” Declan said, pulling out the chair right next to himself. “How’ve you been, Justin? I haven’t really talked with you since family weekend.”

“Aw, I’m good. My little bro, Leonard? He can’t shut up about the visit and how you let him run your avatar. All he talks about when I call home.”

“Really? Well, tell him he did a great job of it.”

“You all didn’t have to let him help you run the game, neither,” Justin drawled.

Declan shrugged. “He’s a cool kid. I don’t have any brothers or sisters, so I gotta borrow my friends’ sibs,” he said with a little laugh.

Justin just nodded and turned back to his oatmeal. He was bigger than he’d been his first year at Arcane, now probably the same size as or very close to Dellwood in height and mass, and his bear form had to go all of five hundred pounds. Big for a black bear. Right now though, he seemed a bit… unsettled.

“Everything alright?” Declan asked.