“Yep. Motley bunch. Their Sterling Quint’s a Chinese woman. Some big-name biology professor. Easy on the eyes, but not the nicest gal. I know what you’re about to ask, by the way.”
“My brother’s from New York. If the Pelletiers are picking siblings—”
“Now, Zack—”
“Is my brother alive?!”
Evan scratched the skin beneath his mask. “We have reached the end of the ‘free information’ portion of our discussion—”
“Goddamn it! Just tell me!”
“—and have now commenced the part in which you need to be careful. There are things you want. You won’t be able to shout them out of me.”
As Zack struggled to compose himself, Evan grinned behind his mask. He knew this would be the final take of their discussion. Round 5 was a keeper.
“You realize you’re getting worked up over a guy you weren’t that close with. I mean when it comes to being different, the Trillingers make the Givens look like Siamese twins.”
“Who told you that?” Zack asked.
“You did. I’m stealing your own joke.”
“He’s still my brother.”
“Is it him you really need right now? Or are you just looking for a quest?”
The cartoonist turned away in clenched fury. Evan softened up.
“Listen, Zack, I know what you’re going through. You survived an apocalypse. You learned just how nasty the universe can be and now you’re scrambling to give your life meaning. And since you’re too smart to cram Jesus into the equation, you’ve fit everything into a neat Hollywood structure. In your mind, you’re on a hero’s journey, with allies and riddles and big epic quests. You even have a love interest, an uptight hottie who’s slowly warming up to your wisecracking ways. Better than being a speck of dust in a senseless world, am I right?”
Zack gritted his teeth. “You don’t know me at all.”
“Oh, I do. And please don’t think I’m judging you. I used to be the exact same way. I thought I had all the same things you did. I went to Brooklyn and listened to Peter Pendergen. That man . . . God, what a prick. He dominated our lives with big ideas and Holy Grail quests, and we ate it up with a spoon because we needed to believe it. You want to know how it all turned out?”
“No.”
“Good,” Evan said. “That’s why I called. I want to spare you from all that. There’s no need to throw your life away on a wild-goose chase. Screw it. Ditch the Silvers. Come join me.”
Zack looked up from the railing. “Are you kidding me?”
“Not at all. You and I, we’re nerds of a feather. I’m more of a brother than your brother ever was. We could have fun together. Reminisce about pop culture. Buy the attentions of hot and shallow women.”
“Buy them with what?”
“Oh, don’t you worry about money, Zacky. I’ve got bundles. While you were all futzing around in Terra Vista, I hit the casinos. With power like mine, you can’t even call it gambling. It’s more like synchronized winning.”
“What is your power, exactly?”
“Come with me and I’ll tell you. I’ll answer any question you have. You’ll get every spoiler about Rebel, Azral, Peter, Amanda. Trust me. It’ll be better to hear it all secondhand than to live it.”
“And you’ll leave the others alone?”
“Zack, if you come with me, none of them will ever hear from me again. I swear it.”
Evan was mostly sincere in his promise, though he knew there was an opportunity coming up soon, a rare and golden chance to shatter both sisters at once. If Zack joined him, Evan would have to sneak out for an evening.
“I need some time to think about this.”
“Okay,” Evan replied, with a cautious leer.
“But there are two things you could do to help convince me—”
Evan pounded his fist on the railing. “Oh, goddamn it!”
“What?”
“You keep forgetting that I know you, Zack! If you were really considering my offer, you would have drowned me in a dozen more questions. But no, you jump right to the demands.”
“That’s not necessarily—”
“Let me guess. You want me to promise to leave you guys alone for a week. Or two weeks. Or until you get to New York. Just as a good faith token. Am I right?”
Zack hissed an inner curse. That was exactly the angle he’d planned.
“And then you were going to press me about your brother again. So you could get something out of me before turning me down. Clever, Trillinger. Always the clever one.”
Zack hunched over his railing, his face an angry mask. “Did you really think I’d come with you? You’ve harassed us. You’ve poisoned us—”
“Oh, now you drop the ruse.”
“Hannah could still die because of you!”
“She won’t die. Azral won’t let her.”
“What are you talking about?”
“No, no, no. You don’t get any more info. You blew it. I mean, shit, Zack. I really thought I could convince you this time.”