When Villains Rise (Market of Monsters #3) - Rebecca Schaeffer Page 0,92
son because he was a zannie.
A research firm had done an analysis last year of the damage resulting from the DUL kill-on-sight policy and found that there were twice as many regular people killed by it as dangerous unnaturals. Through mistaken identity, casualties of mob violence, cases of people shooting at suspects and missing, hitting innocents. The mobs formed often committed other crimes after killing their target, and property damage was also high.
“It looks promising,” Nita said.
Kovit sighed. “Yeah, but will it actually do anything?”
Nita shrugged. “Time will tell.”
He reached over and clicked one of the links. “What’s that?”
The article popped up. It was titled Video of Man Beating Child Zannie Leads to Arrest of Multiple Members of Major East Coast Criminal Family.
“Holy shit.” Kovit leaned forward, eyes wide as he skimmed the article. “They arrested a bunch of members of the Family because they ID’ed Henry from the video.”
They scrolled through the article until they got to the bottom and stopped. The reporters had managed to get a sound bite from Gold when she was trying to post bail for the rest of the Family. It looked like she hadn’t been arrested with them. Yet.
“Miss Pullman! Miss Pullman!” called a reporter. “What do you say to the claims that your father was grooming you to take over his criminal organizations?”
“Alleged criminal organizations.” Gold’s tone was frosty, and it was clear that was the end of that topic.
“What do you think of the allegations of coercion and abuse he’s facing for forcing a zannie to torture people?” another reporter piped up.
Nita expected Gold to say what she always did: a zannie is a zannie, it likes torturing people, there’s no coercion involved, or something equally dismissive.
But instead, Gold lowered her eyes, and for a brief moment, she looked infinitely sad. Her voice was steady when she finally answered, “I think that’s an issue for the courts to decide.”
“But surely you have an opinion on the accusations?”
Gold gave them a bitter smile. “No. I’ve been forced to face a lot of hard truths recently. I don’t know what I think anymore. But I know I’m not the right person to pass judgment.”
The reporters tried to ask more questions, but Gold turned and walked away.
Nita and Kovit both stared at the screen, eyes wide.
“Did she just . . . admit she was wrong?” Nita asked.
“Maybe.” Kovit’s finger hovered over the replay button. “I wonder if something finally got through to her. If having our internet friends kick her out and call her as much a monster as me finally made her face all those things she’d been ignoring.”
Nita considered. She found it hard to believe a friendship breakdown could be the final thing that forced Gold to face herself and see her hatred for Kovit as what it truly was—misdirected self-hatred. But then again, Nita had never really had many friends. Maybe they did have that much power.
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
Kovit nodded, and his expression was soft and a little sad. “I hope she figures things out.”
“Even if she does, I doubt she’ll want to be friends with you again,” Nita cautioned.
“That’s okay.” He gave her a slight grin. “As long as she’s not hell-bent on murdering me, I’ll count it as a victory.”
Nita snorted, but she was secretly relieved for the same reason. She hadn’t wanted to have to arrange an “accident” for Gold in the future, and she’d been worried she’d need to if the girl continued to try and take down Kovit.
“I’m sorry, though. I know you wanted to fix it, to be friends again,” Nita said gently.
He turned to face her, and suddenly they were nose to nose, and he smiled a little. She was so close she could see the shadows cast by his eyelashes across his cheeks.
“It’s okay,” he whispered, and squeezed her hand. “I lost her. But I gained you.”
For a moment, the urge to lean forward and press her lips against his was impossibly strong. To show him that he meant the world to her, that she was always on his side.
Instead, she leaned forward and pressed her forehead against his. It was warm, and they were so close she could feel the heat radiating off his body.
“Nita . . .” he whispered, eyes searching hers.
“Shhhhh,” she murmured. “I’ve been thinking about us. About what I want. About what I feel. About what we are.”
His eyes were nervous, fear and longing all tangled together in an expression that made her heart tighten. “And?”