Free Web NovelChapter 115: No Trusting Malo
After school, I went straight to the shop. I didn’t waste any time. I grabbed the broom and started with the floors, then moved on to the shelves. I cleaned up the dust and arranged every jar and bottle exactly where it was supposed to be.
Malo came along a few minutes later. He didn’t say much at first, just walked to the back and dropped Kali inside her enclosure.
While I was busy shifting things around and making sure the labels faced forward, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw a text message from Dina. She was asking what snacks she should bring over for the weekend.
I stared at the screen for a second. First, that was odd. I noticed the way she wrote the message immediately. Her spelling was perfect. There were no shortcuts, and none of the typos she usually makes. Either she has improved a lot in the last few days, or she’s getting help from the internet to draft her texts.
Second, it’s still Monday. The weekend is like four days away. Saturday snacks on a Monday afternoon felt off.
I didn’t overthink it for too long though. I just typed back a quick reply. I told her to bring the same snacks she brought before, and I mentioned that if she wanted, she could add more to the pile. I remembered our conversation from yesterday morning. I had asked her where those snacks even came from because they tasted expensive. She told me her nanny bought them and she was just sharing what she had at home.
Well... that was kind of her. I put the phone away and went back to the shelf I was organizing.
"Okay, I think Kali is asleep. Time to go home," Malo said. He came out from the inner room, wiping his hands on his jeans.
I stopped what I was doing and looked at him.
"That’s great, but I don’t think she sleeps. I’ve never seen that snake sleep. One time I saw her eyes closed and thought she was asleep, but the moment I got closer, she opened them immediately."
I still remember that moment clearly. We were eyeball to eyeball, just inches apart. The way her eyes slit when they snapped open made my heart drop into my stomach. I honestly thought she was going to swallow me whole right then and there.
Thankfully, she didn’t. She just stared at me until I backed away. She still freaks me out sometimes, especially when she moves without making a sound, but I’m getting used to her. I can bathe her now. I can feed her and even carry her without my hands shaking too much.
"Yes, Kali can be scary sometimes," Malo said. He gave a small smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. Instead, he started looking around the shop. His gaze moved from the ceiling to the floor and then across the counters like he was searching for something or remembering a place he used to visit.
I leaned against the counter and watched him. "Do you come here often?" I asked.
He blinked and looked back at me. "What? No. Why do you ask?"
"Because you were the one who gave me this address," I reminded him. "You told me to come here to get wolfsbane flowers. Which, by the way, were out of stock when I showed up."
Malo shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal. "Well, PP is famous for a reason. Everyone in this town knows him. And he makes medicine for my little brother, so I’ve heard the name plenty of times. Also, PP never runs out of wolfsbane. He has a whole farm. He grows all his plants himself right in the back."
I froze. My hand stayed gripped around a jar of dried lavender.
Fucking hell.
Uncle PP lied to me. He looked me right in the face and told me he was all out. Because of that lie, I took a bus all the way to another town and Almost got killed by a hedge wolf.
And this guy standing in front of me, he knows a lot. He knows way too much for someone who claims he doesn’t come here often.
Why do I have this feeling he’s not being straightforward with me?
"So, Malo... is there any chance we knew each other before?" I stepped closer, trying to read his expression. "You know Uncle PP, you know Princess, you know Eriko. You even know my brother. Maybe you knew me before we left this place."
Malo didn’t even flinch. "Well... it might be possible. But no one can tell. We don’t have any memory of you, Faye."
I didn’t like that answer. It felt too rehearsed. "Are you keeping something from me?"
"No. Why would you ask that?" He sounded genuinely confused, but I wasn’t buying it.
"Because I have this feeling that you are," I said. I crossed my arms over my chest. "I just can’t prove it yet. You know you can be honest with me. We’re a group. We’re a triangle. We’re supposed to trust each other. Keeping secrets can break that, Malo. It ruins everything."
"I’m not keeping anything from you, Faye. If I was, you’d be the first person I’d tell."
He said it so easily. He didn’t even stutter. But while he was talking, he started looking around the shop again. He kept his eyes on the shelves and the flowers, completely avoiding my gaze. It was like he couldn’t look at me while he was saying those words.
And me?
I kept staring at him. I watched the way he shifted his weight and the way his fingers tapped against his leg. That feeling in my gut didn’t go away. If anything, it got stronger. It felt like a heavy weight sitting right behind my ribs.
Now I really regret not paying attention when Uncle PP was making that truth potion for the GPF. I remember seeing him mix it, the one they use for serious interrogation. I was sitting right there on the stool, but I was too busy scrolling through my phone to see what herbs he was putting into the pot.
If I had learned how to make it... I would have used it on Malo by now. I would have put it in his water and waited for the truth to finally come out.
After a while, the silence got too heavy, and Malo left. He waved goodbye and headed out the door, leaving me alone with the smell of dried herbs and the sound of the clock ticking on the wall.
I stayed back at the shop to finish the shift. When customers came in looking for specific herbs or flowers for their tea and medicine, I sold them what they needed. It was a slow afternoon, but steady. Thankfully, Uncle PP labeled everything clearly. He had the names and the price tags on every single container, so it wasn’t too hard to figure out what was what. I just had to match the labels to the requests.
Eventually, the sun started to go down and it was time to close up.
I went to the back and packed Kali into her backpack. She hissed a little but settled down once she was tucked away. I gathered the rest of the things I needed for the night.
Just as I reached for the light switch and prepared to leave, the bell above the door rang. Someone walked in, catching the door before it could lock.
I didn’t even want to look. I was tired and I wanted to go home.
"Sorry, we’re closed. Come back tomorrow," I said. I kept my head down, focusing on zipping up my own bag.
"Oh, my bad. I was hoping to get some fresh herbs. I guess I’ll just find a convenience store instead."
I froze. The voice hit me like a physical punch to the chest. It was a voice I recognized instantly. freēwēbnovel.com
I turned around slowly, my heart racing.
And my eyes widened.
Yuki.
What the fuck is she doing in Oakland?
