Sun God Seeks...surrogate? Read Online Free PDF

around my waist. “Not really the high nail on my list of worries.”
    He nodded and then shifted his gaze toward the front door of Cimil’s house. “Take it from me, life never turns out as one expects, but the sooner you let go of what should be, the sooner you’ll see the forest through the trees.”
    “Great,” I said, “just what I needed…life lessons brought to you by the bumper sticker.”
    He laughed at that.
    “Who is she?” I asked.
    He smirked and rubbed his black stubble-covered jaw. “She’s someone extremely powerful. And someone who knows what you need even before you do.”
    Well, la-di-da! Didn’t that make it all better?
    “And what exactly did you need?” I asked, wondering why anyone would choose to have someone like Cimil in their life.
    He scratched his sprouting beard again. “To heal a piece of me that was broken long ago.”
    “How’s that workin’ out for ya?”
    He smiled, a bright glowing, heartfelt smile. “Well. Really, really well.”
    “Sorry, buddy. Not drinking the Kool-Aid.”
    “Kool-Aid?” he asked.
    “Never min…” I turned to fully face him. It was then that I noticed his eyes were an inconceivable amalgamation of light blues and greens, almost iridescent.
    Just like Cimil and her brother.
    I swallowed my shiver. Something about these people felt…different. Very, very different. “I’m not in Kansas anymore, am I, Andrus?”
    “No, Dorothy. You are not.”
     
     

CHAPTER 5
     
     
    “What do you mean, ‘He’s not coming’?” I said. “I came to hear him out, just like you asked.”
    Cimil sat at her desk, flipping through the pages of the same thick book she’d been reading the night before. “You will meet with him tonight before you say yes or no. That is my one condition to your keeping half the money.”
    “Fine.” That would be easy enough. And, I had to admit, the part of me that craved to see him again was hula hooping.
    Her finger carefully skimmed a page and then stopped on a word. “There’s more. How could I forget?” Her head snapped up.
    Here come the strings. I knew it! Would she ask me to ride a pink pogo stick to this meeting? Perhaps I needed to be escorted by clowns. Clothed, of course.
    “Yes?” I replied.
    “I’ve got something for you.” She reached to her side and began fishing through a drawer. “Oh pickle. Where is it?” She pulled out a Slinky, a Taser, a pack of Bubblicious gum, and a pink Troll—the kind you put over a pencil eraser. “Ah! Here it is.” She plunked down a large three-ring binder, labeled “Handbook.” “You must read this before tonight.”
    She’d been serious about the handbook? “You’re not telling me there’s really going to be a pop quiz, too?”
    Cimil’s eyes glowed with wicked joy. “You’re off the hook. Rochell, who handles that little tidbit of fun, is resting after an unfortunate Twister mishap at last night’s party.” She shrugged. “Strippers. Policemen. They all look the same to me. Especially after you steal their clothes and grease them up. Yunno what I mean?”
    I blinked as my mind tried to form a cohesive connection between those thoughts. I was coming up blank. “No. No, I do not.” Moving on… “What sort of handbook is this?”
    “The kind that will give you answers, silly. For things.” Long awkward pause. “What else?”
    Well, that was vague. And weird. Just like this entire depraved situation. “Okeydokey. Anything else?” I asked.
    She laughed hysterically for several moments and then shook her finger. “You! You’re a firecracker. Kaablam! Pow! Fire! Cracker!” She paused and stared at the ceiling, completely checked out.
    Damn, she freaked me out. “Are we…done?”
    She burst back to life. “Yep. Here’s the address and time.” She handed me a slip of paper from the pocket of her pink satin jumpsuit.
    I snatched it from her hand, swiped the handbook, and prepared to flee. I wanted to skedaddle before this got any weirder or she