Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

Zee poofed into the bar. “Erm, Kitten, why are people peopling in my room?!”

“Zee!” I flung my arms around him and crushed him tight. After “dealing with” Sebastien, I’d gone back to managing the at-capacity hotel, but as the night wore on, passing into the early hours of the morning, Zee and Victor’s absence gnawed on my heart.

“Yeep,” Zee wheezed, then sighed and wrapped his arms around my shoulders, hugging me back. It didn’t matter that we were surrounded by guests, after my brush with Seb I needed him squished close. “Hey, are you okay?” he asked, stroking my hair.

“I am now.” I leaned back to get a look at his face. He had a scuff under his right eye, and his leathers were dusty, but he seemed fine. No broken bones or bloody stains. “Did you uh... did you...”

His face fell. “There were guards everywhere . Alarms going off, cameras all over, security lights going batshit. Tom Collins really fucked up Cain’s electrics, but when Daddy Spice tried to sneak in there were too many people around, and the mansion is huge . Sorry Kitten, we didn’t get the bead.”

“That’s okay.” It had been a long shot, just like I’d said. I was just glad to have them back.

“But we did get something useful.” Zee brightened. “Which I will show you. But imma ask again, why are random people in my room?”

“Oh, I erm... We had sort of a rush, and I ran out of rooms to rent, so I figured you guys could sleep with me for a few nights?”

“Huh, silver lining.”

“I moved your collection of dildos and array of sex toys first.”

“Good thinking. Gotta charge extra for add-ons.”

“Wait. What?”

He fluttered innocent lashes. “So where did the guests come from?”

I told him about Noreen’s article, which I still hadn’t seen, but assumed had done a grand job of making the SOS Hotel out to be the only safe place in San Francisco. Zee nodded along, guiding me out of the bar, into the rear of the hotel, and out the back door, where the Love Wagon waited with Victor leaning a hip against the driver’s door.

“I apologize, Adam,” Victor said soberly. “We did not succeed.”

I slipped from Zee’s arms and instantly slotted into Victor’s. “I only care that you’re back. And safe.”

“Fancy Daddy, while you and I were gone, Adam filled the hotel with paying guests,” Zee explained.

“That is a welcome surprise.” Victor’s smile soothed my strained heart. But then his smile fell away, his eyes narrowed, and the fangs glinted. “How did you get bruises on your neck?”

“The fuck!?” Zee lunged, and gently tilted my chin. “Who the fuck touched you?!” His wings unfurled behind him, and already wrapped in warrior leathers, Zee’s body language went from Fun-Zee to Murder-Zee in the blink of an eye. Purple lightning blazed through his wings, his tail lashed, his nails glinted, and fury blazed in his beautiful eyes. “Who did this, Adam?” he growled.

Static sparks danced around him and even a rumble of thunder started up in the distance.

“Oh, this? Uh...” I rubbed my tender throat. “So, don’t get mad.” They were already mad. “I dealt with it.”

“Dealt with what?” Victor snarled.

In that moment, the two of them, standing side by side, Zee aglow in purple and Victor radiating killer energy? They had to be two of the most dangerous and powerful Lost Ones in the city—Zee was even altering the weather.

They were amazing and they were mine, and I loved them. “Aw, you guys are the best.”

Zee bowed his head, and glared through glittery lashes. “Who are we brutally butchering?”

“Sebastien came back.”

Silent purple lightning split the sky. “Where is he?” Zee’s voice was all ice now. If Sebastien had still been with us, Zee would have torn him apart. Thankfully, he didn’t have to.

“Uh, he’s not here anymore, or technically anywhere. He’s a little bit . . . uhm . . . dead?”

Zee blinked, his wings drooped, and the building energy fizzled out. “Wait, did you eat him and I missed it?”

“No, not that.” I smiled innocently and stuffed my hands into my pockets. “Oh, what have you got there?” I asked, spotting something boulder-shaped under a grubby sheet in the back of the Love Wagon . They must have brought it back with them from Gideon’s mansion.

“Adam... Kitten?” Zee grabbed my hand and pressed it over his warm chest. “Just tell me he can’t hurt you or anyone ever again.” The pain in his eyes wasn’t for him, but for all the people Sebastien had used and abused for years.

I nodded. “He cannot hurt me or anyone ever again.”

Zee sighed his relief. His face briefly paled, but after a moment’s grief he smiled, gave his wings a shake, and was over it. “Vengeance, thy name is Adam Vex.”

“Did you perchance bring an end to Sebastien’s existence, pack him into a wooden crate, and ship him back to Gideon Cain?” Victor asked, concisely.

That was exactly what I’d done. “Uh, how do you know that?”

“I saw the jukebox crate being loaded into a van on our return to the hotel—the only box large enough to contain a body. The address label clearly showed Gideon Cain’s premises.”

It was impossible to slip anything by Victor. “It seemed fitting. And Seb did fit, so there’s that.”

Zee ruffled my hair then yanked me into a bear hug. “That’s my spicy murder twink.”

“So, what is that thing?” I asked again, spying the covered item in the back of the van.

“Ah yes, well.” Victor pinched the sheet. “We didn’t entirely fail.”

He tugged off the cover, and there was the machine I’d hoped never to see again. A harvester. Maybe the exact harvester that had stolen my power from me. It looked a bit battered from where Victor had torn into it that night at the Dine and Fight finale.

“Do not worry, it’s still broken.” Zee thumped its dented casing. A rattle sounded inside it, then a bead popped from its output tray and shot through the air.

Victor caught the little projectile, scrutinized it, then dropped it into his pocket. “Not one of yours, Adam, but worth holding onto, nonetheless.”

“Don’t eat that,” Zee warned.

Victor arched an eyebrow. “What fool would?”

Zee ruffled his wings. “Anyhoo, the harvester was out back, in one of Gideon’s barns. Fancy Fangs said he might be able to fix it.”

“Why?” I asked. That thing made my skin itch. All I wanted to do with it was set it on fire, just to be sure it wasn’t ever coming back to life.

“Only as a last resort,” Victor said. “Should Gideon manage to extract your power.”

“Please cover it up.” I shuddered and welcomed Victor’s arm scooping me close again.

“Oh, uh... sure.” Zee hefted the sheet back over it.

“Oh, what about Tom?” I asked, almost forgetting our foul-mouthed saboteur.

Zee pulled his phone from his tight leathers and waggled it. “He’s inside this and portable now, but also not fuckin’ happy.” Zee donned a Tom voice. “ You two useless fuckups didn’t get the job done, after I set it all up for you.” He tossed me the phone. “You just gotta plug the phone in behind the bar.”

“Me?” It sounded as though Tom might come out swinging.

“He was exceedingly graphic in his assessment of our failure,” Victor agreed. “He is less verbally aggressive toward you.”

Really? Tom had always been pretty vocal when it came to listing my many faults too. “He’ll be alright once he sees we’ve got a hotel full of people he can sell cocktails to.”

“So, we got a harvester, one hundred percent occupancy, and the wicked bitch of Razorsedge is finally dead.” Zee’s grin bloomed. “This is a fucking awesome night. Imma get changed into sparkles.” He poofed away, probably into his own room, despite it being occupied.

Victor stayed by my side, in no hurry to leave. The night was quiet around us, the neighborhood sleeping. Zee’s storm clouds had faded, letting the stars twinkle.

“Are you truly alright?” Victor’s smooth voice rumbled through me.

“Yeah.” I dropped my head back against his shoulder. “Gideon Cain will send Daisy next.”

“Yes, I suspect so.”

We were going to have to “deal with” her too. And when Gideon was done sending his people, he’d eventually have to confront us himself. But in the meantime, he’d be desperately trying to figure out how to bleed my power dry.

“How do we stop him, Victor?”

Victor’s cheek twitched. “I do not know.”

The final battle wasn’t going to wait for us to figure it out. It was coming, whether we were ready or not.