Her mother dragged Nita down the hall and stopped not in front of Nita’s room, but the room next door. She shoved Nita inside roughly. The moment they crossed the threshold, her mother drove a knife into the back of Nita’s neck.

Nita opened her mouth to cry out, but she was completely paralyzed. The knife had gone between the C1 and C2 vertebrae, where Nita had stabbed Andrej, except her mother had pushed the knife right through her voice box, effectively muting Nita.

She collapsed bonelessly to the floor, completely powerless, and her mother stepped over her limp body. “I can’t have you trying to run off now,” her mother commented, pulling up a chair to face the wall. “I prepared a show especially for you, and it would be a shame for you to miss it.”

Nita tried to open her mouth, to say something, but only a thin line of drool trickled out. She focused her body, trying to heal the damage, but the knife was still wedged in there, blocking her from healing it.

The irony that she’d used the exact same tactic on Andrej wasn’t lost on Nita.

Her mother hauled Nita up onto the chair facing the wall. She flicked on the television, and to Nita’s horror, it showed her and Kovit’s room. There must be hotel security cameras in each room, and her mother had hacked the feed.

Kovit lay sprawled on the bed, scrolling through his phone, completely oblivious.

Someone knocked on the door.

Kovit looked up. “Nita? Is that you?”

A beat of silence passed before a voice whispered, “No. It’s me.”

Kovit blinked, clearly startled, then rose and walked to the door and opened it.

His sister stood on the other side. She wore plain clothes, a T-shirt and jeans rather than the impeccable business suit Nita had last seen her in. Which made sense, since Nita was pretty sure INHUP had fired her.

Her mother leaned forward, and whispered in Nita’s ear, “You have no idea how much fun I had setting this up.”

A chill whispered down Nita’s damaged spine, and tears of frustration pooled at the corners of her eyes. Something terrible was about to happen, and she was powerless to stop it.

“Pat!” Kovit smiled hesitantly as his sister stepped in and he closed the door behind her. “What are you doing here? How did you find me?”

Patchaya’s hands were curled into fists, and she whispered softly, “You killed him, didn’t you?”

Kovit frowned, his eyes concerned. “Killed who?”

“Bran. You killed him.”

Kovit didn’t look any more enlightened. “Who’s Bran?”