When Villains Rise (Market of Monsters #3) - Rebecca Schaeffer Page 0,94
managing a choked “Why are you here?”
“Now, now, is that any way to speak to your mother?” Her mother was smiling, but Nita could see the mockery just under the surface.
Nita didn’t know how to respond. So she just remained silent.
Her mother’s smile widened. “I heard about the mob that ran through the city yesterday, hunting a zannie. Pity they couldn’t get him.”
Nita’s breathing was harsh and sharp, and her heart was loud in her ears. Something bad was about to happen. She could feel it, deep inside. Worse than the dact incident, worse than when Nita had freed Fabricio, worse than anything her mother had ever done to her before.
“Please,” Nita whispered, her voice soft.
“Please?” Her mother laughed. “Please what? Please fix what that incompetent mob couldn’t accomplish?”
“Please leave him alone,” Nita whispered.
“Oh, darling,” Her mother tut-tutted. “It’s too late for that.”
Nita’s eyes drifted across the street to the hotel. Too late?
She needed to get back to Kovit. Now.
Her mother’s hand reached across and grabbed Nita’s shoulder. “You’re not thinking of running off without me, are you?”
Nita swallowed, part of her wondering if she could break her mother’s iron hold, the rest of her knowing it was impossible.
Her mother slid an arm around Nita’s shoulders. Nita kept her back straight and tried to lean away as she was yanked close to her mother. “Why don’t we go up and visit him together?”
“Let go.” Nita tried to make her voice firm, but it came out as a squeak of terror.
Her mother held on tighter. “I don’t think so.”
They walked back across the street, Nita’s steps stumbling and awkward as they entered the hotel and boarded the elevator.
“You know, Nita,” her mother said, shaking her head, “I tried to be nice. I tried to give you a little bit of freedom so you could understand why coming home was important. But you just kept running off on your own and talking about not coming back. It was terribly rude.”
Nita didn’t say anything, her throat too choked with fear, her mind too occupied running through escape plans, each more elaborate and doomed to failure than the last.
“You’ve led me on a merry chase, but it’s time for it to end.” Her mother’s voice was hard.
The words were out of Nita’s mouth before she could stop herself. “And if I don’t fall in line, you’ll kill me like you did Nadya?”
Her mother raised her eyebrows. “Well, someone’s been talking to people.”
“You didn’t answer me.”
“If you’re smart and see the wisdom in coming home, I won’t have to resort to drastic measures.” Her mother’s tone was steady, but Nita could hear the anger underneath. “Nadya was too corrupted by her time with that monster. But you’re younger, you’ve been influenced less. I’m sure it won’t come to that.”
Nita couldn’t help the small, hysterical laugh that bubbled up.
Her mother was delusional. Absolutely, completely delusional. She was so lost in her own world, so focused on controlling every piece of the people around her, that she made up these elaborate reasons why no one would come back to her. She couldn’t acknowledge that no one ever wanted to be under someone else’s control—especially not someone like her mother.
“What’s so funny?” her mother asked.
Nita just shook her head, fear bubbling in her chest. “So, what? Are you going to shoot Kovit?”
“Nonsense.” Her mother smiled as the elevator dinged on their floor. “I have something much more illuminating in mind.”
Her mother dragged Nita down the hall and stopped not in front of Nita’s room, but the room next door. She shoved Nita inside roughly. The moment they crossed the threshold, her mother drove a knife into the back of Nita’s neck.
Nita opened her mouth to cry out, but she was completely paralyzed. The knife had gone between the C1 and C2 vertebrae, where Nita had stabbed Andrej, except her mother had pushed the knife right through her voice box, effectively muting Nita.
She collapsed bonelessly to the floor, completely powerless, and her mother stepped over her limp body. “I can’t have you trying to run off now,” her mother commented, pulling up a chair to face the wall. “I prepared a show especially for you, and it would be a shame for you to miss it.”
Nita tried to open her mouth, to say something, but only a thin line of drool trickled out. She focused her body, trying to heal the damage, but the knife was still wedged in there, blocking her from healing it.