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
“Easier? Maybe. But it makes me feel like a shitty friend.”
Nita didn’t have much to say to that. She’d felt similar when grieving for her father. She still felt it now. Anytime she let the world distract her, let her mind slip away from the pain, she’d suddenly see something and be struck by the realization that her father was, indeed, still dead. And she’d feel like she betrayed him every time she forgot, even for those brief moments.
“What about Henry?” Nita asked.
Kovit’s expression darkened. “What about him?”
Nita hesitated. “You’ve been avoiding talking about him.”
“I don’t want to grieve for him. He betrayed me in every possible way. He ruined my life, he treated me like an object, and he murdered my best friend. I shouldn’t grieve for him.”
“But you can’t help it,” Nita said gently.
Kovit swallowed heavily. “Why does he get so much space in my mind? Matt was a friend, a real friend, but Henry’s the one whose death haunts me, who plays over and over in my head.” His voice was bitter. “I wish I could just turn it off, shut out all these feelings. I don’t want them. He doesn’t deserve them.”
Nita bowed her head. “It would be a lot easier if we could stop caring about the people who hurt us.”
She thought of her mother, and her dark promise to get rid of Kovit, and shuddered softly. Why did Nita always go back to her? Why couldn’t she have remembered her passport the first time?
“It would,” Kovit agreed. He ran a hand through his hair. “I just keep coming back to that moment we realized he’d sold me out to INHUP. If he couldn’t have me, no one could. Like those pet owners who’d rather put down their pets when they move than let another person adopt them. Like he thought he owned me.”
“I think,” Nita said carefully, “in his mind, he did.”
Kovit sighed. His eyes were dry, and his expression was calm, but she could see that he was hurting underneath it all. She didn’t blame him. He’d be some sort of superhuman if he could get over murdering his surrogate father in only two days.
She’d opened her mouth to say something when he elbowed her gently, a wicked grin coming over his face, breaking the spell of grief.
“Look,” he whispered, eyes hungry and violent and full of delight.
Nita followed his gaze and found a man checking in at the registration desk. A slow smile crept across her features.
Kovit pulled out his switchblade and smiled, cracked and dark and promising agony for all those in his path, and he whispered, “Time to have some fun.”