My nose is bleeding.
I can't stay here. The genie bond is destroying me from the inside. I have to find Syd. We have to figure this out.
I leave my key cards on the dresser and head back into the night. My vision has cleared enough for me to find my car, figure out which direction I need to go, and set out down the road. Within ten minutes, I pass the Gallup city limits, eastbound.
By the time I reach Albuquerque, the sky is glowing orange against the sloping silhouettes of low mountains. The daylight should be rejuvenating, but it glares into my eyes until I can barely keep them open. I want to hole up somewhere until night, but I can't wait that long to end this.
The muscles in my legs seize. I cringe and try to stretch them out. The car swerves. I can't get away with driving like a drunk now that I'm among civilization, so I turn into the first parking lot and step out.
The air is cool, but Hot Lake Springs would feel like the Bering Strait to me now.
The parking lot belongs to a shopping center. Most of the stores are closed and, besides two vacant cars, I'm alone.
My skin prickles with another bout of heat. I start walking, head down, concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other. Maybe I can distract myself from the burn spreading through my body. Doubt it. But I'll try.
I follow the sidewalk. A car passes by. I don't know what I look like at the moment, but if it's even a glimpse of how I feel, people are going to notice me as soon as they have had their first cup of coffee.
I touch the tip of my tongue onto my lips. My tongue is dry, and my lips are cracked and salty.
The burning cranks up the dial, even though it seems impossible it could go any higher. I stumble, but press forward. Maybe I will walk to Santa Fe. Buy Syd some time.
A jolt rocks me on my feet. I grind my teeth harder and force myself onward. My soles barely leave the ground. Each step sends hot pains through my legs. My joints crackle like sticks rubbed together to start a fire.
Another car zooms by.
My head snaps up. I turn to see the car round the corner.
It's a black and red Audi.
I take off the direction the car disappeared. The fire, the pressure, the torment lets up a little. Just enough for me to gain speed.
The Audi parks on the curb in front of a small restaurant. I crouch behind a car on the other side of the street to watch.
Syd steps out of the Audi. Her face is tense. I shift to see around the front of the car, my gaze following her as she shoulders her purse and heads into the restaurant.
I push myself up and use my hand to hop over the hood. I charge toward the glass door, shove it open, and latch my sight onto the back of Syd's head.
She turns where she sits. Her mouth opens a little.
The patrons stare at me as I storm toward her. I have no concrete plan, but the pain has let up.
The hum knows my intentions.
So does Syd. She scrambles out of her chair and faces me, but she doesn't say anything. I'm not sure she can. The whole time, I thought she knew. I thought she would anticipate me showing up in New Mexico.
Judging by her wide expression, this is the last place she expected to find me.
She takes a step back.
My head lowers as I snarl at her. I can see it now: my hand clutching her throat, applying pressure, slowly but surely. She will be too stunned, too afraid to resist. I will crush her windpipe with my bare hands. Feel her throat give. Watch her last struggling breaths before she suffocates.
She will be beautiful dead, and I will be at peace again.
Syd rushes me, throwing her shoulder into my chest. I hunch over, lungs seizing. The front door slams behind me.
I take off after her. She has her purse on the hood of the Audi, pawing around. Probably looking for her keys.
She glances over her shoulder at me. Then she flees across the street into a parking lot between the back of a complex and two small buildings. I'm right behind her.
Normal people would be screaming for help. Not my Syd. She knows no one can stop me.
She darts into the street on the other side, cars squealing to a halt, and doesn't slow as she heads for a park. I follow her across the grass, weaving through the trees. My breathing is heavy in my head. I like it.
She angles across the park, toward the houses opposite of it. We are in broad daylight, yet we're entirely alone.
The world will be coherent soon. I have to reach her before then. I pick up my pace.
She cuts across the road and darts into a narrow lot between houses, disappearing into the trees. I charge after her, putting up one arm to shield my face from the backlash of branches. Her footsteps fall just out of time with mine.
We used to be so in sync.
The lot opens to asphalt. My boots clomp against the ground. Stealth was never my thing. I think I like them to know I'm coming.