Adam found himself starting to like the man, but the unease kept creeping in. There was definitely more to him than he was letting on, but Adam couldn't blame him for keeping his cards close.

  "I guess you would have seen us," Natalie said, cramming the second croissant into her mouth and speaking around it. "Does everyone have powers now?" Adam couldn't tell if the question was rhetorical.

  "How many have you met?" Hector sounded genuinely interested. "Since... things got bad."

  Adam shrugged. "You'd be the fourth. But the first that didn't try to kill us." Adam watched a cloud pass over Hector's expression, there and gone in an instant.

  "I'm sorry." Hector opened his hands in a gesture of apology. "One would think that with everything happening, people wouldn't be preying on each other, but..." He let the thought trail off.

  "Yeah." Adam nodded, letting the silence sit between them.

  "Coffee?" Natalie asked brightly, looking at Adam.

  "Oh, yeah." Adam grabbed the two forgotten bags and moved toward the coffee maker. "Coffee?" he asked, glancing at Hector.

  "Yes, please." Hector frowned slightly. "I would have made some myself, but the power was off. Looks like it's back now."

  Adam considered that as he poured the grounds into the machine. The streetlights in his neighborhood had gone dark by the second day, but his condo had never lost power. Something about that tugged at the back of his mind, but he filed it away for later.

  "From the way the coolers smell, I wouldn't trust the creamer or half and half." He knew some people drank it black, but he had never developed the taste. "I hope the packets are still good."

  "I don't think those little packets ever go bad," Natalie added around another mouthful of croissant. "One sugar, one cream."

  "Two creams, please," Hector said, his hands coming together in the universal gesture of thanks.

  "I'm still hungry," Natalie complained. "Feels like I haven't eaten in days."

  "It's the magic," Hector said simply. "It has to come from somewhere. From you, from food, from others."

  Adam kept busy making the coffee, turning over the thought in his mind. Magic. Just one more revelation to add to the list.

  "How do you know that? And why do you think it's magic?" Natalie's tone carried both suspicion and curiosity. She reached up and took Samantha's hand and Adam tried not to dwell on how pale she still looked.

  "My abuelo was a brujo in Honduras."

  Adam and Natalie gave him blank looks. "Ahh, uh... medicine man. Shaman," Hector said, then grimaced. "Witch doctor."

  "How'd your mother feel about that?” Natalie asked, smirking.

  Hector's laugh was deep and rich, and a little more of the tension bled out of the room. "My other abuelo. The two sides of my family didn't get along. Just my madre and padre. Rest their souls."

  "So, does that mean you know something about all of this?" Natalie took Samantha's pulse again as she asked, lines forming on her forehead as she concentrated.

  "A little, maybe. The Voice said magic has been gone a long time, maybe that's true, but my abuelo still believed." Hector looked a little uncomfortable as he spoke. "I only remember some of what he taught. I don't know if any of it will help."

  "Problems for another day,” Adam said, stretching as he watched the coffee slowly drip into the pot. He frowned, turning back toward the others. "Wait. The Voice never mentioned magic." He remembered the words with uncomfortable clarity, and there hadn't been any reference to magic at all.

  "It said that it was removed hundreds of years ago," Hector said. "I can't forget the words."

  "Natalie?" Adam looked to her.

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  She shook her head. "No mention of magic in mine either. But it did say something about being translated an obscene number of times."

  Maybe the message changed based on who heard it? he thought

  "Hmm. I don't know how that helps, but it's more information than we had a minute ago."

  "It would seem we have enough to deal with for now." Hector pointed his chin toward Samantha, changing the subject. "You said you were shot at? Was that this? Or was it the monsters?"

  Adam glanced at Natalie, but she didn't respond. He sighed and explained. "Both. At the same time."

  Hector's eyes widened slightly. He seemed to reevaluate the three of them. "And you survived?"

  Natalie grunted and Adam figured the question answered itself.

  "I'm sorry,” Hector said, sounding apologetic. The question still rubbed Adam the wrong way. "That was rude of me."

  "It's fine,” but her reply was clipped and Adam was fairly sure it was, in fact, not fine. He'd begun to notice how volatile her moods had become, especially when Samantha was involved. Given the day’s events, though, he couldn't blame her.

  The coffee finished brewing.

  Adam poured a cup for each of them, dropped in the creamer and sugar, and settled in beside Natalie.

  "How is she now?" he asked, taking a slow sip, and letting the heat soak into his hands.

  "Still weak."

  Natalie lowered Samantha’s hand, then picked up her own cup. "I healed the wound, but I don't know how to replace the blood she lost. I'm not even sure that's possible."

  "So, she needs a donor?" Adam asked. He doubted any of the blood stored in hospitals was still viable if the power was out, unless a backup generator had kept it cold.

  "Ideally. Or some saline to replace the lost volume." Her voice had taken on a bitter edge.

  "Why do I feel like there's a but coming?" Adam asked, already regretting how it sounded.

  "Because there is,” Natalie snapped, before taking another drink. "I don't remember her blood type. We've been to the doctor plenty, especially the last few years, but with everything that's been happening, I can't be sure. And this isn't something I can afford to get wrong."

  "It's okay," Adam said, nudging her should gently, but she pulled away.

  "No. It's fucking not." Her voice cracked. "She's my wife. I should know what her blood type is." Tears had edged into her voice. "It's so stupid. I've been to a dozen appointments with her, easily that many lab visits. Every year she gets the flu, and it wipes her out, but she's still right there with a smile. Now the one time she really needs me I can't even remember the one thing that would help."

  "What happens if she gets the wrong blood?" Hector asked, the question reminding them both he was still sitting there.

  "She'll die," Natalie said flatly. "Especially with how weak she is right now."

  "So, hospital?" Adam tried to sound positive. He wasn't sure if it landed.

  "That'd be our best bet," Natalie agreed. "She's not stable enough to move, though. And the problem is bigger than that."

  She rested her hand on Samantha's forehead, stroking gently.

  "I doubt any hospitals are operational. Even if they are, they're almost definitely on backup power. And if any of the blood is still good, we'd have to keep it cold on the way back, plus get testing kits and anticoagulants… "

  "So... easy,” Adam said, shrugging and forcing a crooked grin. "I'll just go to the hospital."

  Natalie barked a laugh that made Hector jump. He looked at her like she'd lost her mind.

  "What the fuck is wrong with you?" She shook her head. "I just told you it's basically impossible even if you make it, and just like that you're going? We almost died getting here!"

  "Pretty much."

  Adam stood like he was ready to walk out the door. "This whole week has been impossible. I can shoot electricity from my fingertips. You can heal people. Samantha made a car explode. And in the last ten minutes we met someone that can turn invisible."

  Hector put his hands up as if he were being accused of something.

  "And there are monsters trying to kill and eat us, hopefully in that order. Oh, and the creator of all reality? He's using us like ants under the universe's biggest magnifying glass."

  "Anything else?" Natalie asked. Adam's manic energy was contagious, and the corners of her mouth twitched despite herself.

  "Yeah. It's Thursday,” he said, disappearing behind the counter, and rummaging noisily through the cupboards.

  "What?" Natalie and Hector asked at the same time.

  Adam popped back up, holding a small thermos in triumph. "Nevermind!"

  Natalie looked at him, clearly troubled. "I can't leave her."

  "I know."

  He poured the rest of the coffee into the thermos, dropped it into his pack, then slung his bat over his shoulder. "I could ask how long she has, but it doesn't matter. Either I go, or she dies. Right?"

  Natalie nodded, her expression caught between concern and gratitude.

  "Hector, this is going to sound like a dick move, but..." Adam squared his shoulders. "I'm going to need you to come with me."

  "What? Why?" Hector asked, caught off guard.

  "Because I don't trust you yet. We just met. My friend's dying, and this is her place." Adam let the words settle. "And I could really use your help."

  A flicker of anger crossed Hector's face, then something colder settled in. "I guess I don't have much of a choice," he said, and his voice had lost most of its earlier warmth.

  Adam hesitated, then surprised himself. "Not unless you want to fight."

  The silence stretched between them. Hector stared, then nodded stiffly as he stood. "I get it," he said. "I don't like it, but I get it."

  Adam understood the implication in Hector's voice. It wasn't a threat, but it was close.

  "Natalie, hold down the fort?" Adam asked.

  She pulled out a pen and a scrap of paper, jotting down a series of notes in tight, neat script. When she handed it over, her expression was firm.

  "Sending you out without a list won't help anyone. Especially if you forget something."

  Adam nodded, folding the note and tucking it into his wallet. It struck him as odd he still carried it. Nothing in there mattered anymore, but he still felt naked without it.

  "Fair enough."

  "Adam?" Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Hurry."