• • •

Something thumped the back door of the Liaison’s Office hard enough to startle a growl out of Nathan, who was in the front room, and had Pete Denby, in his office upstairs, hurrying toward the back of the building to check things out.

Meg opened the back door, then stepped on the scrap of paper that almost fluttered away. She picked it up.

want cukkies!

“Oh, you do, do you?”

Sure that whoever had left the paper was watching nearby, Meg stepped outside and shook her finger. “When someone makes a request for a treat, that person should say please. That’s the polite thing to do.”

She waited, sure that the puppies or juveniles who had left the paper would come slinking out of their hiding places with their heads down and their tails tucked. But there was nothing but an odd silence that made her feel strange.

Feeling uncertain but refusing to act like a scared bunny, she shook her finger again and shouted, “You are being bad puppies!”

“Meg?”

She looked up at Pete, who stood on the upstairs landing. “Just setting boundaries,” she said, going back inside.

Nathan was in the back room waiting for her. As soon as she crossed the threshold, he sniffed her. When he sniffed the paper in her hand, he pushed her farther into the room, then hit the door with both front paws, slamming it shut.

“Nathan . . .”

He herded her into the sorting room and whacked that door shut before he shifted to human form.

The stunned look on his face stopped her from commenting about his being naked.

“Have you lost your mind?” He almost howled the words.

“Puppies need to learn manners,” she replied, annoyed by his tone. “Just because they want cookies doesn’t mean I’m going to run out and fetch a treat for them.”

“Puppies.” Nathan stared at her. “You think puppies left that note?”

“Well, who else . . . ?” She thought about the storm that had swept through Lakeside last month and how something had explored the Liaison’s Office, poking around in all the cupboards while a thick fog had blanketed the city. And she suddenly remembered what other form of terra indigene liked fresh-baked Wolf cookies. “Oh.”

Another thump shook the building.

“Stay here,” Nathan said. He slipped into the back room.

It felt like she’d waited a week, but she was pretty sure it was only a minute before he returned and handed her another scrap of paper.

want cukkies pleeze

Meg sucked in air, only then realizing she’d been holding her breath while she waited for Nathan.

“Meg,” Nathan whined, following her to the back room.

She opened the door and poked her head out. “The cookies will be here in a little while.” She paused, then added, “Arroo!”

Closing the door, she sank to the floor. Nathan, back in Wolf form, licked her face before slumping next to her. She burrowed her fingers into his fur and felt the tremors going through him.

“Guess I shouldn’t have scolded them, huh?” she said.

Nathan looked at her. “Roo.”

Meg pushed up from the floor when she heard someone calling her from the front room. “That’s the mailman. I’d better get to work.”

• • •

Vlad stared at Simon. “Meg told the Elders they were . . .”

“Bad puppies,” Simon finished. “Yeah.”

A minute passed before Vlad said, “Why?”

“They didn’t say ‘please’ when they asked for cookies.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

Simon scratched behind an ear that was now Wolf-shaped and furry. “That’s okay. Meg said plenty for all of us.”

• • •

“CJ? It’s Jimmy. I need you back here. I got some things to say.”

“I’m working, Jimmy.”

“Yeah, that’s right. You’re always too busy for family.”

“Jimmy . . .”

“No, you just ride around and look important, and I’ll say what I have to say to Mama.”

A pause. “I’ll be there in half an hour.”

Jimmy hung up and smiled. He could always count on CJ. He just had to push the right button.

• • •

Meg shuddered. The pins-and-needles feeling filled one side of her neck. She dipped her hand into the pocket of her capris and pressed her fingers against the silver folding razor.

No. Not a neck cut. Too dangerous. Too many things could go wrong.

Leaving the razor in her pocket, she removed the box of prophecy cards from the drawer, opened the box, and rested her hands on the cards. She didn’t have a question, not even a vague subject. But her fingertips buzzed as she searched through the cards, selecting the three that created the strongest feeling.

She set them on the table in the order she’d picked them, then looked at the clock. She had a little time before the ponies arrived to deliver the mail around the Courtyard.

She turned the cards over. Then she called Howling Good Reads.

“Vlad? It’s Meg. I need to see Merri Lee for a few minutes. I’m fine. Just . . . puzzled.”

“What’s up?” Merri Lee said a minute later.

Meg pointed at the cards. The explosion card. A person pointing in one direction, but she’d placed the card upside down. And the last card, the result, was the hooded figure holding a scythe.

“That’s what I wanted you to see.” Meg indicated the second card. “Upside down. That’s never happened before.”