Page 70 of Your Final Resting Place

“Heroes of the city!” Zee laughed. “Joke’s on the SSD, I can’t even protect my dildo drawer from gremlins.”

Leomaris paled some.

“I’m joking. Lighten up, Legolas. We’re pros at this.”

“There is one issue we need to discuss⁠—”

“Is it a mood killer?” Zee was quick to ask.

“Potentially. It’s regarding Cain, and a minor recent instance of a potential esca⁠—”

“Nope, zip, shh.” Zee shushed Leomaris. “Save it till after.”

Leomaris saw us all nodding our agreement, and with a resigned sigh, agreed. “Alright, it can wait.”

We chatted between ourselves, going over the events from the past seven weeks since the hotel opened that had brought us to this seemingly impossible night: Gideon Cain’s first attempt to stop us, using Shadow to disrupt the hotel; Sebastien’s meddling that had seen good people get hurt; Victor’s wife and the vampires attempting to cut pieces off him; Tom being kidnapped; gremlins taking over the hotel; Reynard Technologies getting blown to tiny pieces; the death of the vampire queen . . . and more.

“It’s been fuckin’ wild,” Zee laughed.

Victor squeezed my hand. “Adam, please know that first and foremost, I am yours, and I belong with you and Zodiac at the hotel. Any position I accept on the council is for us, not them. It will benefit us greatly to have a foothold inside the vampire door, so to speak.”

“You had better not leave us, Murder Daddy. Personally, I don’t fucking care, obviously, but Adam loves you or something.” Zee shrugged. “Besides, we’re just getting warmed up in the bedroom. I’m not done until I hear indigo from between your fancy fangs.”

Leomaris spluttered their drink, Claymore groaned, Delores laughed, and Jimmy’s wings perked up as the little pixie tuned in to our conversation now sex was involved.

“That is a tall order, demon. I’ve had centuries of experience. Your mere decades are trivial, and frankly unimaginative compared to my learned sexual exploits.”

Zee gasped. “Did you just call moi boring?”

Smiling at their banter, I sat back and absorbed how far we’d come. If anyone had told me we’d be about to accept awards for being heroes in front of the entire city, just a few months after opening the hotel, the old Adam Vex probably would have run away. Now, I couldn’t imagine wanting to be anywhere else.

The new police commissioner took to the stage and spoke about a new world in which Lost Ones lived in harmony with humanity, but also about sacrifice. Not everyone had survived recent events. Peace came with a cost. She continued, explaining that events from the Golden Gate Bridge were a sign humanity needed more than just the SSD. It needed firepower. And it just so happened, there was one dragon left.

To rapturous applause, Victor, Zee, and I took to the stage. We each shook the commissioner’s hand and accepted our framed Hero of the City certificates. The audience of humans and Lost Ones were on their feet.

Seven weeks ago, if anyone had suggested the SOS Hotel management team would be onstage, in full view of a potential worldwide audience, accepting titles as Heroes of the City, we’d have laughed, and I probably would have dropped everything and gone into hiding—again.

But this was it. Things were looking up. We’d survived, and had our whole futures ahead of us.

We should have expected what happened next. When had an SOS Hotel management team date ever happened without some kind of incident?

“Adam Vex!” a male voice boomed through the applause, coming from offstage.

The hulking mass of a ragged man staggered toward us, panting and disheveled in blue overalls. The bright lights from above washed out the details, but I couldn’t miss the gun in his hand.

“What the actual fuck?” Zee said what we were all most likely thinking.

The figure stumbled forward, and looked up.

“Holy frog balls on a stick, it’s Cain?!”

We definitely weren’t all thinking that, but close enough.

Gideon Cain had looked better. It was only the shark-like grayness to his eyes and tousled salt and pepper hair that gave him away.

“You have them all fooled!” Cain boomed. “You’re no hero!”

“Security!” the commissioner barked.