She turned a corner, then paused. There was a bar there, with a lot of big guys standing out front in leather jackets next to big motorcycles. Athena hesitated, but with a bit of shored-up courage she crossed the street (looking both ways, because she was smarter than Teddy) and continued on her way.

There was a nice inviting alleyway there, one that would get her away from the biker people. She didn’t need to be nervous or anything, the darkness was the natural habitat for an owl like her.

“Hey, girl, whatcha doing here?” the sleaziest voice Athena had ever heard asked.

She felt her blood go cold as she looked up at a man dressed in what might have been a nice suit once. Now it had weird, wet stains down its front and smelled so strongly of alcohol and puke she recoiled even a dozen paces away.

“Ah, don-don’t be afraid,” he said as he wobbled closer. He had a baggie in one hand, something sloshing within it, and his voice was on the wrong side of slurred. A drunkard?

“Go away,” Athena said.

“Aww, don’t, don’t be like that,” he said. “Cute thing like you.”

She was cute, but she didn’t want to hear it from this guy. She glared over at him, then started pushing her power toward him. Just a little— enough to make him nervous.

The man blanked, glancing around uncertainly before he looked back at her. “Do you want to come with me?” he asked. “It’s . . . it’s not safe out here for a young lady.”

Athena took a long step back.

“Real not safe,” he said as he wobbled toward her.

“Oy!”

Athena jumped and spun halfway around. There were three men at the entrance of the alley. Three big guys in black leather, with big beards and bigger scowls. “Look at you, drunk at this hour,” the biggest of the lot said. “Piss off, man.”

“I was . . . I was just being nice to the nice girl,” the guy in the suit said.

The bikers looked at one another, then, at some unknown signal, two of them stepped up and passed Athena while the big one moved toward her.

For a moment, she thought she was in big trouble.

Then he dropped to one knee. “Hey there, kid. You all right?” he asked.

Athena didn’t know how to react. “ . . . I’m fine,” she said.

The man smiled through his big beard. “Yeah, you look like a brave girl,” he said.

Athena nodded. Of course she was. She hadn’t actually been afraid, merely . . . surprised. “I am,” she said.

“Are you lost?” he asked. “Because me and the boys, we wouldn’t mind taking you home, or letting you use the phones over in the pub?”

“I’m . . . a little misplaced.”