Or was Teddy someone who was kidnapped and then memory-wiped? Or was she some sort of automaton? An alien? A clone?

Emily kept an eye on the girl bouncing next to her. Teddy’s ears were twitching excitedly with every step, and she had a happy little smile on for the whole world to see.

The girl looked nice enough. Emily was willing to give a relationship a try. It certainly felt easier than trying to talk to a normal person. Teddy was beholden to her a little, like . . . like a pet.

Emily shook her head. No, that was wrong. People, even people made with powers, were not pets.

A sister. That’s what the power called itself. Sister Summoning.

It wasn’t superspeed, or flight, or something wonderful like healing, but it was what Emily had. She didn’t know if she wanted the power. Sure, people dreamed of it, dreamed of being Heroes. Even Emily had had a few dreams like that. It was hard to watch Hero-sponsored cartoons as a kid and not want to be the one running from roof to roof in tights.

Maybe not tights.

She tried to focus again. Her mind was increasingly flighty as she tried to juggle all the possibilities going on all at once.

“Hey, Boss?” Teddy asked.

Emily looked down at the girl. “Yes?”

“Are we doing any quests today?”

“No, Teddy, I don’t think we are,” she replied. All her quests had been . . . less than good.

“All right,” Teddy said. “What’re we gonna do then?”

Emily really wished she knew. “I . . . we’ll figure it out?”

Teddy looked up at her, innocent face completely bare of any of the doubt that Emily was feeling. “Okay. So after we eat, can I take a nap?”

She nodded. “Sure.”

They arrived at the dorm and shuffled off into the elevator as quickly as they could. Emily didn’t want people wondering what Teddy was doing, not if she could help it. There were some pretty clear rules about not having people overnight, but she suspected that some of the others weren’t respecting those.

A swipe of her phone, and they were in the safety of her little room.

Teddy rushed over to her desk and placed the box of doughnuts on it. She started to tear the top off when Emily intervened. “No. Not yet. We’ll eat first and save those for dessert.”

Teddy turned big wet eyes toward Emily.

“J-just one?”

The girl’s grin did something to Emily’s heart, something that turned to horror as Teddy picked a squashed doughnut out of the box and rammed it into her mouth. She was chewing with her mouth open, and her hands were covered in honey glaze.