The Santa Fe city limits come into view. I grapple with one hand for the paper in the passenger seat and flip it open to read the address once more. Syd's hide out.
Maybe she changed course when she realized I was tracking her. I have no other leads, though. So I pull over to the curb, fish out my phone, and punch in the address.
I twitch and place the phone on my lap. Ten minutes. I will be in Syd's front lawn in ten minutes. A jolt racks down my spine. I try to hold my breath against it, but find I'm twisting in my seat. My arm shakes.
I reach to put the car into drive, but my hand won't close. I grit my teeth and shove, hard. The car shifts into gear.
My vision wanes. More flashes of light. I struggle to see as I inch the car along.
Another jolt. I growl and pound my fist into the side of the door. The thuds are weak. Before the electrical burn subsides, another one follows. It's like something corrosive is poured into my veins along with it.
Everything flares, from the muscles in my arms to each little organ in my abdomen. I gasp while trying to find the gas pedal again. I need to keep moving.
The next jolt rides through my bones. Even my teeth hurt.
If the hum has anything else up its sleeve, I don't want to know. I can't wrap my mind around what could be worse.
Twisting and twitching, I force the car back onto the road and try to keep in the right lane. I push through every jolt, barely swerving despite the jerking of my hands.
Then the phone GPS says, “Your destination will be on your right.”
My foot hits the brake. I throw myself back in the seat, panting.
I'm here.
With an agony that makes me want to curl up and never move again, I step out of the car. I stumble my way to a tall bush on the other side of the street and drop to my knees because I have no strength to crouch. Another jerk. Then I lean forward and squint to clear my vision.
The black and red Audi pulls into the driveway.
She went back and got the car before leaving Santa Fe. That's my Syd.
Another jolt forged by Zeus himself. Goddammit.
She bursts out of the car and jogs around to the side of the house. I lick my cracked lips, though it doesn't do anything. My body is drying up.
I need to find a way to approach her. Do I break in and make her listen?
I'm afraid to use force, though. It will be too easy to slip. Too easy to forget I'm here on my own agenda.
I expect the next jolt, but it doesn't make it any less agonizing.
Syd reappears from around the house. She slides back into the Audi and speeds away.
As soon as she's out of sight, I'm in the Corolla and heading right behind. I don't have a plan. I just can't lose track of her.
I round the corner. The Audi pulls into a small parking lot on the other side of the street, near the end of the block. I park and step out. I try to keep my head down as I walk, but my neck jerks. I grit my teeth and fight back the twitch in my arm.
She crosses the parking lot and approaches a small building. I pick up my pace. She unlocks the front door and disappears inside.
I break into a run, somehow, heading for the store. The urge is growing. Her beautiful face, lifeless. This madness, over.
The pretty girl always dies in the horror movies. And if my life hasn't become a horror movie, I don't know what is.
No more heartache for Syd. She was always so sad. I saw it in her eyes, but never asked. I should have, though. I would have known about Zoe. I would have known this was coming.
Now it's too late.
I have to kill Syd. There's no other way out for either of us.
I dart across the street, bring up my arms, and lunge. Glass shatters around me, slicing my hands. My soles slip on the shards, but I catch my balance.
My head snaps up. I blink a few times.
Syd is staring at me. She's just standing a few feet in front of me. Staring.
I sweep my gaze over the room. We're in a restaurant lobby. Her grandmother's restaurant. It hasn't been abandoned: there are fresh pies in the case to my right, displayed with gleaming fruits. But the restaurant is empty.
Just me and Syd.
My head jerks, my arm twitches. I can't make this stop. I can't make any of this stop.
“Dimitri,” she says on a breath. Her eyes shimmer with tears, and she puts a hand to her mouth. “What did they do to you?”
I swallow, but it's just a motion. No moisture. Can't speak. Otherwise, I would tell her to run.
Another round of jolts.
She makes a small sobbing noise.
“It was you . . . I had no idea … You aren't what we thought you would be,” she says, gesturing her hand over me. “We expected you would be … broad. Tan. Powerful. But … ”
I don't reply. I can't.
She bites her lips together, her gaze traveling up and down me. “How can they make you live like this?”
Her tears break free, dripping in rapid succession off her jaw.
“I'm so sorry, Dimitri,” she says, and she means it. I can hear it in her voice. But all I can do is twitch and clench my fist against the warring urges to pull her close or pull her apart.