Teddy, on the other hand, was a bit harder and easier to hide. With her big, oversized bear hoodie and a scarf around her face, the girl looked like a large brown marshmallow. The fact that she insisted on wearing her shorts meant that under the bundle of cloth from her hoodie were two thin little legs exposed to the air, ending in a pair of poorly tied hiking boots.

“Are you, uh, ready?” Emily asked.

“I’m always ready, Boss,” Teddy said.

Emily smiled. At least Teddy’s confidence was something she could maybe rely on. She extended a hand to the bear girl, who immediately grabbed hold of it. And then they were off.

The park the text directed her toward wasn’t far. One side of it rubbed up against the college’s campus, right next to where they had a few outdoor practice fields for soccer and such.

The sun was still up as she crossed the campus with Teddy, but it was definitely dipping down, and with it, the air turned just shy of cold. The people Emily crossed still in T-shirts looked to be regretting their choices, so she figured her overdressed state wasn’t anything to comment about.

“When . . . when we see the people over at the park,” Emily said. “We need to be careful not to, uh, make them know that we’re . . . aligned the way we are, okay?”

Teddy nodded. “My name is already hidden,” she said.

“Well, yes, but I mean, uh, don’t go full bear unless things become dangerous. Even if Mister Handshake is . . . rude.”

“Can I threaten him, at least?”

“I . . . suppose?”

Emily wondered if this was a side effect of her power. A few days ago, the thought of threatening someone would have horrified her. But now all she could think was that Handshake had brought this on himself by trying to extort her and by not minding his own business. Even the information he had given her wasn’t worth all that much when Teddy knew more than he had provided.

They reached the edge of the park, and Emily realized that she didn’t know where in the park she was meant to meet anyone. It was a rather large place, after all, with winding paths and a small patch of trees and bushes that had been trimmed and tended so that they weren’t all that natural.

Stepping into the park, she paused, then set off down one of the winding cobbled paths snaking around the entire thing. She was only half an hour early, so there was a good chance that she’d get to meet Handshake as he entered. She didn’t know how punctual a man he was.

It was while moving closer to the middle that Emily noticed a gazebo set up next to a little pond. The kind of scenic place that probably looked great on brochures about the city.

Someone was screaming from within the gazebo.