“Then Phil died when he was away on business. Karl said it was a warning that he would kill us all if he had to. But they still didn't stop, Dim. Larry thought Karl would try to infiltrate his work, so he hid the research books. Then Robbie—Phil's son who interned at the labs—was kidnapped. His body was found by some teens camping in the desert. By that time, the books had been stolen from the lab, before it was blown up . . . sort of. We assumed Karl had taken Robbie for information, then killed him.
“Even the doctor who Phil paid off to get the inside scoop was being terrorized. We knew Karl was using the jinn, but we could never get ahead of him—of you. We couldn't anticipate your targets or how you would execute them.”
She lowers her voice. “I never would have guessed it was you. Not even when I found the book from Larry's lab on your living room shelf. The book just outlined who the master bond is handed off to. I knew it had been with the batch of stolen books, so I realized you were involved with Karl, but … ”
She shakes her head. “So I started going through your car and found Zoe's stuffed animal. I still didn't put it together. I figured he had sent his personal security for her, instead of sending the jinn.”
She turns back to Larry. “You wanted me to think the jinn had come for my father, but Dimitri was in New Mexico with me when it happened. I never thought—I never thought you would betray us like that.”
Larry grimaces, but says nothing. I have an urge to introduce his face to the back of his skull.
Instead, I turn to Syd. “Where is Zoe?”
She shrugs one shoulder, and her voice quivers. “I don't know. We haven't found her. Oh, god, Dim, if he hurt her … ”
I have no comforting words. Karl's record so far isn't encouraging.
I say, “So, Silvia killed Karl to claim her inheritance. I killed Silvia, which would have killed me except … there are more Walkers, well, Ballantynes. Who has the master bond now?” I scowl, feeling lost. Then my heart plummets. “Oh, shit. It's not—” I point at Larry. “Oh, fuck, it's not you, is it?”
He sneers.
I am so screwed.
“No, Dim, Larry is the third oldest,” Syd says. “Phil was the fourth.”
I force myself to turn away from Larry, to look back at Syd. I'm not following this game of hot potato. “So, your father is the second oldest?”
She nods.
“But he's dead. And so is Mark. That's your brother, right?”
She nods again, her face turning red with suppressed tears.
“So, the master bond belongs to—” I stop breathing for a moment.
Syd bursts into sobs, nodding and backing away. She can't get much farther without tripping over Silvia.
“No, no, Syd.” I move toward her to comfort her, but I'm shaking. I think it's with excitement. “This is a good thing.”
She shakes her head. “It's me, Dim. It's … me.”
“Syd, Syd, it's alright.” I want to squeeze her body and kiss her face all over. “You have the master bond. I'm good with this.”
She's still crying. “I don't want the master bond. Not if it's you.”
“Syd, no. Don't give it away.” My excitement shifts to panic. “Don't do anything rash, please. I don't know how that part works, but if you can give it away, please, oh my god, please, don't.”
“I don't want it,” she whispers, lips trembling.
“Do not give it to Larry. Bad idea. Very bad idea.” I'm waving my hands wildly, unable to portray just how much I do not want her to do anything with that bond. “Just keep it, please.”
“It's wrong,” she says.
She didn't look this scared even when I chased her through Albuquerque.
“Syd, no, look, I can deal with this. I can so deal with this.” I try to stroke her uninjured arm, but she pulls away. “I would spend the rest of my life serving you, Syd. That's what I want.”
She shakes her head. “If you do anything for me, it should be because you choose to, not because you had to.”
“Just never use it, then,” I say because I couldn't care less if she does or doesn't. Her wish is my command, regardless. “Please, Syd. It will be okay. I promise. Look, maybe it's not even true. Larry just based everything on stories, right?”
Larry grunts, but I ignore him.
She gives a sad half-frown. “Dimitri?”
I meet her gaze. I'm hers in the most profound way. And yet I don't seem any closer to being allowed indulge in all the things we both want.
She holds out her hand. “Dimitri, give me your phone, please.”
I tilt my head. “What?”
She takes a deep breath and says in a business-like tone, “This I wish.”
A familiar hum settles in my brain. I'm relieved it's there. The master bond really does belong to Syd.
I reach in my pocket, pull out my phone, and, grinning, offer it to her.
As soon as her hand wraps around the phone, the hum vanishes.
I cannot convey to her what this means to me. If I could, she would stop crying.
She keeps shaking her head and running her fingers through the top of her hair. She hands me back my phone, looking hopeless.
Larry says in a warning tone, “Sydney, do not fuck this up.”
I storm across the room and sock him in the face. Hard enough his entire body falls forward. T.K.O.