Read Online The Reluctant Goddess (The Montgomery Chronicles Book 2) by Karen Ranney - Free Book Online Page A

hadn't expected that question.
    My eyes opened wide. I hoped she perceived my expression as a look of astonishment instead of just surprise.  
    "I'm a vampire," I said. "You've read the pamphlets. You know, the ones that say your body is changing. Kind of opposite the ones we got when we started our periods, remember?"
    I suspected she cultivated that stone facade when she arrested people or interrogated suspects. Was that what I was, a suspect?  
    Great. One more threat. Like I needed another.  
    "The Council has heard differently,” she said.  
    "From whom? Not my gynecologist, that's for sure."
    I pushed my chair back and stood. "If that's all, Kenisha, I have things to do and places to see and people to meet. And miles to go before I sleep."
    I'd always liked that Frost poem.  
    Her eyes narrowed as she stared at me, then finally she let out a noise that sounded suspiciously like a chuckle.  
    "I told them it was crazy to even ask.”  
    I only nodded. "Thanks for the information about my mother," I said.
    As I left the table, I wished I had the courage to ask about Maddock. Was he foaming at the mouth yet? Evincing signs of dementia? With Maddock it would be difficult to tell.  
    I wound my way through the restaurant, my departure disconcerting the approaching waitress.  
    "I'm sorry ma'am, we’re really busy,” she said, clutching her menus.  
    "It's not you,” I said, stopping my determined departure. “I just realized I have to be somewhere else.”  
    I smiled my bright white artificial smile and got the hell out of the restaurant. After a moment, I realized Dan was beside me, but Mike was nowhere in evidence. I had brought him here for the express purpose of getting him interested in Kenisha. The fact that he stayed behind now annoyed the hell out of me.
    "He's getting her number," Dan said.
    "I thought he couldn't date vampires."
    “His rule, not mine.”
    I gave him a sideways glance. "We need to talk. I mean, really talk. I want to know what's going on at the castle. I want to know who you are. And what you are."
    "We'll talk," he said. “But I'm not a shape shifter.”
    “Are you a werewolf, elf, gnome, or other species of Brethren?”  
    When he shook his head, stopped and faced him.  
    “You’re something, Dan. I can command a human. I can inject a thought into their head. I can’t do that with you.”  
    For a second he looked startled before his face smoothed of all expression.  
    “Are you going to tell me?” I asked.  
    “There’s nothing to tell, Marcie.”  
    I got into the Jeep without saying a word. When Mike finally joined us, I didn’t ask if he’d gotten Kenisha’s number. In fact, I didn’t open my mouth all the way back to the castle.  
    For me, that was saying a whole bunch. Like how I suddenly didn’t trust Dan and that the realization hurt a lot more than it should have.

C HAPTER N INE

    A book is like a garden carried in the pocket

    The normal channels of information were closed to me, only because nobody knew anything about a Dirugu, which is what I suspected I was, a weird combination of witch and vampire. I was a creature who could do what vampires had always yearned to do: walk in the sun, eat, and procreate. It was the procreate bit that made life a bit dodgy for me lately.  
    I’d already gone the public library route. Google had failed me. We had dozens of universities either in San Antonio or nearby. Was there anything like a College of Metaphysical Myths somewhere? I wasn’t going back to Eagle Lady. Once burned, twice shy and all that. I didn't know any vampires I could trust.  
    Yes, I was ignoring the fact that I was one.  
    Hermonious Brown was my best bet.  
    I encountered the same overprotectiveness at the door as yesterday. This time, however, I wasn’t in the mood to barter. I was still miffed by the non-conversation of the night before, along with the feeling that Dan wasn’t being entirely honest with me.  
    “I’m