Her hands fell from Nita’s face, and her eyes shone. “Now look at you. I never needed to worry. When the going got tough, you got tougher!”
Her mother slapped her on the shoulder, and Nita jerked forward from the force. “What?”
“You’ve done amazing!” Her mother’s eyes were soft. “I see now that you never needed me to be that clingy and protective. It must have been stifling, I’m not surprised you were resentful.”
“I wasn’t—”
Her mother snorted. “You were. I didn’t realize how much until you left me the other day.”
Nita swallowed. “I’m sorry about that.”
“Nonsense. You needed to prove yourself. I get it.” Her mother looked up at the sky, at something far away. “I think all teenagers go through that phase.”
Nita bowed her head. “I guess.”
Suddenly Nita’s hand was warm, and she looked up to see her mother’s hand covering it. “Just remember home is waiting for you if you want to come back. Your dissection table is ready.”
Nita opened her mouth, but no words came out. She’d been so wrong about her mother, always assuming the worst, always shying away from her controlling influence. Always doubting, looking for any excuse to vilify her.
“Thanks.” Nita choked, the words barely coming from her tight throat.
Her mother smiled. “Of course. I’m your mother. I love you. Anything you want, just ask.”
Nita nearly asked her if she could come home now. She could have someone else deal with the market, someone else keep her safe. Nita could curl up in her bed and sleep, dissect to her heart’s content. It would be so easy. So simple.
There wasn’t anything holding her back. She’d proven she could work on her own. She’d murdered her enemies. There was only Fabricio left, and he was probably long gone. Her mother could help her track him down.
It wasn’t like anyone in the outside world was waiting. Kovit was gone.
Nita’s eyes watered at that memory. She hadn’t even begun to examine the snarled, tangled mess of emotions around that.
Nita let out a deep breath.
“I have a question.” Nita’s voice shook a little.
“What?”
She raised her eyes and met her mother’s gaze. “What do you know about Dad’s murder and the vampire?”
Her mother’s face immediately shuttered. “Nita—”
Nita sighed. “That’s what I thought.”
“It’s complicated.”
“Then explain.”
Her mother shook her head.
Nita nodded and rose from her bench. “Thanks, Mom. For getting me out of the station. For being here for me.” She brushed a leaf from her pants. “I’ll keep in touch. Visit. But I still have things to do.”
Going home was the easy choice. And the easy choice was almost never the right one, in Nita’s experience. The easy choice was hiding, letting other people make decisions for her.
Nita didn’t want that.
As much as her mother said she cared, as much as her words meant to Nita, her mother was still the same person. The person who had started some sort of turf war with Fabricio’s father, who wouldn’t reveal what she knew about her father’s killer. The person who’d terrorized Nita for so many years, who haunted her nightmares. Kind words didn’t erase facts.
Besides, Nita had things to do.
Fabricio was still on the loose, and she wanted to handle him herself. It wasn’t that she needed to prove herself to her mother. She just didn’t want her mother fixing it. Nita wanted to handle him her own way.
After she’d handled Fabricio, she would deal with Zebra-stripes. Her father’s murderer wouldn’t escape justice, no matter what Nita had to do.
And when all of the blood she needed to spill was spilt, when her vengeance was complete and her enemies were ashes, she wanted to live.
She wanted to build her own life. A life where she went to school. A life where she knew more people than just her mother. A life where, if Kovit came back, she could see him without fear he’d be murdered when her mom came home. Because her mother could never ever know about Kovit.
Her mother squeezed her hand. “I’m always here if you need me.”
Nita nodded, still unable to say anything. Her eyes burned with tears, and she didn’t know why.
Finally, she whispered, “I love you, Mom.”
Her mother rose and embraced her. “I love you too, Nita.”
Nita sank into the warmth of the embrace for a long moment before she finally pulled away with a shaky breath. She nodded at her mother, lost for words, then quietly turned and walked away.
Forty-Three
NITA TOOK THE STREETCAR back to Adair’s place. About halfway, she realized she’d forgotten to get her passport from her mother, and she swore viciously at herself. But there was no helping it now. She would have to email her mom and set up a time to pick it up later.
She turned her mind to more immediate concerns: Fabricio. Adair’s words played over in her head, and she wondered: Why had Fabricio sold her out?
Vengeance? Then why not go after her mother?
Money? But as Adair said, he was the heir to a very rich, very powerful man.
Fabricio had said he wanted a new life, to disappear into INHUP’s protective program. At the time, she’d assumed it was a lie, meant to explain away his connection to his father, to make him seem like a good guy.
But again—why jeopardize everything with INHUP to sell Nita? INHUP would have taken care of him. He didn’t need money to gain their protection. Nita in a cage actually hurt his chances, if she ever got out, or if INHUP confiscated his phone.
So why?
Her mind circled around, and it stalled again for a moment on the Argentinian-Chilean hostilities. But she let it go quickly. If he’d done it out of hate, surely she’d have seen other signs of it. He would have made annoying barbs about Chileans like her father used to about Argentinians whenever the soccer games were on.
No, whatever reason Fabricio had for betraying her, it was something much more complicated and dangerous than that.
She remembered that moment in the car with Fabricio, where she’d said she’d do anything to survive, and he said he would too. He’d confessed to selling her then, but he’d also confessed to being desperate.
But again, the question was: Why?
Maybe Adair was right and she should ask Fabricio some questions before she murdered him and dumped his body in the Don River.
She got off at her usual stop and stepped into the cool night air. The light was fading, and darkness had begun to sweep through the city like a gentle cloak. Streetlights popped on, casting a too-orange glow on everything. The gray sidewalks faded until they looked like long strings of giant polished pebbles and the road was a great river of darkness between them.
She took a deep breath, and she could still hear her mother telling Nita she was proud. Words she never thought she’d hear.
For the first time, she really felt like she could do this. She could survive on her own, she could eliminate Fabricio, make her reputation so powerful she was untouchable, go to school and become the researcher she’d always dreamed of being.
She didn’t need INHUP. She didn’t need her mother.