Malevolent (The Puzzle Box Series Book 1) by K.M. Carroll Read Free Book Online Page B

vampire."
    No, no, no, I didn't want the conversation to go this way. This was too much information--why had I asked about this? I struggled to find a reasonable middle ground--Robert bummed me for cash and food all the time. "In the metaphorical sense?"
    "No. Literally."
    I forced a laugh. "But vampires aren't real."
    "Then why did you ask what I am?"
    The question was sharp as a nail, pinning down my flippancy. I fidgeted with my braid. "Are you?"
    "No."
    "But you're something!"
    "Yes."
    That was as far as I dared go. I gulped and backed away one step, then another. My free hand dove into my pocket for my knife. "Um, I'm gonna go now."
    I expected him to demand that I stay, and maybe get violent. Instead, Mal lifted a hand. "Farewell."
    I alternated between a jog and a fast walk all the way home. Suki ran beside me, sensing my unease.
    What had happened back there? What had started off as a joke about vampires turned dark and serious. Had I offended him? I anxiously sorted through my impressions of the conversation. No, he wasn't offended, so much as ... angry. That was it, he'd been angry. The short, clipped phrases, the way he pressed his lips together. But he wasn't mad until we started talking about Robert.
    I walked faster and faster until I was almost jogging. Robert, feeding on me with kisses? Kissing other girls at school? But he'd never bitten me--well, not in the neck. He'd nibbled my lips a few times, but never enough to draw blood. How could he be a vampire, then?
    Various books opened in my memory with the answers. Maybe he fed on the soul, or life essence. Vampires could feed on anything, depending on what kind they were.
    But who was I kidding? This was real life. There was no such thing as vampires.
    I stopped halfway through the almond orchard and looked back. No sign of Mal or anyone else. Just trees, bare branches, and scattered early blooms in the watery spring sunlight.
    If Robert wasn't a vampire, why did Mal admit to being ... something?
    It chilled me as if all the valley's fog had settled in my marrow.
    "God," I said aloud, "what should I do about Robert?"
    Silence. God refused to speak to me any more about Robert. I knew it was because he wasn't a believer, and God already said to not be unequally yoked and all that. Kind of like a parent saying, "What have I already told you?"
    But what if God disapproved of the vampire thing, too? Wouldn't He warn me? Unless that was why Mal had showed up.
    "So," I continued, "what about Mal?"
    Immediately a thought slipped into my head. "Jars of clay." I pulled out my smart phone, opened the Bible app, and hunted down the verse.
    However, we possess this precious treasure in frail vessels of earth, that the grandeur and exceeding greatness of the power may be shown to be from God and not from ourselves.
    I read it over and over, becoming more blown away each time. Mal was an earthen vessel full of treasure? What, was he a Christian? Was that what he'd been trying to say?
    It felt like my brain was having thoughts too big for it. I avoided the house and headed toward the blueberry field.
    The blueberries grew in rows taller than me, four acres of them. Their dark green foliage was sprinkled with pink buds. The bees would have more than almonds to worry about, come March or April.
    But thinking about bees made me think about Mal, and where he was concerned, my brain had exploded. How could I even bring it up? "Hey Mal, I asked God about you, and he said you were treasure in a clay jar. What's it mean?"
    Instead I walked--skipped, actually--down a row between blueberry hedges and stroked the silky buds. Suki ran in and out of the hedges, sniffing the ground.
    Here I had this cool verse about Mal, and deafening silence about Robert. My exploded brain pulled itself together, and I stopped skipping. Divine silence scares me. I knew I shouldn't have dated Robert, but geez.
    My phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out, and exhaled violently.
    Robert had texted, "Hey