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“Wait, you think the pixie . . .” Zee trailed off. “Wow. Fuck. Okay. Little Jimmy is fucking nuts. Hey there . . . little guy,” Zee crooned. “About what I said back there—it was real stressful. I don’t do well in small places. I didn’t mean it, about being a rat with wings? That was totally uncalled for. I’m ashamed. As a fellow winged being, I apologize. I was out of order. You are clearly a very great example of pixie folk. Like the fucking best pixie ever.”

Jimmy narrowed his eyes at Zee. The stiletto shone.

Zee stilled, apart from his tail, that rattled. “Maybe take the dagger off him?” he mumbled from the corner of his mouth.

“Hey there, little guy,” I said, diverting his attention from Zee. Jimmy’s demeanor softened as he saw me. He definitely was not a Zodiac fan. “Do you think I can have the dagger now?”

He looked down at the dagger, then up at me, considering it. Then eyed Zee again.

“If I’m murdered by a pixie,” Zee whispered. “Tell everyone it was a troll. Or something big, mean, and badass.”

Jimmy had slain ten fae. That was pretty badass. “Zee won’t hurt you, I promise. Zee?”

“Fuck, no. We’re besties now. Right, Jimmy?”

Jimmy showed Zee his middle finger.

“I taught him that. I’m so proud.”

I’d gotten close enough now, that when I held out a hand, Jimmy hopped on. “Maybe, I can just take a little lookie at the shiny stabby-stabby thing?”

Jimmy handed it over, and Zee sighed, wings sagging. “My whole life just flashed in front of my eyes,” Zee said. “It was fucking awesome.”

I tucked the dagger into my pocket and scanned the bloodbath. “What do we do about these dead people?”

“Pfft, they shouldn’t have been assholes.”

I didn’t see any cameras, which made sense. What criminal syndicate wanted video footage of their criminality? We could probably just walk out and hope nobody had seen us being brought in. But if we left, what about the black market operation to sell demon parts? What about the batch of AIs, one of which I’d deliberately been sold.

“We should take a look around,” I suggested.

“What?”

“You know, just to be sure.”

“Sure of what? That everyone is dead?” Zee sidestepped some gory remains.

“Sure we’re not missing something that’s important, or relevant to our missing Tom Collins?”

“Or, and hear me out.” He backed up, and almost tripped over a severed foot. How could a pixie do that? “We could get the fuck away from a murder scene before the feds arrive? Just a suggestion.”

“We didn’t do this.”

“We know that. But⁠—”

The warehouse’s double doors banged open and a wave of armed officers poured in. “SSD! Put your hands up immediately or lethal force will be used!

I thrust my hands in the air.

Oh dear.

CHAPTER 9

“This is the worst date ever. Dating sucks. Is it worse than when Baroness Bitch-Face tried to kidnap you?”

The SSD agents had put Zee and me in the same jail cell, with open bars on every side so we could be observed by the stoic guards. We both wore cuffs, and Zee’s tail had its own heavy ball and chain, weighing it down so he couldn’t get up to mischief with it. We had a single bench, where we both sat now, and an open toilet. To make matters worse, the feds had given Zee an unflattering, baggy orange sweater with the word INMATE stamped on it—and he despised it.

“It’s not your fault we were tranquilized and locked in a freezer, then a pixie killed all the fae who put us there,” I told him.