Page 6

“And?” Victor prompted.

“And . . . what?”

“Your solution, my dear.”

“Oh. Yeah. Sure. Uhm.” The answer was simple. I gulped more wine, and said, “Keep running.”

“I see.” Victor took a breath and held it as he thought about how best to convince me to stop running and make a stand. Probably. “While I appreciate you know your brother better than anyone, I fear running is not a long-term solution.”

“It’s worked so far.” I raised my glass to my lips, expecting more wine, but I’d emptied it already.

“Adam—”

“And now, for the pleasure of your eyes and ears . . . and some other parts too.” A woman wearing some kind of warrior outfit had climbed onto the bar. “Put your hands together for the one . . . the only . . . Zodiac!” she announced. The entire crowd erupted in applause and cheers.

Oh dear.

So much for not revealing who we really were. We should have expected it, though. Zee couldn’t resist showing off in front of an audience.

A growl from Victor indicated he’d thought the same.

However, the man clambering onto the bar to the music of “Spicy Margarita” was not a seven-foot-tall lust demon known for interesting ways to eat cucumbers, but was instead the much shorter Zee lookalike from earlier. His fake wings slipped. He hooked them back on, waved at the audience, cleared his throat, and began to sing.

As soon as he began to belt out “Spicy Margarita” in a voice that could curdle milk, I knew we were in trouble. There was no way Zee would stand by and let someone slaughter his reputation this way. It wasn’t possible. This would be torture for him. He’d have to go up there; his pride was at stake.

I searched for his horns over the top of the crowd. There were plenty of lookalikes, but no sign of the originals. “Where’s Zee?”

Victor scanned the crowd too, his expression growing concerned. “Hm, he does not appear to be here.”

Maybe he’d gone outside in pursuit of more snacks?

We left the bar and the tinny warbling of fake Zee’s terrible singing for the quieter foyer, where a few groups of people hung around sipping wine and eating chips from the many free bowls dotted on the tables.

“Uhm, hi.” I interrupted a group of dress-up trolls. “Have you seen a real tall demon come through here?”

“The tall Zee lookalike? Sure. He followed two guys outside.”

“Two guys?” Why would Zee take off without telling us?

“Was one of the men blond?” Victor interrupted. “And were the pair slightly inebriated?”

“Maybe. I guess . . . Hey!” The troll’s eyes brightened. “Are you two from the SOS Hotel?”

“Uh, yeah,” I mumbled, then headed for the main doors. We had a new problem. Zee hadn’t gone for snacks; he’d gone to teach two humans a lesson in vampire etiquette.

“This is unnecessary,” Victor grumbled beside me.

“Hm, it’s kind of cute.”

Victor almost missed a stride. “How is Zodiac potentially threatening two innocent humans cute?”

“He’s protecting your honor. I think it’s sweet.”

“My honor is fine. The last thing I need is Zodiac terrifying two intoxicated humans on my behalf when I am perfectly capable of doing exactly that without assistance.”

“He’s looking out for you.” It was adorable, and a quick sideways glance at Victor revealed his tiny smile. He thought it was kind of adorable too, but would never admit it. They’d come a long way from being bitter enemies.

We pushed through the doors, stepping onto the street and into an inch of snow. A blast of cold wind wrapped around us, whipping Victor’s hair and flapping my shirt, and big fluffy snowflakes landed in Victor’s dark locks. Blustery waves of falling snow washed down the street. The storm had come in fast. It was a good thing we’d stopped when we had or we might have been stranded on the road.