Summary

The next morning, Listen had no memory of her night terror. Matt and Sor Artemesia sat at breakfast, and Artemesia noticed Mirasol. She warned Matt of not letting his pity for Mirasol turn into anything else. Matt asked in frustration why everyone thought he was a monster. “Because you’re El Patron reborn.” The nun warned him that power corrupted stronger people than him. He had his own clone. El Patron, she reminded him, was tempted to live forever and have all he wanted, and he ended up killing thousands to get what he wanted. Matt thought for a long moment: he saw how afraid Artemesia was. He could have easily had the nun killed. Instead, he told her he wasn’t angry, and that he would heed her cautions.

It was the day of the party. Matt had to keep the boys...