Page 16 of Dark Moon Secrets

And it definitely wasn’t a bookstore.

This had to be a fucking joke or something.

Maybe if I looked hard enough, I’d see that it really was a bookstore. No matter how much I stared at the front door with the brass six above it and the two grill-decorated windows on either side, there were no books to be seen.

A sign above one of the windows read ‘The Enlightened Path.’

I supposed that’s what books could lead to once read, but I was getting the feeling that wasn’t what it meant. The lectures from my parents filled my head, and dread knotted in my stomach. Had what I’d been avoiding finally caught up with me?

CHAPTER 6

Tanjie

“Answer me!” screamed Mia, and I jumped. “What’s going on?”

“It’s not a bookstore,” I responded halfheartedly, still trying to let it all sink in.

Maybe Luna, who looked after the shop, had sold it without Maria knowing. Fuck, this was going to be a mess for me to sort out if she had.

“What the fuck are you saying?” Mia’s voice was loud, and I could imagine her working herself into a knot over this.

“I gotta go.”

“Like fuck you do. Don’t you dare hang up on me.”

“Bye.”

I hit the red button on my touch phone, and removed the iPods from my ears. Mia was going to panic and ring me every minute until I answered, but I couldn’t deal with her questions now.

I exited the car and headed to the storefront. It was clean but old in a sort of antique way. Nevertheless, it had an attractive charm, even if the wood was chipping along the edges of the window panels. Pewter statues of angels and dragons were arranged on a table, and beyond that, it was hard to see in the dark shop.

It was nearly midday, and the shop should have been open, yet the ‘Closed’ sign hung on the inside of the door. I had found out who Luna was after phoning during the week.

The mysterious Luna who couldn’t make it to the funeral, and I had a feeling it was because she had to be here at the bookstore. She had said nothing about it not being a bookstore. I couldn’t help feeling they were conspiring against me, though I couldn’t work out for what reason.

Luna should be there as we arranged to meet. I hated it when people didn’t stick to the plan, and my anxiety levels spiked.

Where the fuck was she?

Maybe this wasn’t the right shop?

But there was no way I would turn on the phone and deal with Mia’s calls.

Suddenly, the door opened, a shop bell chimed, and a middle-aged woman stood there, red hair tumbling down to her waist.

“You must be Tanjie. Come on in, just running a wee bit late this morning… had a spirit trying to contact me.” Luna’s Scottish accent was weak but clearly there.

My jaw dropped open. What was this woman smoking? Spirit contacting her?

“Oh, how rude of me. I’m Luna.” She was a curvy woman, wearing a loose maxi dress with a tie-dye pattern.

I had been holding on to a sliver of hope that I had the address wrong, but knowing for sure this was Luna, my heart sank.

“I thought this was a bookstore,” I blurted out. Hadn’t I mentioned it on the phone? And why hadn’t Luna corrected me?

“Maria had a plan for you, sweet one,” Luna replied with a smile.

I was finding that out and didn’t like it one bit.

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