Free The Miskatonic Manuscript (Case Files of Matthew Hunter and Chantal Stevens Book 2) by Vin Suprynowicz Page B

bit frayed. How much is it worth?”
    “Ma’am, for this first printing of Mario Puzo’s The Godfather, with this author’s inscription directly to the page, thanking your husband for the story about the cannoli, I’d be happy today to give you two thousand dollars. If you could write that little note I mentioned, a little more.”
    “Oh. Oh dear. I didn’t know …” And, of course, she began to cry. Marian, back in charge, had the box of Kleenex handy.
    * * *
    Les had asked to talk to Matthew in his office, where progress pricing and thinning out the backed-up stacks of new acquisitions proceeded slowly, but did at least enable them to clear the second chair.
    “What’s up, Les?”
    “I think I’m dying.”
    “You’ve been to the doctor?”
    “As in, ‘I asked my family doctor just what I had’?”
    “Ah. So you know what it is.”
    “I’ve lost weight; I’m falling asleep on my feet; look how I pale I am.”
    “Les, you refuse to go out in the sun. You’ve spent most of your life trying to convince people you’re a vampire. Of course you’re pale. The point is, you know what it is.”
    “It’s Marian. She’s draining my life force.”
    “She’s a vampire?”
    “A succubus.”
    “You’re not getting any sleep?”
    “She’s insatiable.”
    “Les, you need to be clear, here. Do you want to break it off with Marian? It won’t cost you your job, I can make sure of that.”
    “I realize any other guy would think it’s a dream come true. I mean, the first couple of nights, she wants to go three or four times,that’s amazing. But you’d naturally expect that after some time the level of activity would drop back to —”
    “Do not use the word ‘normal.’”
    “— to something more … measured.”
    “Les, you’re the only one who can really ask her, it’s not my place, but I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that Marian has been kind of saving it up, that her body needs this now, a lot of it, and yes, assuming you find her acceptable with her clothes off, most guys would say you’re nuts and would gladly trade places with you. If it was me making her smile the way she smiles these days, putting the color in her cheeks, I’d be very gratified.”
    “So there’s no hope?”
    “Les, we’re friends, but I’m not a doctor; I can’t give you strictly medical advice.”
    “I’ve been thinking about going in to get the pills.”
    “To keep your strength up.”
    “To keep something up.”
    “You should.”
    “I should?”
    “You still haven’t told me whether you want to break it off with her.”
    “God, no. I think it’ll kill me, but I guess it’s worth it. She just enjoys it so much. Sometimes she … giggles.”
    “And do you enjoy being with her?”
    “God help me, yes.”
    “Not just in bed, I mean. You can talk? You don’t fight all the time? She’s a good companion?”
    “She reads books. She actually knows what I’m talking about. You know how rare that is? How many people know what Bram Stoker did for a living?”
    “Ran the Lyceum Theatre for Henry Irving.”
    “OK that’s three of us. But I don’t find you all that attractive, Matthew. Sorry.”
    “Yes, go get some of the pills they advertise on TV, having a few as a backup won’t hurt. But you know they just borrow bloodflow from one place and put it somewhere else. And unless you’re real lucky the guy who writes that prescription won’t tackle the bigger problem, since it’s a longer conversation.”
    “Which is?”
    “You need to go into training.”
    “What?”
    “Like you were getting ready to run a race, fight a championship fight, climb a mountain. You’re not 25 anymore, Les, neither of us are. You need to change the way you eat and sleep. You especially need to start eating.”
    “I eat all the time.”
    “Beer and corn chips are not the two major food groups, Les.”
    “Oh my God, you’re going to say the same thing she says, aren’t you? About the strange foods,