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“Myself. And sex.”
Daisy glanced at me, as though checking whether I knew Zee wasn’t making any sense, or if she was the only one who’d noticed.
“Anyway,” I began, and was immediately cut off by Zee strutting forward.
“And another fucking thing. Stop beating on Victor. We made it clear he’s ours now. You lot need to back the fuck off. He picked us, because you fang fuckers don’t know a good thing when you have it. Now we have it—him. We have him. He’s a whole lot more awesome than you narcissistic freaks, and he’s real good at making furniture.” Zee showed Daisy his middle finger. “Suck on that, Buffy.”
I was beginning to suspect Zee had some personal hang-ups when it came to vampires. But at least he was standing up for Victor.
Our driver chose that moment to fling open the car door and sprint away, which was probably what we should have already done.
Daisy dipped her chin, and said, “Kill that demon!”
Oh dear.
CHAPTER 10
I braced for the onslaught of vampires to come at me, but instead, Zee scooped me up, and before I knew what had happened, the swish of his wings and a sudden jerk on my insides signaled we were in the air.
I clung on, buried my face in his chest, and listened to my heart hammer with his. It had been a really, really long time since I’d flown—apart from in Reynard’s jet, which didn’t count.
As soon as we were up, it seemed as though we were coming down again. My insides whooshed, and we landed in a graveyard just a block from the hotel.
Zee bent over and puffed. “Can’t . . . carry you . . . for long. Super . . . heavy.”
“Are they gone?” I searched the dark and the long grass around the gravestones for any movement.
“Yeah.” He snorted and shoved off his thighs, to stand upright. “One major vampire weakness is that the losers can’t fly.” Zee’s eyes grew big in the dark. “Fuck, can you fly?”
“I haven’t done so for a really long time. I don’t even know if I can remember how.”
“How long have you been stuck in that human glamor?”
We started through the grass, heading for the graveyard exit. “Years. Since I . . . Uh . . . Since I left home and came here, right before the veil locked down for good.”
“Don’t you miss it?” he asked, flicking out his wings now that we headed down the street and had more space around us. His tail swished too. He’d never really had to hide what he was. He revelled in it.
“I did. But I got used to it, I guess.”
“That’s sad.”
“Is it?” If I’d stopped to think about it, I may have been a little envious of his freedom.
“Flying is the fucking best. After sex. And you. And mac and cheese. Then it’s the best.”
“Right,” I chuckled. “I sometimes dream of being among the stars again, but that’s all it is now, a dream.”
“I’ve never seen a dragon,” he mused, striding alongside me.
“Not many people have.”
“Wilson’s Guide says dragons are vicious, mass-murdering butchers who breathe fire and get off on destruction. Guess he’d never met you, huh?”
“Uhm, yeah, no, he’s right. They’re kind of exactly like that, actually.”
“Huh.” He nudged my arm. “I bet your dragon dick is huge.”
The laugh that fell out of me echoed down the nighttime street. “Zee, you are the best.”
