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“The only way you’re surviving Zodiac is if you help us stop Gideon Cain,” I told him.
Seb grinned into his drink, but there was a tiny little crack in that smile—a fracture of fear.
After lowering his drink, he offered his hand, black and white nails shining. “We have a deal, Adam Vex.”
CHAPTER 2
“Management meeting. Conference room. Right now.”
Zee had found Victor and me chatting with Madame Matase at reception less than half an hour after our breakthrough with Seb.
He headed on over, making the universal T sign for timeout, then dove straight into the musty, unused conference-slash-storage room. With his wings out, his presence took up most of the room that wasn’t occupied by stacks of old mismatched chairs and dusty tables.
Victor and I squeezed into the cramped space and closed the door.
“Zee, can you maybe hide the wings?”
“No, I fucking cannot. I’m outta fucks.” He knotted his arms crossed. “Except for one fuck, and that fuck needs to get the fuck out of our fucking hotel.”
It took a while to decipher exactly, but Victor got there first. “Sebastien needs to go.”
“I know,” I sighed. “And he will. But as much as I hate to say it, we need him. He’s the only one who can tell us about Cain.”
Zee rolled his eyes and lolled his head. “And for all we know, it’s all fucking lies, Kitten.” He flung his arms wide, gesturing wildly, while his tail knotted like a headless snake beside him. “Cain kicked him out of Evil Club because Seb’s a self-centred, epic dick, so now he’s yanking our chains.”
That was likely true. “It’s a risk for him to come here, though. He knows we hate him. Tom could poison him, we could have the gremlins attack him in his sleep, I’ve got an anti-ward ring and a shotgun behind the bar. He’s not exactly safe with us.”
“The other aspect I do not believe you have considered, Adam,” Victor began in his we’re-all-doomed voice. “Is that Gideon could have sent him here, like he has other spies in the past. Tom Collins, for example, and the guests we overheard while hiding in the closet.”
Zee’s face scrunched up. “You guys hide in closets too?” I was about to explain how it had only been once, when he added, “I thought I was the only one who did that. Frank, the new arrival in room three, has a weird thing for playing naked chess with himself . . . while playing with himself.”
Victor blinked.
Okay. “Uhm . . . so, maybe don’t spy on the guests, Zee?”
“It’s not spying. I’m checking for gremlins. I’m not interested in what Frank does with his little pawn. Obviously.”
“Shall we focus on Sebastien?” Victor steered us back on topic. “We need confirmation as to whether his information is true. Until we have that, we should treat everything he says as highly unreliable.”
“Agreed. Trusting that asshole is like trusting a frog not to eat your face.”
Frogs definitely did that. “Zee.” I scooped up his hand and held it against my chest. His fingers spread wide, absorbing my heart’s beat. “I hate to admit it, but earlier tonight I nearly died from breathing. I kinda need to get my bead back—not just to stop him, but to be me again. Being human isn’t all that great, yah know? I stubbed my toe and it hurt—a lot. An insane amount, considering it’s just one toe that doesn’t do anything, as far as I can tell. I have four others, and they seem real vulnerable to bed posts too.” I shrugged. “What is the point of toes anyway?”
“They aid balance.”
“That’s your opinion, Doctor Vampire,” Zee drawled. “But that’s not what toes are for.”
“Then what are they for, demon?”
“Sucking.”
As was often the case when speaking with Zee, Victor hesitated, briefly confused. “I admit to being slightly intrigued, and somewhat envious of the interminably wondrous world you inhabit, Zodiac.”
“I’ve no idea what you just said, but toes—and feet—are one of several erotic zones. Adam knows, he asks me to lick his feet all the time.”
“Uh, no I don’t, Zee.”
“You haven’t?” He shifted closer, filling the tiny room and looming over me, but his smile was soft and his big eyes brimmed with understanding. He scooped my hands up in his. “I know you need this, and I know I’m being an asshole. Having Seb under this roof is one fuck-off enormous trigger, and triggers are usually my to-do list, but not with him. I have a low-grade fucking ward headache trying to punch out my eyeballs thanks to the endless wards around this hotel. I’m hungry, grouchy, afraid imma hurt you, and not in a good headspace right now, so yeah . . . Imma be an asshole.”
