Secret Worlds (100 page)

It's Syd.

She's insane. I love that about her.

“Look, you have to listen closely.” Her voice sounds tight. “Karl is sending someone else besides you. My dad … ” She takes a deep breath. “He … and my brother … they're both … dead.”

I give a small cough. It's the only noise I can manage that doesn't sound like I want to rip out her throat.

She continues, “My dad had this … thing … in his neck. Like a spiked spearhead. It's so bizarre, Dim. I can't stay here. I'm afraid Karl is … Karl is going to send someone for me. Besides you. I'm going to Uncle Larry's house.”

I think I have questions for her, but I can't formulate them in my head, let alone ask. I just hope she gives me all the information I need. 

“I suspect Uncle Larry will want to get out of Dodge. He's been considering it since his San Diego lab was blown up, but I'll let you know where we are. Probably one of his labs in Vegas or L.A. Keep your phone with you. You can still read, right?” She tries to laugh, but fear darkens it. Then she adds in a reassuring tone, “I'm still working on it. Don't give up yet, Dim.”

She goes silent, maybe contemplating the polite way to end a phone call with a monster. After a minute, she hangs up.

I drop the phone to the passenger seat. My arm aches. 

Uncle Larry is smart to run to Bat Country or farther. Karl is coming after them, and it's only going to get uglier. Uglier than when I blew up his anthropology lab in San Diego.

I slam on the brake, right there on the highway. 

He owned the anthropology lab.

My heart jumps into my throat. 

Syd just walked into a trap.

***

With effort, I text Syd asking her to call me—the only time I have ever been thankful for autocorrect—but I know she's already on the road. By the time she sees my message, it will be too late.

Scanning through a month of text messages while shaking from the Jolts of Damnation is not an easy task. Finally, I find an old message with the address to the cafe where I had met her and Coleen to return the ring. They had left to hang out with Larry. Help with his research, no doubt. Looking for me.

Some of the threads are matching up. I can't make sense of it yet, but I know Larry is not the good uncle. That spiked spearhead came from the anthropology lab in San Diego. Larry's anthropology lab. 

I don't know why Larry is killing his own family, but something tells me he isn't going to make an exception for Syd.

Come to find out, the Corolla can fly nearly as well as the Accord. I focus every sizzling brain cell on the road, weaving among traffic, reminiscent of a high speed chase that didn't end so well.

I have no doubt my license plate will show up in a dozen speed cameras, but I dare anyone to pull me over right now. There will be some serious Hulk smashing going down if they try.

I whip off the freeway, run a few red lights, and speed by the cafe. They had turned left. I don't know why I remember that, but I do. The Corolla’s tires squeal as I force a sharp turn and floor it down the street.

The red and black Audi is parked on the curb in front of a house. At least she kept the car. I can pick her out while cruising one hundred miles per hour. 

The Corolla drags belly as it comes to a halt.

I storm across the lawn and up the porch, then kick out the front window. I'm over the sill before all the glass has landed. 

The living room is empty.

I tilt my head and listen around the hum. Noises from the back of the house. Never one for stealth, I clomp through the kitchen and round the corner.

The barrel of a gun touches my face. Holding the pistol, a middle-aged man with thinning dark hair and fair skin. I hit low, in his gut. He doubles over. I pull my gun. He reaches up and grabs my arm and shoves. 

I stumble back, clawing at furniture to break my fall. I only manage to pull over a table as I hit the ground. He lunges at me. I roll out of the way and scramble to stand. His foot catches me in the chest. My sternum and heart seem to collide. I fall face first into the carpet.

He yanks me up. I swing, miss. My back hits the window. Glass shatters, and I thud to the ground outside. He leaps down. I kick his leg, knocking him to his knees. He scurries for me, but he's obviously missed the memo on who the monster is around here.

I launch to my feet and catch him in the face with my elbow, crunching his nose. I smash him in the back of his head. Blood dribbles to the trampled grass. His hand goes to his face. Then he raises his head to me.

I tense, waiting for him to make the next move. He stares at me. I think for a minute that he might realize who I am. But he doesn't. He spent his life looking for the jinn, and he doesn't even recognize that the jinn is kicking his ass.

Syd did say I wasn't what they had thought I would be. Not exactly a compliment.

Larry scuttles to his feet and darts past me. I spin around as he swings a brick. I try to dodge, but fail to channel Bruce Lee this time. The brick lands solidly against my shoulder. I stumble, think I caught my balance, then fall straight into the bushes. 

Larry clomps over me and raises the brick like he's playing the High Striker game at a carnival. I pull my knee to my chest and slam my heel right under his chest bone. The brick drops. I twist out of the way. The brick catches me in the hip. 

I curl up as the pain from my hip bolts through my body. Larry is still hovering around me somewhere. I reach out blindly and grab at him. My fingers latch his wrist. I pull him around as I kick upward. Another solid strike below the chest bone. 

He gasps, then wheezes. I'm on my feet, pushing my way through the bushes. His hand shoves against his chest. Blood is still running down his lips and falling from his chin. I'm covered in blood too, but he can't take credit for much of it.

He swings, but it's weak. I step out of the way. There's so much anger on his face, so much hatred, that I wish I could tell him who I am—right before I kill him.

He swings again. I catch his fist and shove him back. He stumbles, and I take a step toward him. I clench my hand and slam my elbow into the side of his head. He staggers forward, hunched over. Then I realize he found a gun on the ground—my gun. The one I had dropped when he heaved me through the window.

He raises the gun. Satisfaction settles over his face.

I pull a Syd and rush him, slamming my shoulder into his chest. As he falls, I grab my gun and twist it from his grasp. He jerks forward. I bash the butt of the gun into the back of his head. He drops to his knees. I flip the gun around, shove it against his temple, and look up.

Syd is standing on the other side of the broken window, her face swollen and bruised. Her arms are bleeding. 

Her eyes fall to the man kneeling at my feet, then she meets my gaze. She gives a tight nod.

I have taken so much from her. Probably more than I even realize yet. With a sigh, I reach my other hand into my pocket, yank out a few benzo syringes, and drug the bastard up 'til he's going to need a twelve-step program. 

Syd hops down to the ground and takes a step toward me. I want to touch her, tell her how much I love her. Another jolt hits. She halts. I try to give her a reassuring look, but that's hard to do when hooked to a cosmic jumper cable. 

We don't have to speak though. We're on the same side again.

But I'm still under the wish, so she's not safe near me.

I take off through the yard, over the fence, and drive the Corolla as fast as I can toward the desert mansion. 

When I hit the freeway, my phone vibrates. I pull it out, my hand and arm shaking, and jab the screen.

Text message from Syd.

I don't know how you knew, but thank you. See ya at Karl's.

I clench my teeth against the next jolt. 

I haven't ate, drank, or slept in days. I'm covered in dirt and sweat and blood. Zaps of electricity keep running through my body because I won't kill the most important person in my life. I have no idea how much longer before the hum evolves into something even more horrific and manages to push me over the edge again.

Yet, somehow, I don't feel like a monster anymore.

***

The gates to the mansion are open when I arrive. This can't be a good sign. I pull into the driveway and shove the car keys into my pocket. Once Karl knows I'm in the building, I suspect he will send his men to confiscate my cars.

I decide to ignore the fact he can summon me anytime he wants, and I can do jack shit about it. If I give the thought too much time, I might realize how hopeless this situation is, because I have no out. Even if Syd does perform a miracle akin to turning water into wine, I still belong to Karl. I can't imagine serving him knowing what I do now.

Which, to be fair, still isn't much. I know Phillip Ballantyne paid off an infirmary doctor to steal some genie juice, and the whole plan backfired. I know Karl ordered me to kidnap Syd's little sister and blow up her uncle's research lab. 

I get the lab situation. Karl didn't like Larry poking around his dark secrets. But I don't understand why Zoe and Syd were brought into this. Maybe as retaliation against Larry.

I also don't understand why Larry killed Syd's father. Or her brother.

Mark had been stabbed by the same weapon Syd described was used on her father. Either Larry had come after Mark too, or Mark is … Syd's brother. He had been overseas studying. That's why Syd had taken his Audi.

Holy shit, I really have been destroying Syd's family without either of us realizing it.

I make my way across the yard illuminated with lanterns and through the mansion without being disturbed. No guards. No house staff. Not even Silvia.

Outside the chamber door, I halt and try to listen over the hum. 

Silence.

I take a deep breath and, with shaking arms, push open the door. The scent of argan greets me, a reminder that I belong to this house. I will until the day I die.

The fabrics wave in a breeze, revealing a glimpse of Karl on his throne.

I close the door behind me and cross the long room, head lowered, until I'm in front of him. To his side, Syd stands with a half-dozen armed guards at her back. Her jaw is set firm.

“I thought I would have to summon you.” Karl looks vaguely amused. “You kept us waiting.”

I stare up at him without raising my head. My hair falls into my eyes.

He gestures toward Syd. “It seems your friend here has a request.”

My stomach feels sick. I remind myself he has already done his worst to her. To both of us.

“Just let him out of the wish, Karl,” Syd says, anger coloring her voice. “Look what you've done to him.” 

“Oh, I haven't done anything to him. He knows the rules.” Karl's gaze meets mine. “Tell her you understood your choice.”

“He can't talk.” Syd shifts the purse on her shoulder.

I try to swallow, but my throat still burns.

Karl sits forward on his throne. “This operation was built by your ancestors, Dimitri. Your father, your grandfather, your great-grandfather. All the way back. Generation after generation gave their lives so we could be what we are now.

“Her family wants to take it away. They want to destroy it. No one has rights to what we have done.” His voice is even. “Fulfill the wish, Dimitri.”

I give a tight shake of my head. Another jolt. Goddammit. My face tilts to the ceiling. My muscles tighten and convulse. 

Karl raises to his feet and steps down from the stage. I remain in my spot, forcing deep breaths and trying to keep my mind clear. His influence over me is never good. Syd won't be able to run far if I tumble back into insanity.

He glowers at me. “Your father worked for my father for decades. They increased the account tenfold. Then he was passed down to me, and we had a good few years, until he became sick. We knew his time as our genie was running out.”

I straighten. No one has ever told me why my father was replaced.

“He tried.” Karl sounds remorseful, but for all the wrong reasons. “His body was giving out, but he was excellent right up to the end. The only time he ever let us down was when he gave us you.”

I should be offended. I have done so many terrible things for Karl, and all he ever remembers are the failures. Yet I no longer care what he thinks. I might be bonded to him for life, but any loyalty I had has disappeared.

He continues. “I have my backup plan, though. I had to have one. Imagine my disappointment. So many great things we could be doing, but I always have to clean up your mess. Now you have the chance to live up to the men before you. Stop the Ballantynes once and for all.”

I glance at Syd. 

Sydney Ballantyne. 

I never knew her last name.

More threads tie together.

Karl smiles, and it's perverse but entirely sane. “You can end this.”

I clamp my jaw. 

His smile twists into a smirk. “If you don't, the hum will tear you apart from the inside. Slow. Deliberate. Just do what is asked of you, and it will let you go. You know this, Dimitri. You have been terrified of the hum since the first time you tried to resist.

“Morals aren't for your kind to decide. The master tells you what you believe, and you follow the orders. We've been doing this for such a very long time.” He leans closer and whispers in my ear, “I will never retract the wish. You will give in, eventually. You will kill her. And I'll finally have a worthy jinn.”

His words are a sucker punch to the gut. Despite everything, I really am worthless to him. No wonder he never requested for me to carry on the bloodline. He has some big idea on how to replace me.

He steps back, then turns and heads for his throne. 

He says louder, “No, Dimitri, I would rather let this run its course. Maybe you will find reprieve at the end. Maybe in days or weeks or months, maybe it will kill you.” He settles down in his throne again. “I am prepared to let that happen.”

Chaos erupts to my right. I turn as Syd swings her purse like a flail. It catches a guard upside the head. The other guards grapple for her, but she keeps swinging.

I lunge into their midst, dodging her weapon, and start throwing elbows into their stomachs. I grab a guard's head and introduce it to my knee. He slumps next to the guard Syd has on the ground. She's still whaling on him.