When Villains Rise (Market of Monsters #3) - Rebecca Schaeffer Page 0,21

then he slowly began speaking in Thai. The words didn’t sound as smooth as hers, but they came, creaking and groaning with rust and disuse. It looked like he hadn’t forgotten it after all, despite his fears. Or at least, not all of it.

After a few sentences, though, Patchaya switched back into English. “Where have you been the last decade?”

Kovit looked away. “Here and there.”

She raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Here and there.”

He sighed, and then laughed. “How do you still always manage to make me feel guilty with that eyebrow?”

“It’s a superpower all older sisters have.”

He snorted. “Superpower. The only superpower you have is being an INHUP agent. How in the world did that happen?”

She winced slightly, mood darkening. “It’s not what you think.”

He gave her a sad smile, just a little broken. “Oh?”

She couldn’t meet his eyes. “I just wanted to make a difference.”

Nita felt bad for the two siblings. They clearly loved each other, but one was a monster and the other a monster hunter, and the disconnect of those ten years where they’d ended up on such wildly different paths was painted in the unspoken tension and the broken spaces between their sentences.

“Well,” Kovit replied, his voice light and teasing. “What a terrible motive. Imagine wanting to make a positive impact on the world. The horror.”

Patchaya blinked and then burst into laughter and hugged him.

Nita’s heart tightened. She cleared her throat, feeling more of an intruder than ever. “I have an errand I need to run. I’ll see you back at . . . I’ll see you later, Kovit.” She turned to his sister. “And it was nice to meet you.”

Kovit frowned. “Errand?”

They’d agreed Nita would stay close by, just in case Kovit’s meeting ended in some unforeseen disaster. But that was before Patchaya had said she couldn’t help, before Nita’s whirring mind had come up with a new plan.

“I need to check on something.” Nita smiled tightly. “I need to talk to someone who might . . . know something.”

Kovit’s eyes widened in understanding, and his voice was careful. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

Nita smiled. “You never know if you don’t try. But if I’m not back when you’re done, you know where to look.”

Before Kovit could protest more, she turned away.

Her steps were heavy as she went to the one person who could tell her if her plan was possible, who had the connections to make it happen. The question was: would he help her?

Or would he kill her out of spite?

Because Nita and Adair hadn’t parted on the best terms.

Ten

NITA WALKED the familiar road from the station to Adair’s pawnshop. The sidewalk pavement was a bit cracked, and all the buildings looked like they’d seen better days. It wasn’t truly a sketchy area—she’d been in far more uncomfortable places, but the pawnshop certainly wasn’t located in the nicest part of town.

It suited Adair perfectly, not just the aesthetic of it—slightly sketchy and a little uncomfortable—but because it was close to the water. Kelpies like Adair were semiaquatic, and needed places underwater to hide the rotting human corpses they ate. Though she supposed he could also hide the bodies in his murder basement.

Nita approached the front door. The sign was turned to CLOSED, but the light was on inside, and she could see shadows moving around.

She took a deep breath. She hadn’t left this shop last time on the best circumstances. Adair had betrayed her, she’d tried to murder him, and in the end, Diana, his ghoul assistant, had interfered and they’d called a truce.

Adair said he didn’t do vengeance. It was bad for business. And Nita believed him. Mostly. If she was wrong, he’d drag her into the underground pool in his basement and drown her and then eat her rotting corpse.

But she had to try. She didn’t know anyone else as knowledgeable and well connected in the black market who actively wanted the Dangerous Unnaturals List gone. And she thought he might be willing to overlook their feud and help her with it.

She knocked on the front door and waited. Silence. She knocked again.

Diana’s voice rang out from the other side. “We’re closed!”

“It’s me,” Nita called back.

“Then we’re definitely closed.”

“I need to talk to Adair.”

The door opened, and Diana stood there, her long dark brown hair pulled into a ponytail, her eyes tired. Her light brown skin looked gray with exhaustion and poor lighting. She reminded Nita a little of Mirella, Nita’s fellow captive in Death Market and the first person