When Villains Rise (Market of Monsters #3) - Rebecca Schaeffer Page 0,10
Gold’s eyes narrowed as her gaze shifted between the two of them. “My life may not be perfect, but I like it.”
“You enjoy being the flunky in a mafia group?” Nita asked.
“I enjoy being the presumptive heir to one of the most powerful and extensive crime families in North America.” Gold grinned, sharp and fierce. “Someday I’m going to rule the fucking world.”
Nita blinked. She had to concede, that did sound like a great life. And given her own ambitions, she couldn’t really condemn Gold for it.
So instead she said, softly, “And what about Kovit?”
“What about him?” Gold asked, voice cold.
“It might be useful, if you want to rule the world, to have a zannie on your side.”
Gold’s mouth tightened. “I want nothing to do with monsters. When I’m in charge, I’m going to get rid of every monster in the organization and burn them all.”
Nita raised an eyebrow. “The human ones too?”
Gold gave her a withering look. “Don’t patronize me.”
“It’s an honest question. Henry was human, but I would argue he was a far worse monster than Kovit,” Nita commented mildly. “He loved torture as much as any zannie, not even to eat the pain, just for the sheer pleasure of it. And he was far more ruthless and less loyal than Kovit. So, what do you consider him?”
Gold’s lip curled in displeasure. “Henry was my father’s right-hand man.”
“I didn’t ask what your father thought of him.”
“What does it matter what I thought of him?” Her eyes turned to Kovit. “He’s dead now, isn’t he?”
Kovit flinched.
Nita crossed her arms. “And will you tell the Family how he died?”
Gold shrugged. “It doesn’t really matter if I tell them, does it? Kovit’s going to be up on INHUP’s wanted list in a week, and there’s no way he’ll survive it. There’s no point in wasting Family resources going after him.”
Kovit’s shoulders tightened, and he swallowed noticeably.
Nita frowned. “And if he wasn’t on the list?”
Gold tugged at the bandage on her face. “I don’t see how you could get him off it.”
“This is a hypothetical question.”
Gold waved it away. “I’ve never seen the point in hypothetical questions. Especially ones like that.”
Kovit was quiet for a long moment, and then he leaned forward. “Would you tell them to kill me, May?”
Nita’s heart hurt a little every time Kovit called Gold May. It was the internet name she’d used for years, commenting in a group chat and pretending to be his friend when in reality she’d been spying for the Family. It was the name of a nonexistent girl, the name Kovit clung to because he didn’t want their years-long friendship to truly be gone, to have to admit that maybe it had never existed at all.
Gold turned to him, and the light glanced off her various earrings, making them sparkle in the too-bright room. Her lips thinned, and Kovit met her stare head-on.
Finally Gold looked away. “I don’t see the point of answering anything. You won’t believe me if I say no because you’ll think it’s just a ploy to escape. And I’d have to be pretty stupid to say yes under the circumstances.”
Well, she had them there.
“The real question is what you’re going to do with me. You’re going to keep me here until you’re forced to make a decision.” This time her eyes found Nita’s. “And I know your type. You don’t like risks.”
Nita’s mouth pressed in a line. “No. I don’t.”
“Watch out, Kevin.” Gold turned back to Kovit, using his fake internet name, pulling the same emotional strings Kovit had reached for. “She’s going to kill me while you’re sleeping so you don’t have to.”
Kovit stood quickly. “Nita wouldn’t do that.”
But there was fear in his eyes, and Gold saw it and smiled. “Sure. If you say so. A convenient carbon monoxide leak will be at fault. Or perhaps I’ll choke on my pizza.”
Kovit whispered softly, “You’re wrong.” He turned to Nita. “She’s wrong, right?”
“Of course she is.” Nita crossed her arms and held Kovit’s gaze. “She’s just trying to sow doubt between us.”
Kovit nodded once, sharply. “Exactly.”
And Gold probably was trying to sow doubt. But the best seeds of doubt were based on truth. And the truth was that Gold was a complication they didn’t need, with the potential for great harm. She would need to be neutralized. Whether that meant being brought over to their way of thinking or dying, well, that was up in the air.
Kovit had already been forced into killing one of his friends. Nita