Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

The bubble flood mostly cleaned itself from the street after the bubbles popped, but Zee's room was left wringing wet, making him grumpy and out of action for the rest of the day while he fixed it. Agent Leomaris had left not long after our chat, and I'd promised to get back in touch when we had additional tickets to get them inside the next fight.

After getting cleaned up and changing out of his bloody clothes from his scrap in a ditch with Zee, Victor talked me through a few ideas for remodeling the hotel's old rooms, raising occupancy levels, and hopefully making it so the failing hotel finally turned a profit.

Zee reappeared in the bar the next evening, and performed a sexy number around his pole to ensure the drinks kept flowing, which in turn kept Tom happy—and our bank account.

With his act over, he draped himself into a chair at my table, spilling his wings and tail around him. He grinned, aglow now that he'd soaked up his audience's adoration. Literally .

His tight white shirt barely clung to its buttons. The frilly cuffs gaped. With his ruffled hair and suggestive neckline, he looked as though he should be on the cover of an old romance novel. "I heard from Hannah Musashi, the commissioner's wife. It'll take some fingering." He waggled his fingers, and eyebrows. "But she'll get us more tickets."

"Actual fingering?" I asked.

Zee grinned and shrugged. But that grin was too much like one of his Razorsedge smiles. And the tiny little lines around his eyes backed up the opposite story to what his wooden smile was selling.

For someone who got excited at the smallest of things, like finding five bucks in his pocket, or a rainbow, he didn't appear to be all that excited about fingering the commissioner's wife. I was about to tell him not to do it, when Victor glided over.

"Did all your clothes shrink from the bubbles, Zodiac?" he said, deadpan. "I can lend you a shirt with buttons that close, if you like?" He pulled out a a chair to my right and sat.

Zee's glare narrowed. "The day I wear one of your undertaker shirts is the day my soul dies, you feel me?"

"It's just that you appear to have had trouble dressing."

"I can take it all off if you prefer?" Zee's shallow grin sharpened.

Victor's cheek twitched. "That is unnecessary."

Sensing a weakness, Zee shifted forward in the chair and rested both arms on the table. "If you wanna see me naked, just say it Daddy. We're all adults here."

Victor caught my frown and quickly changed the subject back to the commissioner's wife. "I'll go with you to the wine bar and see if I can apply some mental persuasion. No sexual favors required."

"Great. You mind-fuck her while I finger-fuck her. A two for one. She gets a bargain," Zee grumbled, flopping back again now he'd lost the catch on the end of his line.

The squiffy feeling inside wasn't going away. I didn't like the idea of Zee having to perform favors, or Victor using his persuasion abilities on someone who may not be a bad person. "Maybe we should try talking with her first?"

"We?" Victor asked.

"Yes, I'm coming along," I said. "After your falling out, I can't trust you to work together."

Zee lolled his head back. "Ugh. That was all Fancy Fangs's fault."

Victor chimed in with his typically stalwart advice. "That's unwise, given your notoriety?—"

"It's fine. It's just a wine bar, right Zee? It'll be dark, and I'll change my hair." That would do it. "Nobody will know it's me, just so long as I don't ride any werewolves. I'm just some boring guy next to you two. You're both far more attractive."

Zee's mouth twitched, his real smile peeking through. "You're not going to be able to play the boring card much longer, Kitten. You know that, right?"

I shrugged. "It's got a little life left in it."

Zee chuckled and Victor smiled. He seemed to be doing a lot more smiling lately. I felt my smile grow too. We were in this together . Maybe I was always supposed to be the yummy filling in a demon and vampire sandwich? That was just how we were. And how we worked best.

"Also, what the fuck is up with Tom Collins?" Zee asked, nodding toward the bar. "He's spiking drinks like he's a cocaine fairy."

I glanced over my shoulder toward the bar, where Tom Collins had a small crowd transfixed by his spinning drinks and white-powder-dispensing salt shaker. "I told him about the djinn theory. He's going through some stuff. "

Zee winced, and Victor looked sympathetic. "Is he safe to be left alone?" Victor asked.

I watched the crowd cheer as he tossed a bottle into the air and caught it upside down, chugging its contents into a fluted glass. "As safe as he's ever been."

"Alright then." Zee planted his feet and stood. "I'll call us an Uber. Get your war paint on, bitches. This threesome is about to hit the town."

A swishy sign over the wine bar read: Bacchus' Bliss . After Zee was nodded through the front doors like an old friend, we entered a long, narrow bar, overflowing with hanging baskets and enormous plants as though the jungle were trying to claim the building for itself. The plant leaves and towering potted palms gave us lots of cover, and me places to hide.

Zee sparkled, wings hidden, as though this was his natural habitat. Victor followed along stiffly behind, while I was protected in the middle, where I naturally fit the best.

"Wait here. I'll see if I can spot Hannah." Zee vanished among the broad leaves and chatting people, leaving Victor and me standing in front of a painting that depicted a nude man resting on some steps, surrounded by lavish gifts and an abundance of food.

"The Roman god, Bacchus," Victor explained. "God of wine and pleasure."

The theme was in keeping with a wine bar. I spotted a few Lost Ones, but the customers appeared to be mostly human, some trading cash with subtle, underhanded gestures disguised as touches. "Is more than just wine traded here?"

"It would seem that way."

Bacchus' Bliss was staying on brand, like an upmarket Razorsedge but for humans. That explained why we were meeting here, as Mrs. Musashi wanted sexual favors in exchange for the Dine and Fight tickets.

Victor chatted about how he believed most human lore stemmed from interactions with Lost Ones over thousands of years. Humans knew about dragons, they just didn't believe in them. The same as so-called gods, who mostly turned out to be entrepreneurial preternaturals like Victor.

I checked the clock on the wall. "He's been gone a while."

"Agreed. We should locate him before he finds trouble." Victor pushed from the wall and dove into the thick-leaved archways ahead of me. It wasn't long before we found Zee at the bar beside Mrs. Musashi. His tail held her wrist back, but the woman—clad in a beautiful green dress—leaned into Zee, her free hand on his arm. It could just have been because of the loud music that she had to stand close to be heard, but I knew how Zee became less animated when he wasn't comfortable. Like now.

"Hello, there." I thrust my hand between them, offering a handshake. "My name is Adam. I don't know if Zee has mentioned me but I'm a friend, and so is Victor."

"Good evening, ma'am." Victor bowed his head. "What an exquisite dress."

Something sharp sparkled in Mrs. Musashi's eyes as she appraised Victor, but that sharpness dulled upon seeing me.

"Hello, Adam. I saw you at the last fight." She grasped my hand in firm fingers. "I'm Hannah. I understand you'd like more tickets? They come at a price, you know."

"Don't we all," Zee quipped, and shoved two fancy cocktails at us. His tail unwound from around Hannah's wrist, now he felt safer.

Victor frowned at the purple drink, and quickly set it aside on the bar. I sipped mine, to give myself something to do while I considered our options. Zee was free to make his own choices, but he'd also spent the last four years selling himself because it was expected of him. Even here, now, this woman looked at Zee as though he were a piece of meat. If he was alright with that, then so was I. But was he alright?

"Zee and I are old friends," Hannah explained.

"Oh yes, I'm aware." I smiled. "Your husband isn't here?"

Hannah tittered a laugh. "Goodness, no. He frowns on this place. Too hedonistic for my dear Paul." She squeezed Zee's arm. Zee picked up his drink to break free of her touch.

A tiny spark of anger fizzled alive inside me, and stayed burning, warming me through. "Something of a risk, being seen with Zee?" I left the implication hanging. Her husband had paid a large sum of hush money to keep their past relationship quiet.

"There are no cameras here, and nobody is allowed to film," she explained. "We're just chatting, aren't we Zee?" Her hand was back on his arm, while the other made a play for his ass until his tail came up and batted it away.

"Oh!" she giggled. "I do like it when you play hard to get."

The spark of anger scorched and a ringing began in my head, drowning out the loud music. Zee was more than capable of deterring unwanted advances—I'd seen him shove Abe's face into a counter—but he wasn't doing that now, to Hannah.

"Adam?" Victor's voice brushed my ear, asking permission to dive inside the woman's mind and turn it toward our cause.

I gave my head a slight shake. "Here's the thing, Hannah. We really need those extra tickets, but it's for a good cause. Are you a good person, Mrs. Musashi?"

"What are you implying?"

"I'm just asking a question. Are you? Good?"

She shifted uncomfortably. "I hope so, yes. "

"Then you wouldn't force someone into doing something they didn't want to?"

"No, of course not."

I eyed her hand, back on Zee's arm, then looked up at her face. It took her a few seconds to understand my meaning, but when the dime dropped, she quickly pulled back. "In the past, this was how we did things."

"That was the past," Zee added, rising slightly. "Things change."

An icy awkwardness descended on our little group. While I had her uncomfortable, I plowed on. "What if, at the Dine and Fight events, there were people there who'd been forced into doing terrible things they didn't want to do?"

"You mean the fighters? They're all there willingly. I have assurances from my husband." She sipped her drink, losing interest in us.

"Then he's lying to you, or someone is lying to him, because many of those who participate don't realize what they're getting into until it's too late."

"I don't know anything about that."

"We do, and if you get us the tickets we need, we can help save those people who made a mistake and are paying too high a price. Do you know what that's like, Mrs. Musashi? To make a mistake, and have to pay for it for the rest of your life? Or perhaps, with your life?"

She frowned and grasped at her clutch bag. "This meeting isn't as much fun as I was hoping." After opening the bag, she dug out several paper tickets and handed them over. "There. Now go away so I can stop feeling guilty when I haven't done anything wrong."

"Thank you. You're doing a good thing."

We turned to leave, when Hannah announced, "Not him, he's staying with me. "

I turned back to see Hannah grab Zee's wrist so hard she almost jerked him off his feet.

"Hey, lady—" Zee began.

"No, you owe me," she growled, and yanked him closer still.

Victor moved in a blink, driving himself between them. He smacked her hand into her forehead—not hard, just enough to shock her back.

Hannah let go, and gave her head a shake, more confused than hurt.

"Let's go," Victor said, leaving Hannah rubbing her forehead.

We headed for the door, making our way back through the throngs of people and tall, leafy plants. "I didn't need you to do that for me," Zee grumbled at Victor. "But thanks, I guess. Whatever."

Victor remained stoic and quiet, but I figured he seethed inside in much the same way I did.

"Zodiac!" A young man flung himself in front of us, and dropped to his knees. "Zodiac! I love you!" He grabbed Zee's leg.

Zee tried to backpedal, and stumbled. "Woah. Boundaries. What the fuck, man?"

The guy climbed his legs and pawed at his middle. "Breed me. Have my children."

"Fuck, what?" Zee shoved the guy back down and wiggled his leg, trying to dislodge the fan. "Okay, Fancy Fangs, I'm not above accepting more help here?"

Victor grabbed the fan, making him wail and scrabble to regain his grip on Zee.

"C'mon man, you're embarrassing the both of us." Zee was saying.

The scuffle had drawn more than a few interested gazes our way, with some folks fighting to get a good view. At least nobody was filming anything. Yet.

"Zodiac, don't go!" Hannah's voice pierced the loud music.

I spun, and saw her shoving her way through the plants. Her eyes were weirdly big, pupils blown. She'd clearly changed her mind and was getting Zee back, and no potted rubber plant was going to stop her.

"Something isn't right," Victor remarked, dropping the now unconscious superfan he'd unwrapped from Zee's thigh. "His mind was an incoherent muddle. Difficult to manipulate, as though he'd been drugged."

"Zodiac!" Another voice cried.

"Zee! My love!" Another.

"He is the messiah!" Another one added.

"That's new." Zee frowned and looked around frantically.

More voices joined the chorus of love for Zee.

Hannah sprang from the foliage. I knocked her back, putting Zee behind me. "Back off, lady. Zee's mine." A growl bubbled up from under my voice, but in the growing chaos, nobody noticed.

Victor fended off another crazed fan, rendering them unconscious with a slap to the forehead.

"Zee, what is happening?" I asked, keeping a close eye on the drooling Hannah.

Victor added, "Is this typical fan behavior?"

"Fuck no."

"Let's get out of here." I caught Zee's hand in mine, and with Victor following behind, we sprinted from the wine bar. Downtown traffic hummed. A few folks waiting in line to enter the bar gave us suspicious glances. We rushed on, walking fast.

"That was weird, even for me," Zee puffed.

"Well, we got the tickets, I guess. "

Tires screeched. To our left, a car plowed into the back of another, coming to a sudden, grinding stop. The weirdness was about to get weirder. The driver, an older man who didn't seem the sort to be a typical Zodiac fan, sprang from behind the wheel and bolted at us.

Victor got to him first, dropping him on the spot. "Same as the others," Victor warned. "Their minds are flooded with... lust?" He turned his enquiring gaze to Zee.

"Zee?" I asked. "Why are random people losing their minds?"

"I don't know. I'm not doing it!"

Another screech of tires sounded.

I grabbed Zee again and pushed on, down the sidewalk. "Okay, we need to get you out of sight."

"I can fly back?"

"No, I don't want to risk you being shot down where we can't find you in time?—"

The wine bar's doors burst open and a surge of people spilled out onto the sidewalk. "Zodiac! Zee! Love you! Need you! Touch me!"

"Run!" I barked, and shoved Zee into motion. "Go, go—Victor stay with him. I'll catch up. Go!"

"Are you sure?" Victor frowned.

"Yes, go! Get somewhere safe!"

They gave me long, concerned looks, but as a barrage of new demands rained down from the flood of people, Zee and Victor dashed ahead and veered out of sight down a side alley.

As the crowd surged into and around me like a herd of cattle, I cursed my decision to opt for a small, insignificant human body rather than that of a six-foot-tall Olympic runner. It did mean I was able to amble out of the chaos and simply walk away without anyone noticing, however.

I sauntered on. With no phone or cash on me, it was going to be a long walk back to the hotel. Victor and Zee would be okay. They fought, but they also looked out for each other.

Clearly, dating was not our thing.

"Psst."

I stopped.

"Psst, Adam?" The hissing whisper sailed from a dark, narrow side alley and its slalom of rusted dumpsters.

"Zee?"

A hand shot up, over a dumpster, and waved.

I checked nobody was watching, and jogged into the alley, finding him and Victor propped against the wall, breathing hard. "You're okay."

Zee nodded and wheezed. "Just need to . . . stay out of sight . . . until Uber . . . arrives."

"What if the driver has the same reaction?" I asked.

"I'll deal with them," Victor said, making it sound terminal. He shifted to stand at the edge of the dumpster, like a sentinel on guard. He could deal with a few humans, but not a horde of them. Hopefully, the superfans had gotten bored and headed home.

"What is going on?" I asked.

"We suspect the bead Zee consumed has enhanced his abilities to allure a crowd," Victor explained.

"Hopefully, it fucking wears off," Zee added. "I'm here for some godlike worship, but not when it's climbing my leg."

"We'll return to the hotel, and ensure he's not seen until he's safe."

Zee recoiled. "What the fuck is that supposed to mean? I'm always safe, Fancy Daddy."

"Zee, easy." I reached for his hand, and our fingers slotted together. "Victor is looking out for you."

He ruffled his hair around his horns and huffed. "Right. Fine." He caught Victor's side-eye. "I'm just angsty. I've never had an angry, horny mob chase me before. "

"I understand." Victor concentrated on watching the street.

"Yeah, I don't think you do, but whatever."

"I once had a cult of virgins try to attack, subdue, and sacrifice me to their virginal god, Vesta. This was long after their rather well-known religion had been outlawed by Christian governance, some thousand years prior."

I blinked. "Wow." He was just full of surprises.

Zee's mouth fell open. "Fuck. You're telling us this now? Did you eat them in a weird, unfun sucker way? Wait, wait... I got this... you..." He thought hard. "You bored them to death with tales of your long, dull life."

"Actually, I seduced them all. Together. For three days and nights, in an endless demonstration that ignited their fantasies and rather effectively destroyed their religion."

"You fucked them?" Zee gulped. "That's not the answer I was expecting."

"So, when I say I understand being stalked by a sexually aroused crowd, I am not exaggerating."

"Alright, fine, don't ruin it." Zee's mouth ticked. "Lemme save that imagery for later."

We fell quiet as we hunkered down behind the dumpster. It wasn't long before the cab arrived, and after Victor had convinced the driver Zee didn't exist, we rode back in thoughtful silence.

We nodded at Madame Matase, who told us to sleep well, and trudged into the shiny, repaired elevator.

"So... this virgin cult," Zee said, propping a shoulder against the side of the car. "They'd never seen a dick before, right? That's why yours was so appealing?" His gaze skipped down, suggestively.

"You know exactly why my penis is appealing."

Zee grimaced. "Yeah, no, that did not sound right."

I had to agree .

"An unfortunate choice of words," Victor agreed, with a lighthearted smirk.

"Are you fucking with me?" Zee narrowed his eyes.

I glanced over at them, paying a little more attention now their tones had turned combative. Zee still leaned against the elevator wall, but Victor stoically faced the door with his hands clasped behind his back, keeping Zee firmly on his right in the corner of his eye.

"If I were, what would you do about it?" Victor's left eyebrow ticked, baiting Zee.

"This." Zee lunged, captured Victor's face between his hands and slammed a kiss onto his lips. Because Victor was side-on, the kiss landed awkwardly, but that didn't matter when Victor grabbed Zee right back and kissed him as though trying devour Zee whole.

Oh. Okay. Wow.

The temperature in the elevator shot to a thousand degrees, or maybe that was the blood in my veins turning to lava, because the two of them going at it was a fantasy I hadn't known I'd been missing. I looked away—watching was bad, right? And peeked back, because it also felt kinda good. Finally, they were working through their issues—using tongues.

Victor grabbed Zee's shirt collar in his fists and slammed Zee against the side of the elevator, rocking the car, then went to town on trying to eat his face, but in a really sexy, furious, aggressive, desperate way that had my heart and other parts pounding. Zee's right hand clamped hold of Victor's ass, while the other twisted in his hair. It was kind of like watching two predators trying to kill each other with their mouths.

I'd forgotten we were in the elevator, until a ding sounded and the refurbished doors smoothly opened on a guest and her tween son. She gasped and covered her son's eyes. Her son promptly tried to peek around her fingers.

I opened my mouth to try and explain. "Uh?—"

Zee kicked Victor against the back of the elevator then pounced, tail thrashing behind him, and scooped up Victor's mouth in his, sucking on his tongue. His hand grabbed at his crotch too. Victor sounded a grunt, that could have been a good sound, or not. None of this was subtle.

"Is he killing him?" the guest whispered.

"Oh... Erm... Not really killing . More like relieving some tension," I explained. "Honestly, this is long overdue. The tension between them has been off the charts for weeks now." She didn't seem to be enjoying the show as much as I was. "Isn't the wonder of nature amazing?"

Zee ground his crotch against Victor's hip and moaned into his mouth.

"I don't think that's natural." She tutted, and dragged her bug-eyed boy down the corridor, heading toward the stairwell.

Victor and Zee clearly didn't need my help. Everything seemed to be going smoothly. I side-stepped around them, intent on sneaking away to leave them to it.

Zee's hand shot out, grabbed my arm, and yanked me back in. Suddenly pressed between them, Zee's hot mouth scorched my neck and Victor's hands claimed my hips.

"You're not going anywhere, Kitten."

"You're ours," Victor rumbled.

Any thoughts of leaving went up in smoke. Then the rest of coherent thought went after them. I don't know if you've ever been caught between a demon and a vampire, but everything gets real blurry, real fast. In an oh-so-good way.

What came next would be earth-shattering.