Free Mixed Feelings (Empathy in the PPNW Book 1) by Olivia R. Burton Page B

Julia—one of my hotter cop
friends—but she doesn’t exactly have our radar, does she?”
    “How’d you pitch this, by the
way?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “ Well, I ’m assuming you didn’t just
walk up to said hot cop and announce that you’re a werewolf with an empath acquaintance
who’s been hired by two monsters to find kids. That wouldn’t really fly, would
it?”
    “Some people pick up on
what’s going on around the spooky side of things, actually. Occasionally
they’re like you, with some mild power. Sometimes they’re a few shades weaker
than you, but still aware. Sensitives who get a tingle in the back of their
mind when the phone’s about to ring, or who just have a really well - developed lizard brain. Julia’s the latter. She’s been
around enough conflicting eyewitness accounts of something hinky going down
that she trusts me when I say something hinky's going down. Plus, it’s tough
not to believe me when I’ve made you see god.” Mel winked, leaning forward with
a predatory smile. “ Interested? ”
    “Back off, Fido,” I growled,
pressing myself against my door. “ It
ain ’ t happening. ” Mel watched me for a few moments before shrugging and sitting back. I took
a deep breath, fought off the nausea he’d caused, and got back on track. “Look,
if it’ s possible, I ’d like to go with you when
you meet the parents.”
    “In your capacity as Super Therapi st? ”
    I ignored the dig. “Laurel
and Hardy were scouts, right? They said their job is to check on kids with
powers, to see if they’re a threat. I’d like to go and see if the parents have
any extra… oomph . If one or both of each pair
have…” I waggled my hands in front of me, unsure of how to describe it.
    “A tendency toward dance?”
Mel finished for me. I blinked and lowered my hands.
    “Powers. See if any of them
have any sort of abilities, even as mild as mine. We may have some sort of a
zealot on our hands, someone who’s learned that not everyone is a boring,
useless human and that he—or she—has a problem with this. Someone
with that overdeveloped lizard brain you mentioned, maybe. These kids could be
in danger for being too powerful. Or maybe they’re just sensitive, but this guy
thinks they can bend reality or start fires with their hands, so he’s killing
them.”
    “You know, technically
everyone can start fires with their hands,” Mel observed. “You just need
matches or a lighter, maybe some sticks to rub together.”
    My eye twitched again and I
grunted at him. “ Don ’t be pedantic.”
    “Alternately, we could rub
our body parts together and see what heats up.”
    “Please shut up,” I said,
touching the jolt in my cheek.
    Mel took a moment to enjoy my
discomfort and annoyance before continuing. “You really gave this some thought.”
    “Should I not have?”
    “I'm just not used to you thinking is all.”
    “I think all the time,” I
protested. “Usually about how I hope your testicles get mangled in some sort of
industrial accident.”
    “You think about my testicles
all the time?”
    A fit of irritation and
outrage ran through the entire right side of my face in a spasm and I reached
up to press my hand to my cheek as if I could squelch my hatred of Mel if I
squeezed hard enough. Mel laughed at me but got back to the real problem.
    “What other theories did you
generate while trying to fight your natural urge to picture me naked? You think he might go after someone like Merrin, who can
actually do damage?”
    The quake in my face died
away and I waved him off. “I don't know. It ’s just
a thought at this point. For all I know , this
guy’s just an asshole who likes hurting people and kids are the easiest
targets. The fact that the fairies are after them means that they think these
kids have powers , but I don’t know how they
determine that. Maybe they check the kids of parents with powers but not all
kids get the powers. I really don’t know.”
    I looked over