Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

I paced and fumed for hours, from one side of the hotel bar to the other, feeling the passage of time like nails across a chalkboard. As testament to my foul mood, Tom Collins hadn't yet tried to drug me. He'd stayed back, stayed quiet, and watched me sit, stand, pace, and sit again, over and over.

Victor brooded at the bar. Tom had served him a slew of Bloody Bitches in between Victor telling me to be patient, that Leomaris was on our side, that we would free Zee soon. And with each passing second, Zee moved farther away.

His absence left a hole in my heart.

After pacing some more, my claws caught my eye. Instead of shaking them off, I headed out to the lobby. "Madame Matase, do you know anything about curses?"

"Darling, I'm Romani." She smiled, and click-clacked her knitting needles. "Curses are my bread and butter."

"Okay. Right. It's just... I have this friend, and they performed a powerful curse. Uh... a sacrificial curse."

"Oh, one of those. Nasty business." She hissed through her teeth. "But handy if you'd like to curse your enemy for all eternity. "

"Yes, well, you see... Is there any way to remove that curse without requiring another sacrifice? Could it wear off?" I thrust my hands into my pockets and looked innocent. "My friend was asking."

"Your friend?"

"Yup."

"Then you can tell your friend that no, it will not wear off. Curses of that caliber are forever."

I puffed. "Oh good."

"Unless the caster happens to want the curse removed."

"The uh . . . the what now?"

"Well, someone powerful enough to perform such a curse to begin with has the potential to remove it without requiring a second sacrifice. Curses are tied to their caster. The person who crafted the curse is the only person who can remove it, and because they are its origin, they can do so without a sacrifice."

That's what I feared. "Oh."

"It would still take some formidable power to reverse such a curse, but it wouldn't happen by accident." She smiled again. "For your friend."

"Right. Uh..." I ambled back toward the bar. "Uh, thanks, I think. I'll tell my friend."

"Of course, Adam."

It appeared as though some hot and steamy three-way lovemaking, that happened to shift wards around and make the earth move, may just be enough to weaken my curse. Fabulous. If my claws could pop out uninvited, what about my tail? What about the rest of me?

I set about pacing the bar again, and switching tracks on the jukebox, trying to find one to complement my highly strung nerves.

"Will you sit down, you're making my algorithms ache," Tom grouched. "Come here." He tapped the bar with a chipper grin. "Let's make you a bespoke artisan cocktail. One just for you. We'll call it the Vex Vortex and fill it full of happy dust."

"What's happy dust?"

"Oh, you know... Just an added sprinkle of glitter. Everyone loves glitter."

Zee loved glitter. He'd want me to do this and relax. "Fine. But it's not cocaine, is it?"

Tom laughed. "It's as though you don't even know me."

"I do know you, that's the problem."

Finally, just after three a.m. Leomaris arrived. Unseasonal rain glistened in their green hair and on their long coat—a coat Zee had admired. He'd wanted one just like it. And a hat.

"The transport leaves in an hour," Elion Leomaris said, approaching Victor at the bar. They waved for Tom to serve them and asked for a Baileys on the rocks. "They're taking him to the holding facility north of Death Valley. He'll stay there until his case is assessed, and potentially, if the outcome is poor, he'll be moved to the Mojave Desert facility."

Zee hated the heat. And sand. And isolation.

At least there wouldn't be frogs.

"The verdict will not be good," Victor said, curling his fingers around his latest Bloody Bitch. "His fate will be determined by those with more legal sway than us." Tiredness tightened his face. Losing Zee was hurting him too.

"Don't say that." I slotted myself between the bar stools next to him. Touching his hand, I barely summoned his elusive smile. Regret made his eyes sad. He believed he should have done more. So did I. But he'd been right. There was no way we could have walked away from that fight without all of us getting arrested, slapped in anti-magic chains, and sent to prison .

"What do we do?" I asked Elion, keeping my hand on Victor's.

Elion thanked Tom for the drink and raised it to their lips. "Intercept the transport," they said.

"You mean break him out?" I asked, checking we were all on the same page.

"Lord Reynard is correct. The chances of a demon with his background getting a fair trial are slim. His arrest was unwarranted, yet that hasn't stopped the process from being rushed through, like so many others who end up as case files on the commissioner's desk. I fear the commissioner will stop at nothing to see Zodiac punished, just like he has other Lost Ones. There is no law-abiding solution to this."

"It's not just him. It's Gideon too. The commissioner doesn't like Zee, but you can bet Gideon is forcing his hand. Cain has something on Musashi. Musashi knows about Delores and Claymore. There are some dirty dealings going on with those fight clubs, and those two are neck deep in them."

Elion's eyes widened. "You asked about Delores?"

"I said I would, but I didn't have much time to get into it. Musashi recognized her name—and not in a good way. Gideon knows too, but he's too clever to reveal anything. Musashi is our way out of this, if we can corner him somehow." Rubbing my face, I sighed. "First, we gotta get Zee back." The thought of him being shackled was enough to turn my stomach. He'd be enjoying the inmate eye candy, but that would be the limit of his fun. "Do you know the route the transport is taking?"

"I do, yes. But you're going to need a substantial force to free Zodiac. The truck is heavily guarded—and warded. You'll need to take a ward weaver along, and you'll need to move fast."

I smiled. I could deal with the wards, thanks to an anti- ward ring I'd scooped out of some gory vampire remains in our hotel elevator. A ring Gideon had given that vampire, thinking it would protect him from me. The fact I'd be using it against Gideon's plot to incarcerate Zee made the taste of revenge all the sweeter. As for a willing and able force? "I have sex demons and a horny werewolf. Is that substantial enough?"

"It's... certainly unique." Elion downed their Baileys in one gulp, then turned to me again. "Mr. Vex, are those claws?"

"Oh, uhm." I splayed my fingers over the back of Victor's hand. Sharp claws glinted at their tips. I'd been too distracted by Zee's arrest to focus on hiding them again, and hadn't needed to around Tom and Victor. "These old things? They're... uhm... fake nails?"

"An interesting design," Elion replied.

"If you know the transport route, I assume you can suggest a suitable ambush location?" Victor asked, steering the subject back to saving Zee.

"There is one, where the highway snakes through a narrow canyon. I'd have liked more time to assess the situation on the ground, get the lay of the land and its vantage points, but we do not have that luxury."

The way they spoke reminded me who and what they'd once been. Agent Elion Leomaris, bounty hunter. They thought like a predator because they were one. At least their skills were working for us—for now. "Alas, I won't be joining you. But I can keep you abreast of the transport's location during the operation."

Squeezing Victor's hand, I caught Tom's gaze and nodded. Tom nodded back. This was the right course of action. Freeing our man—demon.

"Be careful," Elion warned. "And know that should Zodiac reach the camp, any chance of rescue evaporates. "

We had one shot at this. "Got it."

Victor rose to his feet and pulled the Love Wagon's keys from his pocket. "One shot is all we need," he said, making no attempt to hide the silvery murderous gleam in his eyes. Or the fangs behind his snarl. Vampire Daddy would kill anyone who dared stand between him and Zee, and my withered dragon heart skippety-skipped to know it.

"Adam," Tom called, as we headed for the door. I stopped, and turned to see him standing at the bar. Trapped there by Gideon. "Whatever family I may have had, this one is all I care for. Bring him home."

"We will," I vowed. Nothing would stand in my way, either.

No more running from fights. No more Mr. Nice Guy.

Zee was worth risking it all for.