BooksBarbecue
Back When Villains Rise Save as PDF
Chapters (52)
  1. Copyright
  2. Dedication
  3. One
  4. Two
  5. Three
  6. Four
  7. Five
  8. Six
  9. Seven
  10. Eight
  11. Nine
  12. Ten
  13. Eleven
  14. Twelve
  15. Thirteen
  16. Fourteen
  17. Fifteen
  18. Sixteen
  19. Seventeen
  20. Eighteen
  21. Nineteen
  22. Twenty
  23. Twenty-One
  24. Twenty-Two
  25. Twenty-Three
  26. Twenty-Four
  27. Twenty-Five
  28. Twenty-Six
  29. Twenty-Seven
  30. Twenty-Eight
  31. Twenty-Nine
  32. Thirty
  33. Thirty-One
  34. Thirty-Two
  35. Thirty-Three
  36. Thirty-Four
  37. Thirty-Five
  38. Thirty-Six
  39. Thirty-Seven
  40. Thirty-Eight
  41. Thirty-Nine
  42. Forty
  43. Forty-One
  44. Forty-Two
  45. Forty-Three
  46. Forty-Four
  47. Forty-Five
  48. Acknowledgments
  49. Read More from the Market of Monsters Series
  50. More Books from HMH Teen
  51. About the Author
  52. Connect with HMH on Social Media

But Fabricio didn’t understand Kovit’s rules, didn’t know how carefully Kovit had crafted them to keep himself sane, didn’t understand that by twisting and breaking them, Fabricio might inadvertently destroy the glue that had held Kovit together for the last decade. Glue that had started melting when Kovit killed Henry and hadn’t had a chance to properly re-form.

And if that glue melted apart, Nita had no idea what would happen to Kovit. But she didn’t think it would be good.

Twenty-Two

NITA STARED AFTER KOVIT, but didn’t rise.

“That was very well done,” she admitted, looking at Fabricio. “You’ve learned how to pull his strings quickly.”

Fabricio smiled slightly. “I’m good with people.”

“Good at manipulating them, you mean?”

He shrugged. “Isn’t that what all human interactions are? We want people to think certain things, behave certain ways. Believe us to be certain types of people. For example, I imagine you could have hid the fact that Kovit went up on the list from him. Well, for a day or two. But you didn’t want him to think you were lying or hiding things from him. You wanted him to think you were honest and forthright, so you told him when you found out.” He sipped his maté. “Isn’t that a form of manipulation too, then? You wanted him to see you a certain way, so you behaved accordingly.”

Her eyes narrowed, but her palms sweated at the truth of his words. Were her actions truly so transparent? “Not all human interactions are as calculated as you seem to think.”

“No? Perhaps not consciously. But every interaction you have, every decision you make, all of that is subconsciously determined by who you want people to see you as. Or what you want to hide. Or how you want people to perceive others.”

“Maybe in some interactions, but certainly not in all.” Nita’s voice was steady, even as his words burrowed into her mind like weevils. “Some interactions aren’t that complicated.”

“Aren’t they?” His eyes were open and honest, but his smile was clever. “When I was younger, my father used to order these elaborate Starbucks drinks. Half sugar, shots of syrup, almond milk, low-fat whipped cream, all that stuff. He’d get angry when they got it wrong, and his request was always so complicated they often did. I always ordered something really simple, even though I wanted whipped cream too. But I didn’t want the barista to think I was like my father, demanding and inconsiderate.” He looked down into his maté, as if it were a window into a past that made him sad. “It was, as you say, an uncomplicated interaction. Just an order at Starbucks. But even in that, there are layers.”