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The twins blinked. They weren’t going to go toe to toe with an armored demon, not even with that tranquilizer gun.

“Kill them!”

“Hush, Tinks,” Zee warned her. “Anyone who is not an expert in frogs does not get to speak. Are you an expert in frogs?”

“Frogs?” she panted, confused. “What’s a frog?”

“Bad, bad, vicious monsters that haunt your dreams.”

“What are you doing here?” I asked, hoping to distract him from bad-frog thoughts.

His shoulders wiggled, wings rippling. “Pfft, Vampire Daddy is not the boss of Cowboy Zee—unless he does the voice,” Zee affirmed with a finger point. “Then imma get on my knees. But outside of all that bottled-up sexual frustration, which we will definitely be exploring later, I go where I like, and it just so happened I liked to fly in this direction—and there was your car headed the exact same way. I hid behind the creepy clown sign.” He flicked his hat, cocked a hip, and smirked. “Told yah I can do subtle.”

My smile grew, and so did my heart. He’d always planned on coming along, proving he should have been included in the plan from the beginning. “You just happened to be wearing your armor while flying in this direction?”

“I know, right. What are the fucking odds? So, who are those spicy twin lollipops of faeness?” he asked, gesturing to the twins, one of whom was still carrying Reynard.

Cohen bolted. Then his brother dropped Reynard and sprinted after him.

“Was it my enormous sword?” Zee’s gaze dropped to Reynard, crumpled on the floor but clearly breathing. “Is he dead or asleep?”

“Tranquilized.”

“Fuck’s sake. What is the point in Daddy Fuck-Hard if he can’t stay awake for my grand entrance?” He turned his attention back to Agatha, under his boot. “If I let you up, you gonna behave, Tinks?”

“Tinkerbell is an offensive fae slur,” she muttered.

“Oh no, then maybe don’t put my fucking friends in fish tanks.” Zee unpinned Agatha.

She climbed back to her feet, brushing down her fancy pant suit while muttering expletives. “This suit cost more than you make fucking holes in a year, demon. I have a meeting to attend. Get out of my way.”

Zee slung his sword up, and rested it on his shoulder. “Cool your jets, emo fae. You’re not going anywhere until Adam says so.”

“Give us Tom Collins,” I ordered, losing all patience with everyone and everything—apart from Zee.

“She’s got Tom Collins?” Zee asked. I briefly explained how Gideon had hired the syndicate to plant a modified Tom Collins in our hotel and she had Tom’s backup. The more I talked, the more Zee’s eyes narrowed and his tail knotted.

When I was done, Zee’s wings had expanded, his threat level increasing.

“I’m not your enemy.” Agatha raised her hands, sensing she was about to get up close and personal with Zee’s big sword. “I’m just doing business.”

“Hand over the Tom Collins backup,” I said again. “And this ends here.”

“Alright, alright. I left it inside, on the lab table.”

I eyed the gloomy, run-down, abandoned aquarium building, and really, really did not want to go back in there. The fae couldn’t lie, so if we wanted Tom back, we had to go back inside and get him. “Alright, fine, lead the way. Zee, can you carry Reynard?”

“Can I? Yes. Will I? Hm, let me think. No.”

“We can’t leave him out here.”

“Why not?” He glanced around. “He’s fine.”

“What if someone takes him?” There wasn’t anyone around, but leaving him didn’t feel right.

“Oh no, how terrible,” he drawled in a monotone voice. “However will I console myself?” He tapped a finger on his chin in thought. “Wait. I won’t have to, because I don’t care.”

“Zee?”