Chasing the Moon by A. Lee Martinez Read Free Book Online

care of that for you.”
    “I didn’t wish for a fire.”
    “You didn’t
not
wish for a fire.”
    “What the hell does that mean?”
    “Unguided reality manipulation will always take the path of least resistance. Since you didn’t specify the details, you can hardly be upset by the results.”
    She hastily threw on some clothes, not bothering to shower.
    “Where are you going?” asked Vom.
    “To the store,” she said.
    “I thought you didn’t want to go to the store.”
    “I didn’t, but if I started a magic fire that killed somebody, I need to know.”
    “Why?”
    “Why what?”
    “Why do you need to know?” asked Vom.
    “Because it’s important.”
    “It’s important to know if you killed someone?”
    “Yes.”
    “And why is that?”
    “Because I couldn’t live with myself if I did.”
    Vom nodded. “Then why would you want to know?”
    Diana said, “You don’t understand.”
    “Oh, I understand. You may have killed someone by accidentand now you think it’ll make things better to torture yourself about it. Just because I don’t agree with it doesn’t mean I can’t understand it.”
    “We can’t all be amoral monsters with a complete indifference to human life.”
    “I’m not indifferent to human life as a whole,” he said. “Just individual ones.”
    “My mistake. I’m going. You stay here.”
    Vom snarled. “I’m a cosmic entity. Not a puppy.”
    “Just do me a favor,” she said. “Try not to chew on the furniture.”
    He grinned. “I promise nothing.”
    Diana rushed to the store, stopping only for a coffee and a bagel. When she was almost there she realized that seeing the fire wouldn’t answer any questions. By then she was less concerned with the possible body count and just determined to see what the results of her careless wish might be. She envisioned the entire department store burned to the ground. Then, worrying that perhaps imagining something like that would make it happen, she did her best to wipe the image from her mind. But it was like asking herself not to think about a pink dinosaur. Once the idea was introduced it uldn’t be removed.
    She should’ve taken the time to listen to Vom’s explanation. If she did have magical powers now, it was probably smart to understand them.
    The department store had not been destroyed. closed for repairs read a sign on the door. She peered through the windows and, while the coat section wasn’t visible from outside, she could see that most of the visible smoke damage was in thatgeneral area. The store was still standing, and it didn’t look as if the fire department had had to soak the place down to stop the fire from spreading.
    “Pretty bad, huh?” asked Wendall from behind her.
    She turned toward him. He worked in housewares. Wendall was short, a little chubby, with curly hair and a perpetual smile. Always cheerful. Sometimes too much so. They hadn’t talked much, but she liked him in a pleasant, casualacquaintance way.
    “Had to come and see for yourself, huh?” He joined her at the window. “Me too.”
    “Do they know how it happened?” she asked.
    “They think it was an electrical short. You know how old the wiring is in this place. Thank God, nobody was hurt.”
    She breathed an inner sigh of relief.
    “They say it’ll probably take a week or two to fix the damage,” he said. “Say, you want to go get a cup of coffee or something?”
    “Actually, I just had some coffee,” she replied.
    “There’s a great little bagel place just around the corner,” he said.
    “Uh, I just…”
    “My treat.”
    Wendall grinned at her. He had a crush on her. Possibly. It wasn’t easy to tell because he was always so friendly, but he was that special brand of nice guy who was so used to being overlooked that any woman who acknowledged his existence became attractive by default. Or maybe she was just flattering herself. Maybe he was just being friendly again.
    “Yeah, sure.”
    She figured it couldn’t hurt to