First Destroy All Giant Monsters (The World Wide Witches Research Association) by D.L. Carter Read Free Book Online

book she wanted if she wanted it right away.”
    “Is this the store she usually uses? I didn’t think there was a … a magical bookstore in the Poconos.”
    “There isn’t. Lucinda gets most of her stuff hand delivered, or wrapped in silk and packed in carved boxes, or sometimes in tea chests nailed shut with bronze nails. And I don’t think she’s ever seen a Kaiju movie, either.”
    “Not Robyn’s type of thing, either,” said Rust. “He’s into film noir right now. Deep, dark, deadly, and dystopian.”
    “Cheerful thought. I’m too tired to deal with this today,” Amber took the receipt, neatly folded it, and put it in her handbag. “No sense going somewhere they may be hiding monsters with no sleep. Tomorrow, I think I’ll pay a visit.”
    She raised her eyes to the ceiling. As no books on time management landed on her head she assumed the house didn’t have any objections.

Chapter Two
    Despite exhaustion from being awake for – now – three days, Amber wasn’t able to sleep. There was just enough caffeine firing up her system and just enough confusion and stress over Lucinda’s disappearance and the mysterious monster situation to make it impossible for her to rest.
    She’d stayed in bed all night with her eyes determinedly closed resisting any thought that she turn on the lights and read. Even with two cups of Rust’s Sleepy Time tisane she’d seen every hour of the night through. She gave up the attempt at six in the morning. Not wanting to wake the cousins rattling around in an unfamiliar kitchen, she’d elected to drive to a diner she remembered from the previous day where she had more of the poison that was making it impossible for her to sleep.
    By the time the sun dragged itself into the sky she was innervated, exhausted, debilitated, ass-dragging, and over-caffeinated – again.
    If she was honest with herself the decision to drive directly to Laurenville instead of going back to the farm and seeing if any of the cousins were willing to go with her was based more on not wanting them to know that the bookstore was going to be her second stop of the day than aversion to their company.
    The first was finding someplace with a fax and computer hook up.
    She could multitask. Scan the internet for software engineer job openings, send out her updated resume, and get the job hunt started. Then she’d take the time to look for this alleged Giant Monster.
    Easy.
    A good plan.
    It was getting toward lunchtime by the time she located Laurenville Books. It was in a good location, sharing a strip mall with a hiking/skiing/camping equipment store and a gas station/mini mart just off the highway and across the road from three motels on a back road heading toward one of the better skiing and hiking areas of the Poconos Mountains resort area. The bookstore’s windows were well decorated, recently cleaned – and still the place had a faint air of neglect that matched the rest of the strip mall.
    That didn’t matter to Amber as much as the sign that advertised a coffee shop inside the bookstore.
    “Paradise,” said Amber and climbed out of her car.
    She was not ashamed to admit to her twin addictions. When the door opened she would be enveloped in the delicious scent of fresh coffee and the welcoming warmth of many, as yet unread, books. Bookshops were proof that, even in the determinedly rustic heights of the Poconos, she could still find evidence of civilization. If she stayed away from New York City long enough she might be reduced to driving down to Laurenville for fluffy gourmet coffee as a respite to the black sludge that Smoke brewed.
    Yes, she was a techie and yes, she was always first in line for new technology, but there were still some things that were better in book form than e-book. Easier to read and understand. For some strange reason that included books on computer software engineering and design. She could lay computer books out across the floor each open to a specific section when