More Than Fiends

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Book: More Than Fiends Read Free
Author: Maureen Child
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staring at me.
    I choked on another Samoa.
    Seriously, I was beginning to wonder if the cookies were out to get me.
    â€œCan I help you?” I asked, still gasping and clutching the phone.
    Her gray hair didn’t budge from its tidy curls despite the sharp, cold wind off the ocean. Her strong jaw was clenched, and her icy blue eyes were fixed on me like she was trying to see inside my head.
    Weird.
    â€œOn the contrary,” she said quietly, “I’m here to help you.”
    â€œHelp me do what?” Ditch Logan? Scream at Bob? Bully Leo? Have I mentioned that men are currently pains in my ass?
    â€œAccept your destiny .”
    â€œOkaaaayyyy…” I said, trying to be patient. It’s never wise to upset crazy people.
    â€œToday you are thirty-two years old,” the old woman went on, and just how the hell did she know it was my birthday? “Your time has come.”
    She smiled, but it wasn’t a grandma-type, wanna-cookie? smile. Nope, this was more like the grin on that fake shark they built for the movie Jaws .
    â€œThere is no time to waste,” she said. “The demons are here. And only you can kill them.”

Chapter Two
    â€œK ill the demons,” I said, nodding and giving her a wink like this was a little secret just between the two of us. I kept thinking, Keep her calm. Don’t upset her little fantasy world . Meanwhile, I’m wondering how I can call 911 while I’m on hold with an appliance store. “Okeydokey. I’ll get right on that.”
    She frowned. “You are the chosen one. It is your duty to fight the—”
    The Muzak ended and Bob answered. Holding one finger up to the strange-and-getting-stranger-by-the-minute woman, I said, “Hold that thought. Bob? Hi, it’s Cassidy. Look, Leo’s here with the new machine, but he says you didn’t tell him to take the old one away.”
    â€œThat wasn’t part of our deal, Cass, and—”
    â€œBob!” I cut him off because, really, once he gets going, it’s hard to stop him. While I was gearing up for a fight, the old lady slipped past me into the house and was wandering around my kitchen. Sugar was no help. She was hiding under the table.
    â€œLook, Bob,” I said, frowning when Weird Grandma started opening my cupboards. I snapped my fingers at her, but she just gave me a quelling look and continued her snooping. Pretty snarky for an intruder. “You get Leo to take away the old machine, or I tell your wife about the time you took Terri Flannery to Vegas for that ‘business trip.’”
    He shrieked. Never an attractive sound coming from a man, but at least I knew I’d made my point. I’d been hanging on to that little nugget of information for two years now, just waiting for the right chance to use it, ever since the night Terri got drunk and told me all about the trip with Bob and how he cried during sex. Though from how Terri described it, she should have been the one crying. God knows, I would have. Since high school, Bob had done some serious deteriorating. I hung up with Bob’s promise to call Leo, then turned to face the creeper in my kitchen.
    â€œYou know,” I said, “maybe we should get you back outside.” Where people from the home can find you.
    The occasional stray wacko wasn’t exactly news around here. La Sombra is known for more than its great surf and excellent bakery. We’ve also got the biggest nuthouse in California just outside town. Excuse me, long-term mental health care facility. Whatever. It’s a massive place that looks more like a medieval castle than a home for the terminally weird, but there you go. In California, it’s always about appearances.
    Point is, there are always a few escapees every year, and sooner or later, the guys in white vans go cruising the streets to round ’em back up again.
    Of course, this was the first time one of the escapees had found

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