Rover sniffed the brownie—and then he wolfed it down. As he swallowed the mass of brown chocolate, he froze. Then he made a couple of deep, nasty hacking noises in the back of his throat and walked out the doggy door into the backyard.

Amy crept through the house, out the front door, and around the side of the house so she could monitor her progress. She hid in the bushes, watching. The dog had retreated to the far side of the lawn and was standing rigid, hacking and making gross noises in his throat.

Suddenly, Rover opened his jaws wide, and his eyes went cold and blank the way Amy had seen them go while he was looking in the mirror. He twitched, and a blast of chewed-up brownie shot out of his mouth onto the lawn. Then he hacked again, and the rest of the brownie followed it. But it didn’t fall—instead, the piece of brownie hung in front of the dog’s face, suspended in midair.

Rover closed his mouth, looked at the unnaturally hovering brownie, and tilted his head, as though considering it. A hunk of fur fell from Rover’s side, revealing a glistening red hot spot.

Amy clapped a hand to her mouth to keep from crying out in revulsion.

Rover let the brownie piece fall to the ground as he turned his head and glanced back at the fresh wound. Then he looked straight ahead and began to shake all over, just like he had at the vet’s office. His whole body quivered, but the vibrations seemed to move up his limbs and focus on his middle, where the hot spot was.

Just like the fur, the scabby red skin peeled off and fell to the ground. There was a chemical hissing noise, and slowly the piece of skin dissolved into the dirt.

There was no blood. The dog seemed to feel no pain.

Rover stopped vibrating instantly … and began to turn to her.

Amy crawled away on her hands and knees and dashed back around the side the house as fast as she could.

For the rest of the night, Amy watched TV on the couch with Mom and Dad, pretending to care about the nature documentary Mom had picked. All the while, her mind raced. Had Rover seen her? Maybe, maybe not. Anyway, she was a human, allowed to go wherever she liked. It wasn’t like the dog seeing her meant anything. Maybe he’d just caught her playing a game in the bushes. Yeah, that was it. The brownie was an accident, that was all.

Besides, it had been worth it, in a way. The scheme had failed, sure, but Amy had learned some important things. First, Rover seemed to be getting more powerful. He could move things, actually hold things, with his mind. Next, the hot spots were caused by him using his powers … but he could heal himself, if he felt like it.