Diana Racine 02 - Goddess of the Moon

macaroni and cheese that Diana assumed comprised part of the lunch menu .
    As people sauntered in, a server asked them not to take more than they could eat because waste left someone else hungry. A good philosophy for every home, Diana thought. She poured a cup of coffee and made her way to Slater’s office.
    The papers and folders on his desk were arranged in neat stacks. Edward Slater was an organized man. The red light in the vent verified the active camera. She remembered Lucier saying it activated when someone came into the room. Damn . She would have liked to try the cupboard to see whether it was locked, but she dared not. Instead, she perused the book titles in his library. For an atheist, he owned a good many books on religion, including the Bible and St. Thomas Aquinas’s Summa Theologica , which s he pulled from the shelf.
    “A great philosopher, some think second only to Aristotle,” Slater said.
    “I wouldn’t know. Religion is not my strong point . I was raised in the hellfire and damnation philosophy. Do bad things and God will get you. You don’t study that, you accept it. Later, I drifted into the curiosity phase of my life―which my father seriously frowned on―and finally settled into the “I don’t know” period. Even though my gift points to a higher force, I’m still there.”
    “I’ve always found agnostics take that stand to hedg e their bets on getting into heaven rather than tak e a stand against the apocryphal God.”
    Apocryphal. I guess that would be a good word for an atheist when discussing God . Diana thought about that one and agreed. She’d seen too much to discard the theory of a supreme being, but no matter how she tried, she couldn’t buy into theocratic ideology.
    “I didn’t come here for a philosophical discussion, Edward. I came because I want to know what Compton is up to. Why is he interested in me?”
    “Compton is fascinated by your powers , but he’s put off by your arrogance. He knows you think he’s involved in a satanic cult. You’re not very subtle.”
    “He is involved.” She told Slater about seeing her hand turn black and skeletal when Compton held it. “He’s evil, and you know it.”
    “I don’t know it. Y our psyche is controlling your visions, and they’re off base. Silas is a generous mentor. Why would he jeopardize everything to embrace Satanism? It doesn’t make sense. I’d be a more likely disciple.”
    “Are you?”
    He took the book from her hand and slid it back into its place on the shelf. “No.”
    She sensed his irritation. “I know what I saw.”
    “Silas Compton, for all the good he does, can also be a formidable adversary. I would think long and hard before screwing with him. And that dream you announced to everyone in the room? You described a satanic ritual of which you were the offering. You don’t have to be a Satanist to get the picture .”
    “ It wasn’t a dream. It happened. Compton drugged me and served me up to his group. I’m not crazy, Edward.”
    Slater shook his head and let out a long breath. “That didn’t happen, and you’ d be unwise to broadcast it . Silas can do you a lot of good. You heard him. You gave him an outstanding reading. One word from him and you’ll have a second career one could only dream of.”
    “I don’t want a second career. I’ve already had two. And I don’t remember one second of my supposed reading with Compton. Not one word. I can’t be bought, c an you? Is his evil money that important? Surely you’ve made enough connections now to support your mission without Compton.”
    “First of all, his money isn’t evil. Y ou’ve gotten that into your head , and you’re wrong. S econdly, am I bought by money? You’re damn right I am. Do you know how much it takes to run this place? Food, beds, electricity, rent, and a hundred other expenses to keep it going? We get a pittance in federal money. Without Compton’s funds and a few other generous benefactors , the people who come here would be sleeping in boxes on the street and scavenging in Dumpsters . Yes, I need his money, and I won’t do anything to throw a monkey wrench into my relationship with him. Including my relationship with you.”
    Diana froze at his words. “I didn’t know we had a relationship.”
    “Yes you did. You know and so does your cop. H e doesn’t like it either .”
    B listering heat circle d Diana’s neck. What was it about this man that both irritated and attracted her? He was so