Page 30
“I did that. Like you said. Then I left.”
“Oh?” Of course he had. I chuckled, loving him more for always being Zee. “And then what happened?”
“I tripped over an umbrella and fell onto that little bar over there, and what else was I supposed to do if not sing ‘Umbrella?’ I didn’t plan it; it just happened. Like fuckin’ fate. I cannot be held responsible for fate.”
“Right.”
Smirking, he leaner closer. “I had to do something or I was gonna make every person in this hotel pop. It was just one little show, to shake off the buzz you left me with. The alternative was gonna be fuckin’ messy.”
“Adam, look.” Victor had spread the tattered old cloth from the box on the table in front of him, and gently straightened it out, revealing a string of faded words. “There appears to be a message here.”
“Can you read it?”
“Is it a treasure map?” Zee asked, scooting on the chair beside Victor and shifting it closer.
Victor studied it some, then said, “When silver kisses silver as day births anew, service echoes thrice through the halls, revealing paths once knew.”
“Chills. I have chills. Vic, you have the perfect spooky voice for this. You need to be narrating audiobooks, or on a late-night radio show, or just reading porn to me.”
“Aren’t you a little old to be read to?” Victor asked, playing along.
“Not with that voice.”
“Silver kisses?” I interrupted. Another riddle. “What does it mean? Should we get Tom back?”
“To summon Tom we’d have to steal the front desk phone again, and I suspect Larimer will not let us slip by him a second time. No, we must solve this on our own.”
“There you are . . .” Wesley the vampire dropped into the chair next to Zee’s. “I hear everyone knows the famous trio is among us now. Sorry I missed the coming out. What are you guys doing?”
“Where were you?” Zee asked, head tilted, eyes blinking innocently.
Wesley gave a short, confused laugh. “I took a look around the hotel floors before they shut them down again tonight.”
“Hm, suspicious vampire is suspicious.”
“Uh, why is that suspicious?”
“All suckers are suspicious, even Fancy Fangs. When I first met him, he was the lord of suspicious, and I knew he was up to sneaky shit. Turned out I was right.”
“Did he just . . . Victorveus, my lord, did he just call you—”
“Fancy Fangs?” Victor quoted, his smooth voice making even those two words sound civilized. “Yes. Zodiac has an array of names for me, some more crude than others. I have found it’s best not to fight the inevitable, and instead just embrace Zodiac’s chaotic enthusiasm.”
Zee grinned, and stuck his middle finger up at Wesley. “Burn.”
“Oh geez, I meant no disrespect. I’m finding it difficult to figure you all out, that’s all.”
“Nothing to figure out,” I said, hiding the bell behind my back. “We’re just us, on vacation, no mystery.”
“So . . .” Wesley leaned forward. “Later tonight, after they lock the doors, I reckon we can take a look around . . . together? Don’cha think?”
“How you gonna get out of your room, huh?” Zee asked him. “Maybe you have a key . . . because you’re suspicious and you work here?”
“Wedge it open before it locks. You guys were going to do the same, right?”
Zee looked at me.
“Yeah, I had actually thought of that.”
