Page 22 of Your Final Resting Place

“It’s about fucking time, there’s only so many renditions of fuckin’ “Spicy Margarita” I can do before the vampires⁠—”

“Demon, drive,” Victor growled, cutting Zee off.

“Oh fuck! Adam?! He’s bleeding! Why’s he bleeding?! Why didn’t he stay in the van?!”

“I’m fine,” I mumbled, shivering. Why were thirty pairs of gremlin eyes staring at me?

“Zodiac,” Victor snapped, his voice like thunder. “Drive this van to the nearest hospital, immediately, unless you can carry him quicker?”

“No, I . . . can’t fly.” Zee’s voice wobbled. “My wing . . . Adam?”

“Then drive!”

Doors slammed. The van rocked. Its rattling engines roared. Then we were racing through the dark, and I watched the pretty stars through the window slide by, wondering if I’d ever get to fly under them again.

CHAPTER 7

“Allow me to assist you.” Victor grabbed my hospital pillow, beat it to within an inch of its life, then gently tucked it behind my head again.

“Thank you.”

“Water?”

“Uh . . .” My reply didn’t matter, he was already pouring a glass from a pitcher.

Victor had been fussing since I’d woken up in the hospital bed ten minutes ago. I took the glass and sipped, needing to get rid of the gritty taste in my mouth.

In contrast to Victor’s overattentive-nurse act, Zee was sprawled in a chair in the corner of the room, his wonky top hat over his face, snoring lightly.

“Should we wake him?” I croaked, shuffling upright on my newly fluffed pillows.

“No. He’s been watching you since we arrived. Let him rest.”

“How long was I out?”

“Almost a whole day and night.” Victor pulled his chair closer and perched on its edge. His gaze tracked the IV line snaking from my wrist to the empty bag of fluids. Probably blood. “They gave you a concoction of blood types,” he explained, noticing where my gaze had wandered. “You didn’t appear to have a normal one.”

“Oh.”

My shoulder ached. I lifted the pale green paper-thin gown and found a thick bandage.

“Agatha threw a jagged fragment of glass, slicing an artery. She meant to kill.” He paused, then said softly, “It was close, Adam.”

I took a few more hasty sips from my glass. “I think maybe you guys are right. Humans are really bad at staying alive.”

“Yes, we were right.” He gathered my hand in his and brought my knuckles to his warm lips. “I’ve never wanted to be more wrong.”

“Is Agatha . . . definitely . . . uhm . . . ?”

“She has expired.”

“I’m sorry.” Despite her actions, they had once been friends.

“I am not.” A fierce but cold lethality made his gaze burn. “Should anyone hurt you, I will not hesitate to bring an abrupt end to their existence. It is time certain unsavory individuals became aware of that.”

Agatha had underestimated Victor’s feelings, and she’d paid the terminal price.

“Do you think Elion’s going to be pissed we left another body for them to explain?”