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The door lock snicked and the door swung open.
I stood. “Zee, look—”
A vampiric blur smacked into me, lifting me clean off my feet, and in the next blink, my back and head struck the solid wall. The window beside me rattled harder, the storm trying to get in.
I blinked, clearing my vision, and was met with Wesley’s fang-filled snarl dominating my sight. “Wait, I—”
“Why are you in my room, going through my things? What is this?!” the young vampire snapped. It was like being growled at by one of those tiny angry lapdogs.
I raised my hands, acting harmless. “Uh, okay, maybe put me down and we’ll talk?”
“You’re a dragon. What’s to stop you from popping my skull like a grape if I let you go?”
“Uhm . . . nothing?” I shrugged. “Honestly, I could have done that already, but I haven’t so I probably won’t?”
Wesley blinked fast, snicked his fangs away, and dropped me to my feet. “I want to trust you, but your demon companion clearly hates me, you travel with an Old One, and now you’re in my stuff?”
“Zee hates you?” My voice had gotten all high and squeaky. “What? I mean, he has a few vampire hang-ups, that’s all. It’s not personal. And look, the Old One—Victor—he’s not as scary as he looks, and I’m just . . . We’re just trying to figure it all out, same as you.”
“So you broke into my room?”
“No, uhm . . . It’s . . . So . . . We . . . uhm . . . We wondered where you were, and we came up here to find you . . . see if you’re okay. The door was open, so we came in and saw your murder board, and then the door shut on its own, and—”
“You’re not very good at lying, are you?”
“Wesley, you haven’t been honest with us either. You knew about Stephanie this whole time, right?”
He saw the note, still in my hand, and with an exasperate growl he stepped away, returning to his murder board to stare at it, looking for answers. “Eddie did the research. He put the pieces together. I just knew there was something weird happening at this hotel. I put him onto it, and then he vanished, and all I got was that note. It’s my fault. I know he’s like a dog with a bone when he gets going. I think she has him, and then you guys showed up, so there must be something to it, right? Or the Heroes of the City wouldn’t be here. You help people. That’s what Eddie said. He said we need people like you watching out for others.”
“Actually,” I winced. “We’re uh, kinda just passing through.”
“To where?”
“Uh . . . not really sure.”
“Why?”
“I have some family issues. But this isn’t about me, or us, it’s about you not telling us what’s really going on here. We could have helped each other out before it came to this.”
“Why would I trust you? I don’t know you. Victorveus is clearly sleeping with the porn demon. I know what Reyzee is. I might live in Minnesota, but I don’t live under a rock.”
Yeah, okay, this wasn’t going so well. “I feel like we maybe got off on the wrong foot. Can we start again?”
A blast of purple glitter announced Zee’s arrival. “I’m back and I have a key!”
Startled, Wesley hissed and sprang for Zee. Warrior reflexes kicking in, Zee dropped, scooped Wesley up, flung him over his back, and slammed him face first into the carpet, then pinned him there, arm bent up behind him with Zee’s knee between his shoulders.
So much for starting again. “Zee, let him up.”
“He just went for me!” Zee mimed jabbing two fingers at his neck. “Fangs an’ everything. Imma break his legs.”
“No! Don’t do that! Just . . .” I sighed. “Let him up. He’s going to tell us everything he knows, and if he doesn’t, then you can break his legs.”
“I thought we were starting again?!” Wesley squeaked.
“It’s been a really long night, and I feel like Zee maybe breaking your legs will get us to where we’re going much faster.”
Zee scrambled up off the young vampire and cracked his knuckles theatrically. “Which one of us is the good cop?”
