Read Online Goblin Moon by Candace Sams - Free Book Online

about yourself."
    She shrugged, pulled at a tall blade of grass and looked away. “What's to tell?"
    "Did you know the Sorceress and her staff did extensive research on your background? They wanted to know who they were dealing with before deciding to kidnap someone."
    "So I've gathered.” She turned to look at him. “If you know all about me, why are you asking?"
    "Maybe because I've been volunteering a lot of information and getting nothing in return. I don't want Shayla's version of your history, however thorough that may be. I want to hear it from you."
    "Hear what?"
    "All right, you seem to handle things bluntly so I'll just come right out with it. Why did you stop saving lives to become a temporary secretary?"
    She turned away. “Shouldn't we be getting back? Your Sorceress might have her people looking for us."
    He pulled her around to face him. Her expression was shuttered, but he gently persisted. “You aren't worried about her. Answer me."
    Kathy took a deep breath and studied her feet. “I decided I ... wasn't able to help anyone anymore."
    Tearach softened his tone. “Because you saw your father and fiancé die?” He watched her hands clench.
    "Your Sorceress is thorough, isn't she,” came her breathy response.
    "What happened, Kathy?"
    She swallowed very hard. “There was only one other person who used to shorten my name, you know. Everyone else always calls me Kathleen."
    " Talk to me,” he quietly insisted.
    "My dad. He always called me Kathy. All my life I saw him pick up his gear and go to the station. To me, he was a hero. I never wanted to be anything else but a firefighter, just like him. When I graduated from the academy, it was one of the happiest days of my life. Daddy was so proud.” She stopped and sadly smiled. “We even managed to get stationed together."
    She sat on a stump and looked into the distance. Tearach wondered if she'd finish. It seemed she was fighting for control. He'd done it often enough to recognize the signs.
    She eventually continued. “Steven was a paramedic as well as a firefighter. He convinced me to get paramedic training, and we found ourselves becoming ... very close.” She stood and wrapped her arms about her chest. “We got a call one night. It was very late. There was a high-rise apartment complex on fire. People were trapped inside. My father and Steven were the first two men in the building. When they got to the top floor, the roof collapsed. I was in charge of the medical team outside. There was nothing anyone could do. End of story."
    Something in his heart twisted. “You have no one else? No family?"
    "You know I don't. My mother died when I was little. There's no one else."
    "I'm sorry, Kathy."
    "So am I. But it can't be changed. While neither my father nor Steven would have wanted me to dwell on it, I just didn't want to watch it happen to someone else. So, I left the department. It was over for me when they caught the men who set the fire."
    "It was arson?"
    She nodded. “The apartment building was occupied by foreign nationals. Some people on the block wanted to run them off. But they didn't consider the full consequences of their actions. They didn't give a single damn!"
    Tearach noted how she ended the story on a bitter note, belying that the tragedy was really over for her. How similar their circumstances were. Both of their worlds had ended because of someone's illegal, careless actions. Shayla's researchers were very good indeed.
    "So now you know everything.” She sat back down beside him. “It's your turn. Tell me why the Sorceress wants us in a relationship."
    Before that story could be told, Tearach needed to have some space. Adding his sad tale to hers wasn't going to make the day go any better, and it had already started badly. “I will. But I want you to meet someone first."
    When he stood and offered Kathy his hand, it seemed the most natural thing in the world for her to take it and go with him. She was often confused by his