The Smaller Evil by Stephanie Kuehn Read Free Book Online Page A

Of course he couldn’t tell her about
that.
    Kira grinned wider, crawling to her feet. She reached her hand down to help him up. “See? We both have our secrets. Things we aren’t willing to tell.”
    Arman let her pull him to standing. Kira wrapped her arm through his, an act of closeness that melted his irritation if not his injury. They began to walk, and Arman absorbed the thrum of her energy. He didn’t push the secret issue with her because his stomach was hurting, a tight, crampy pain he knew well and deeply resented. Why had he eaten so much? And drank that tea with milk in it? Just thinking about the meal now made him feel gross, swollen and queasy, like a fattened lamb.
    That’s when Arman lifted his head and stared up the hill toward the dome building.
    At the open doors.
    At the wood smoke puffing from the chimney.
    â€œHey, Kira,” he said.
    â€œHey, Arman,” she replied.
    â€œWhat do you think about all this? What do you really think’s going to happen here?”
    â€œWe’re going to learn to make our own lives. Determine our own fate. Isn’t that the point?”
    â€œYeah, but isn’t that something you were already doing? I mean, back home, you’ve always seemed, I don’t know . . .”
    â€œI seemed what?”
    â€œLucky,” he said.
    She cocked her head. “That’s a funny word.”
    â€œI didn’t mean—”
    â€œNo, I know what you
meant
. It’s just . . . well, you know who my dad is, right?”
    â€œSure.” Of course he did. Everyone knew. Kira’s father was one of the most famous civil-rights attorneys in the state. Maybe even the country.
    â€œYeah, well, he’s pretty used to having people do the things he tells them to. And Dale’s one of the things he told me not to do.”
    â€œOh,” Arman said. Then: “Because he’s white?”
    â€œBecause he’s
nineteen
. Also he didn’t finish high school.”
    â€œSo you think Dale’s worth running away for?”
    â€œI’m not running
away
, kid. I’m here to find myself. To find out how to be better than myself. Aren’t you?”
    He didn’t answer. They were almost at the domed building. Kira was practically skipping, but for Arman, the closer they got to the entrance and the glowing light and the crowds of people all hustling to get inside for a ritual he longed to be a part of but didn’t understand,the sicker his stomach felt. He didn’t like uncertainty, he realized. Hell, he didn’t even like attention.
    You like Beau, though
.
And you can do this. Be who you want to be. For once in your damn life.
    So Arman squared his shoulders and set his jaw. Tried to stand up straight, despite the cramping in his gut. This was what he was here for, after all.
    To change.
    To
evolve
.
    â€œYou look nervous,” Kira whispered as they approached the threshold.
    â€œI am nervous,” Arman whispered back. “I feel like a lamb being led to the slaughter.”
    She laughed. “You’re funny.”
    â€œReally?”
    She nodded. “You remember that thing Lord Summerisle says at the end of
The Wicker Man
?”
    Arman shook his head. He had no idea what she was talking about. “That’s a movie, right? I never saw it. What does he say?”
    Kira grinned her Cheshire grin again. “‘Reverence the sacrifice.’”
    â€¢Â â€¢Â â€¢
    Arman wasn’t sure what he expected to find inside the meeting hall. Something churchlike, perhaps. Something sacrificial and reverent. Like a space filled with pews and a pulpit. Or maybe something resembling the auditorium at his school—humble in its simplicity—a round room with a stage surrounded by folding chairs and ugly fluorescent lighting. Or hell, maybe they’d just sit on the floor with their legs crossed while Beau stood before them and talked.