The room is silent. My head more so.
I stare at her. The kittens at the hotel had been preparation. She'd had it out for her father for years.
“He was going to let you die,” she says. “I couldn't allow that. You are my inheritance. He had no right.”
Even though the pain is subsiding from my mind and body, I don't know what to say. Part of me can't believe I'm out of the wish. The hum is gone. I don't have to kill Syd.
Another part of me is terrified to see Silvia basking over her bloody hands.
She smiles at me. Her smile has never been more unsettling.
I glance at Syd. She's breathing hard, looking between me and Lizzie Borden over there.
My throat burns from the lack of water. The choking session didn't help either. I swallow hard a few times, and it takes a minute for my throat to start working. I try that speaking thing again.
My voice is raspy. “Good work, Silv.”
I start inching for the side door. Now would be an excellent time for Syd to learn to read minds.
Her eyes dart to me, then she shuffles a little.
Silvia holds the blade up to the light as if scrying in the dripping blood. I have no idea what the guards are doing. I can't take my eyes of Silvia. It might break her spell, and then she'll give the commandments and start making wishes. If the guards have any intelligence, they're backing out the other way. She's almost as much of a threat to them as she is to me.
Syd and I are shoulder-to-shoulder, nearly to the side exit. Another few inches, and we can bolt.
The door swings open. Silvia looks up. Her knife clatters to the floor.
I spin around.
Eileena gazes over me to her spawn.
“It's done,” Silvia says, with no less passion. “The master bond is mine.”
Eileena pushes past me and Syd, heading into the chamber. She yanks down several of the sheer fabric curtains and toss them over Karl's body like she's hiding dirty furniture.
She brushes her hands together. “Are you ready to give the commandments, Silvia?”
Fuck.
I would make a run for it, but I'm sure Silvia has seen Karl summon me enough times to know how to do it. I've spent the last twenty-three years pissing off my new master. I'm in enough trouble as it is.
“Dimitri, come here, please.” Sylvia's tone is firm. Like she's speaking to a child.
This is going to get ugly. I already kind of miss Karl. At least his evil was predictable.
I take a deep breath and trudge toward the stage. My head is down. I don't want to look at her. For our whole lives, we were on the same field. Now she owns everything. Including me.
“Eyes one me, Dim.”
I grimace, but I do what I'm told. How the hell did I think I had won? She's going to wish Syd dead and then I will be right back where I started. Or she will come up with something crazier, because she could make the Mad Hatter flee.
The fact her hands are still bloody and her father's corpse is rotting behind her doesn't seem to bother her. She's all smiles.
“Dimitri, you may never tell anyone who or what you are.” Her voice never waivers. She must have practiced the big moment every day for years. “This … I … wish.”
The hum fades in then right back out. I know the drill. It will hang out, silent but waiting for me to screw up. This is how the commandments work.
Silvia claps her hands. “Dimitri, you may never kill yourself. This … I … wish.”
Another little jab from the hum. Letting me know it's got this one too.
Syd rushes from the side, swooping to the floor. “Hands up. Now.”
I turn as she points a gun at Silvia. My gun. Why is everyone taking my gun lately?
Silvia looks at her. I know Silvia. She doesn't think Syd is serious. I also know Syd, and Silvia probably should tread carefully. She doesn't excel at that, though.
Syd growls. “I told you to put them the fuck up!”
If I wasn't in love before, game over.
Silvia glances at her mother, who is standing just to the side of me. Then she rolls her eyes and raises her arms. I have never seen a lazier resignation.
I steal a glance behind me. The guards are gone. Smart boys. Run fast.
Syd creeps closer to Silvia. “You're going to let me and Dim walk out of here, got it?”
I grimace. Doesn't Syd realize Silvia already has the master bond? She can summon me from anywhere in the world.
I swallow hard.
“Syd, that's not going to help much.” My voice is gravelly, not quite recovered.
Syd scowls but doesn't look away from Silvia.
“This is dumb,” Silvia says with a tone like we're discussing the plot of a cheesy TV show. Then a flash of devious intelligence crosses her face. “You can't kill me. I'm the master now. If I die, my genie dies. There's no one left to inherit the bond.”
She lowers her arms, slow and casual, mocking Syd.
Syd keeps the gun steady, but her scowl deepens.