Fiona Frost: Order of the Black Moon Read Online Free PDF Page B

where ’s Janice? Is she alright ? I don’t smell cookies , ” I blurted, my mind was spinning in confusion.
    My father surveyed my face for a moment.
    “She is feeling under the weather and has turned in for the night . We’re doin g Chinese takeout , and it will arrive any minute now,” he said before turning toward s th e hallway to go to his office.
    He seemed strained to get away every time he talked to anybody unless he was discussing a n open case. Being the district attorney must have been stressful , but he handle d it beautifully.
    “Where is Luminal ? ” I asked , my eyes dar ting around the room in a panic.
    He stopped in his tracks and spun around slowly. A slow frown spread across his face , his brows furrowing into apprehensive arc’s above his tawny eyes.
    “Well, that’s another thing, Fiona . He ’s at the vet. Please realize he ’s an old dog , we spoke about this day when h e came home with us ten years ago. I told you one day, you would have to say goodbye , and it is alright to grieve and mourn the loss . He’s a pet , and we are not going to go crazy about it, ” he said bluntly in a calm voice.
    My Scottish terrier had spent every day with me since I was seven - years - old ; I expected to have him for longer than ten years. Back then, I was already interested in forensic science and had named him Luminal after the chemical Luminol used to detect bodily fluids at crime scenes. My mother said it was tacky to name him after a commercial product, so I changed the o to an a and pronounced it slightly different. She was slightly pacified even though the spelling changed it to mean a body cavity. I suppose , in her eyes, anatomy was better than a bottle of chemicals .
    “He . I s . D ead ? ” I muttered , swallowing a rock-hard lump in my throat .
    The teardrops gathered in number, ready to cascade down my face if my father said the word yes .
    “No, he is not dead. However, he is extremely ill. The vet wanted to keep him for observation overnight . We’ll see how it goes.”
    He whisked down the hallway and I fought a quivering lip as I said goodbye to Maddie , asking her to notify the club members of a change in the lab meeting to tomorrow after school . I sulked to my bed room which I referred to as the pink palace. It was still early in the evening , but I had entered such a miserable place in my head , I wanted the day to reset — tomorrow would be better . I wanted to get there as quickly as possible .
    With no appetite for dinner, I slipped into my pajamas and just as I threw myself onto my bed, my phone rang . Fighting an emotional breakdown, I wasn’t in the mood to talk to anybody, but I answered without checking the caller.
    “Hello?”
    “ Hey, th is is Wolfe. Is everything alright ? I was really worried about you.”
    Even the sound of his voice couldn’t draw me out of the funk I was in this time.
    “Hi Wolfe. I ’m fine, no worries ,” I lied. “ Thanks for calling . ”
    W ithout another thought, I ended the call without saying goodbye and immediately burst into tears. T he emotional rollercoaster of the day took hold of my senses as I crawled into my covers , and curled into a ball as a new sob burst from my chest, eventually putting me to sleep .
    I slept sound ly without tossing or waking up in the middle of the night. It was probably the soundest sleep I had ever had in my life. My alarm shrieked and I jumped out of bed . I scampered about to get ready for school.
    As I brushed my teeth, I was surprised to see my ivory skin looked bright, my eyes were vivid. I supposed the good night’s sleep was favorable to my appearance. To change things up a bit, I put my contacts in, put a few random braids in my long, straight hair , and fastened them with colorful metallic rubber bands . I wore one of my favorite shirt s , a thin red - and - white - checkered flannel that looked like a picnic tablecloth. Not only was it comfortab le, it was a conversation piece and