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Zee jerked his head up. “Wait, do you think all our rooms have been targeted?” His eyes widened.

Oh no, he was going to poof away to take a look.

“Wait! We should go slow⁠—”

Too late.

He poofed, dusting sparks in the space he’d occupied a blink before.

I met Victor’s gaze, opened my mouth to say we should go after him⁠—

Zee’s bloodcurdling scream barreled through the entire hotel, and as his room was on an entirely different floor, that was impressive.

Victor vanished in a blur of speed I had no hope of tracking or keeping up with. His bedroom door swung open, hit the wall, and bounced back again, slamming closed. I bolted, shot down the corridor, took the stairs, and found Victor at the far end of the hallway, kneeling over Zee who was slumped against the wall outside his room. He had his wings wrapped around himself, making a tight, purple, sparkly ball of terrified demon.

Anger sizzled inside me, waking parts of me that really needed to stay hidden. I could taste it, that metallic burn at the back of my throat. Someone had hurt mine.

Guests were leaving their rooms now, woken by Zee’s scream.

“It’s alright,” I told them, jogging toward Zee. Victor was with him. He’d be alright. But I needed to be there, to be close. “Please return to your rooms. There’s nothing to be alarmed by.”

“What happened?”

“What was that scream?”

“Are we safe?”

“I thought this hotel was safe for us.”

“What happened to him?”

“Is there danger?”

“Should we leave?”

I stumbled over a wrinkle in the carpet. “Everything’s fine, please . . . everyone, return to your rooms.”

“What kind of manager are you if you can’t keep your guests safe?”

I stopped dead and stared at the fae in the doorway who’d spoken. A tall man, with vivid blue hair that tapered into white tips. He wore it pulled back behind his pointy ears. He peered down his nose.

He was right.

What kind of manager was I if I couldn’t keep the demon I loved safe, let alone hotel guests? Why was I doing this? What had made me think I could open a hotel for Lost Ones and keep them from harm? I couldn’t even save myself. These people relied on me. My staff relied on me. But all I’d ever done in life was run away. I always ran away. I should run away from this too. I couldn’t fix this, I couldn’t solve anything, I was a terrible hotel manager. There were bills to pay, licenses to organize, and the toilet in room twelve had been clogged for two days. The gremlins had gone on strike over it. Nobody wanted to fix it. I couldn’t fix anything, or anyone. I should go, should run away again. It would keep them safe. They’d all be better off⁠—

Victor’s hands landed on my shoulders, his eyes so beautiful, so deadly . . . “Adam, my dear?”

I blinked. “Where . . .”

We were still in the corridor, but were now surrounded by guests who had left their rooms, their faces worried. For a moment there, I’d been somewhere else, somewhere inside . . .

I touched my chest, slowing my breaths. “Oh dear.”

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I . . .” My thoughts still spiraled down a mental drain, but their volume had faded. “I’m alright. Zee?”

Victor’s lips pinched into a thin, bloodless line. He steered me out of the crowd, toward Zee, stilled wrapped inside his wings.