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“Perhaps I’ll just set the cake down over here,” Victor said, awkwardly, if I wasn’t imagining the shift in his tone. “On this table.”

Zee swooped me to one side and whispered, “This is a trap, right?”

“No, he made you a cake. It’s a good thing.” How could he not see that? With everything Victor had going on in his life, and how that very morning he’d denounced his vampire family to stay with us, he’d taken time out from all that to organize Zee a cake. He’d probably needed the distraction. But the thought was more than kind.

“Why?”

“Because it’s your birthday?”

“It is? Oh right, fuck, yeah. Then, why is he being nice? What does he want?” Zee side-eyed Victor, now plucking at his shirt sleeves while pretending he couldn’t hear every word.

I smiled at Zee. “It’s lovely. You wanted a cake and he got you cake. Be nice.”

“Okay. I can be nice to Daddy Vampire. I got this.” He straightened, turned on his heel, and wings up, tail sweeping, he marched back to the table where Victor waited. “So, uh, thank you for the cake.” Zee said in an ultra-bubbly, horribly sarcastic voice, then thrust out a hand for Victor to shake.

Victor looked at Zee’s open hand, then took it in his grip. “You’re welcome.” They shook once, let go, and Zee stepped back.

It was progress . . . sort of? They’d touched each other without trying to kill each other, which may have been a first? But it had looked as wooden as two pieces of furniture bumping into each other. How could two highly capable people be so terrible at this?

I caught Tom’s eye roll and smirk. “Blow out those candles before one of you emotionally stunted fools sets my bar ablaze,” Tom ordered.

“Right.” Zee puffed out the candles and there was the briefest of moments where he smiled. Victor almost smiled too—which for him was a full-blown grin—and for just a second, it seemed as though they might finally be sharing a moment.

“But you definitely poisoned it, right?” Zee asked, shrugging the awkwardness from his wings.

Victor’s expression returned to its typical glare. “What would poisoning you achieve?”

“Ha!” Zee thrust a finger in his face. “That’s not a denial. Adam eats the first slice. You wouldn’t poison him.”

“Indeed, I would not. Nor would I poison you, Zodiac. But we clearly have some way to go before trusting each other. Perhaps this can be a first step in our . . . truce.”

“Yes. That.” Zee fluttered a hand, then his wings. “Whatever.” He still side-eyed Victor, and the cake, as though expecting something hideous to leap from beneath the perfect icing.

Victor seemed fine, but then, he always appeared to be fine. On the inside, I suspected his heart hurt some from Zee’s reaction. He’d admitted to me in the past that with everything going on in his life, he couldn’t withstand Zee’s rejection. I’d try and make time to speak with him later and make sure he was okay, over tea. “Alright, shall we go ahead and summon Jimmy?”

Zee opened the guide again and after some page flicking, found the pixie section. “Someone has to stand in the circle, close their eyes, turn around three times and say: With a sprinkle of stardust and moonlight's gleam, pixie, come forth from the in-between. By oak and by leaf, by wind and by sea, magic and mischief, we summon thee!”

“Horseshit,” Tom coughed. Then added, “Pardon me, I appear to have caught gullible.”

“Despite Tom’s skepticism, it may work,” Victor said. “While the words are likely irrelevant, the unusual performance may summon the pixie out of curiosity, since pixies are inquisitive creatures.”

“Congratulations, Lord Fancy Pants.” Zee grinned. “You just volunteered. Get in the cupcake circle.”

Victor’s eyes narrowed. “Nowhere in my assessment did I volunteer to perform such a ritual.”

“I’m reading the instructions, so it can’t be me. Also, those tiny cupcakes ain’t containing all my amazingness. Adam is being Adam and supervising. Tom is stuck behind the bar, and if I asked him to do this he’d tell me where to shove those cupcakes. If you want to be an equal and valued member of the SOS Hotel team you gotta stand in the fucking cupcake circle, Victor. Them’s the rules.”

“I’ll do it,” I said, stepping forward.

“No, it’s fine.” Victor sighed and headed for the cupcakes, rolling up his sleeves. “I’m willing to assist where I can.”

Zee’s grin was pure smug satisfaction. He’d deliberately maneuvered Victor into volunteering. For some reason, Victor needed to be punished for being nice.

He spotted my frown and winked. I shook my head, but the pair were committed now.

Victor stepped over the rim of the cupcake circle, stood inside, and turned to face Zee. “Does this suffice?”

“Left a bit,” Zee said, dropping his gaze to the guide so Victor didn’t see how he fought not to laugh.