Page 71 of Hungry Like the Wolf

“Magda,” she offered.

“Magda,” Halphas repeated. “Until next time, ladies.”

The pressure in the room changed for a moment as he disappeared, buffeting Walter off of his sugar cube an inch before dropping him back. Nadja tried popping her ears again, and mercifully, they obeyed.

“I’m going to ask you again now that we’re alone. How are you?”

Nadja went to sit in the opposite chair. Funny enough, Magda was sitting in Nadja’s chair, the chair she occupied during therapy sessions, while Nadja was sitting in the client chair.

“I’m miserable,” she said, quite miserably, finally letting the tears fall.

“Of course you are.”

From somewhere, Magda produced a travel mug and slid it across the coffee table toward Nadja. It was one of Nadja’s from home, a bright blue cup that said A Therapy Session a Day Keeps the “I Should Start a Podcast” Away in white letters. She took it in her hands and smelled tea. It was hot, but not so hot that she couldn’t drink it, and she took a grateful sip.

“How did you know I’d be here?” Nadja asked.

“My love, you know I can’t answer that. I just did.”

Nadja nodded just as Walter burped, a sound far louder than such a small creature should have been capable of making.

“I see he’s back with you,” Nadja said, nodding at Walter.

“He was on loan.”

“Loan? Robbie was borrowing him?”

Magda rocked her head from side to side in that way she did when she didn’t want to not answer a question but had no intention of giving a complete answer either.

“In a way. I may have lied. Just a little white lie. But I told him that I needed him to look after Walter for me for a few weeks.

“Why? You don’t travel.”

Magda grinned. “I didn’t need him to watch Walter. I needed Walter to watch him.”

“What do you mean?” Nadja asked, taking another sip. Magda was something of an herbalist, among all the other things she was, and her teas were legendary, sweetened with the honey from the bees in her backyard.

“Let’s just say that Walter was keeping an eye on Robbie for me, monitoring any… major changes, shall we say?”

“So you knew. You knew he was a werewolf?”

Magda arched a brow at her, as if to say, “Duh.”

“So why did you need Walter?”

“To know when to send him to you, of course.”

Nadja froze. She didn’t know what Magda was. She’d been puzzling over that question for decades with no answer. But whatever Magda was, she knew far more than she ought. Always. Usually long before events happened. It made her a meddlesome terror sometimes.

“But you didn’t send him to me. Hank did.”

Magda sighed, that eyebrow creeping higher. “And who do you think told Hank to send him to you?”

“Esther,” Nadja deadpanned.

“You’re no fun, you know that? Who do you think planted the seed in Esther’s beautiful technicolor brain that Robbie might benefit from some therapy?”

“You’re a menace, Magda,” Nadja said flatly.