Athena nodded. That made sense. She liked hanging out with Emily, and also, sometimes, Teddy. “That’s cool. You guys seem really nice.”

He smiled down at her, looking really smug. “Hear that, boys? I was called nice.”

One of his buddies snorted. “Best compliment you’ve gotten from a girl since before your mum kicked you out!”

There was some laughter at that, and her new friend took on a look of mock offense. He turned back to her. “We’ll get you nice and fed, call up your parents, then see you home safe, all right?”

Athena could see a couple of problems with that. “Um, all right,” she said. “But I don’t have parents.”

There was some frowning at that. “Why’s that?”

“I live with Big Sister Emily,” Athena said. “She’s the best.”

“And she let you out on your own?” he asked.

Athena shook her head. She didn’t want these people thinking Big Sister Emily wasn’t a good big sister. “No. She had a big important thing to do today, so I wanted to help and . . .” Athena looked away. “I got a little lost.”

One of them patted her back. “It’s good you wanna look out for your sister,” he said. “That’s what we all do for each other. Not that anyone with half a brain would mess with us.”

Athena pouted. “I wish people didn’t want to mess with me,” she said. She was taller than Teddy; why couldn’t she be just as fearsome? Even her powers, which were kinda cool, didn’t feel as useful as Teddy’s.

When Teddy went out to help Big Sister Emily, she found costumes and new minions. When Athena went out to do the same, she almost got attacked in an alley.

It wasn’t fair. She was an owl, a smart apex predator! She was meant to be more clever and more useful. She sniffled, then pouted harder to keep the tears in.

The bar lady, Su, returned with a cordless phone in one hand and a plate in the other. She took one look at Athena, then glared at all the guys around her. “Oy, you dimwits, leave the kid alone!” she said before placing the plate before Athena. “Here, you eat this. It’ll make you feel better.”

Athena snorted some snot back in. “Thanks,” she said. She picked up a fork, then eyed the steak and potatoes and gravy on her plate. It all smelled really nice. “You’re really kind,” she said.

“Bah, think nothing of it. These idiots might look and act like meatheads, but they’re all right,” Su said.

Just like Teddy, really.

Athena began chewing her way through the rather cartilage-filled steak, occasionally slicing bits off with a knife while the guys who’d helped her chatted about motorcycles and spectacular accidents and things she suspected they were exaggerating.

They sounded so cool.