Chapters (52)
- Copyright
- Dedication
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Acknowledgments
- Read More from the Market of Monsters Series
- More Books from HMH Teen
- About the Author
- Connect with HMH on Social Media
In that moment, she pitied him, this sad boy who was so lost in his lies he couldn’t see the truth anymore, couldn’t understand what his own emotions were, had let them all be replaced by whatever person he needed to be in any given moment to survive.
Nita sighed softly and went to Kovit. She took his hand in hers and looked up at Fabricio. She would never forgive him for selling her on the black market. But she didn’t have to forgive him to leave him alone and move on with her life.
“Goodbye, Fabricio,” Nita said. “Let’s never meet again.”
He smiled softly and turned away, walking toward the door. “Goodbye, Nita. Goodbye, Kovit. Good luck.”
And then he was gone.
Forty-Four
AFTER FABRICIO LEFT, Nita went to the nurses to get a wheelchair and told their guard they were going to go for a walk in the hospital garden. Nita wanted to talk to Kovit, and she didn’t want to risk the guard overhearing. She wasn’t even sure their guard spoke English, but that didn’t matter. She just operated on the assumption the room was bugged.
Nita helped Kovit into the wheelchair, and the guard followed as they made their way to the elevator and down to the first floor. Kovit was conscious and in control now, so even though the pain flowed into him from all sides, it was only rarely that the shaking ecstasy from other people’s agony was too much for him to suppress and he’d give a soft, low moan of pleasure, before they passed away from the patient out of range and he’d settle again.
Behind them, the officer shuddered every time he heard Kovit’s voice.
It was still raining outside, but part of the garden was covered. Nita politely asked the guard to give them some privacy, and he agreed, looking askance at Kovit. Nita ignored his looks and wheeled Kovit into the garden. The flowers were in full bloom, massive pink and purple blossoms perching on bushes and small white flowers in trees.
The rain washed a petal off a tree, and it fluttered softly to the ground under Kovit’s pensive gaze.
“Penny for your thoughts?” Nita asked, sitting on a bench beside him.
He blinked and looked up at her, eyes soft. “Just thinking.”
“About?”
“What’ll happen now.” He watched the rain fall. “Trials. Publicity. I’m never going to be anonymous again.”
“No,” Nita admitted. “Probably not.”
“And for the next while, the world will be watching. Even though I have Fabricio’s lawyer now, I’m going to have to be very careful. I’m going to have to behave like the person I’m pretending to be.” He made a disgusted face. “I’m going to have to be good.”
Nita burst into laughter at the horrified expression. “You are. No torture, no murder, no threats.”
He groaned softly. “Ugh. Really? Nothing?”