Page 61
“I’m fine, as are the rest of those who were in the cellar. They’d like to meet you, my dear. Their infamous dragon savior.”
A quick glance at the sky revealed heavy clouds—clouds a dragon could hide behind. “I’d uh, like that, but I think we need to get moving.”
“Where are you guys headed?” Eddie asked, sliding open the back door so Zee could load our bags.
“Somewhere hot,” Zee said. “With sun and swimming pools and the only ice we got is cubes in mah cocktail.”
Speaking of cocktails. “Where’s Tom?” I asked.
“He left. Said he still had a hotel to run and that when we’ve stopped fucking around our hotel will be waiting for us. He also said that now he’s a manager he’s given himself a pay rise. Can he do that. Can I do that?”
“Frankly, I doubt we could stop him,” Victor said, climbing into the back of the van. If we were going somewhere sunny and warm, he was going to need the UV-protected back windows.
“It was nice meeting yah.” Eddie smiled and reached out to take my hand in a grateful shake.
“Likewise.”
“I guess suckers aren’t all bad,” Zee admitted, sliding into the front passenger seat next to me.
“Just the bad ones, huh?” Wesley grinned. “Will we ever see you guys again?”
“Given how trouble finds us, you should probably hope you don’t,” Victor said, then gave them a little saluting wave and slid the back door closed.
“Well, thanks again, and good luck on your next adventure.”
Wesley waved us off, and with a bit of care, I trundled the van out of the slush-covered lot and onto the freshly plowed street. A few of the guests stood outside the ruined hotel, waving, and Zee hung out the passenger window to wave back.
I’d have liked to stay and help clear up the mess, but we needed to get as much road under us as possible. Our little pink van was going to have to keep on rolling non-stop for several days and nights.
And in that time, I had to think of a way of stopping my brother.
Zee was getting stronger.
What about Victor? I flicked my gaze to him in the rearview mirror, and caught his quick glance back. We should try some one-on-one personal time to test if he got a boost like Zee.
“What is on your mind, my dear?” Victor asked.
“A few things . . .”
“You didn’t fuckin’ ask me, but imma tell you anyway.” Zee plucked a lollipop from somewhere and sucked it between his lips. “Wall-to-wall sunshine, pristine beaches, top-to-tail body massage, and nobody out to get us.”
“I doubt that place exists outside of your alarming imagination.”
“It must, right? This is America. They got everything here. We just keep driving south, and eventually we’ll find paradise. Right, Adam?”
“Sure.” Wherever we went next, it couldn’t be worse than the Stephanie Hotel.
CHAPTER 17
With our only destination set as “south,” we trundled on. The little pink minivan ate mile after mile of the I-35, the snowy scenes faded into memory, and by the time we stopped at the John Wayne museum—Zee’s idea to stretch his wings while also apparently needing to feed his fascination with cowboys—the Stephanie Hotel felt like a lingering but brief nightmare.
On the next leg of the journey, Zee insisted on wearing his Stetson hat, but he was happy to drive, so Victor and I let him while we got cozy in the back.
Van life wasn’t so bad. We didn’t have any hotel luxuries, but none of us had relied on things like that anyway. Back to basics was how we liked it, and it was good. We almost felt . . . free.
After a few more days and nights, we arrived in Tennessee, which seemed nice—I liked the whiskey and Zee guzzled Mountain Dew.
Were a few days on the road and several hundred miles enough, I wondered, during my next driving shift. Zee gazed out the back window while Victor dozed against his side, probably unaware he was snuggled up to Zee.
