Roman raised a brow, taking in how I panted, no doubt noticing the beads of sweat that popped up on my forehead and above my upper lip. I breathed in deeply and swallowed, trying to calm down.
“Sixx!” Roman snapped, sounding a little miffed.
Oh, my God. My eyes widened. What did he think we were doing?
“Okay, bye!” I rushed past him and practically bolted for the stairs to our room. How utterly embarrassing. Ugh, I hadn’t been that mortified in years. But it was better if he thought Olezka and I were up there – together – than if he knew I was downstairs talking to Cyril.
Which made me think back to what Cyril said.
I need you to help me save her.
Cyril wasn’t using me to get to Olezka. Otherwise, why tell me all about his history? With a bit of hacking, I could find out if Cyril was being truthful about his sister. At that, I deflated. My computer was gone, removed and sold along with my other things at the apartment. I could borrow Olezka’s laptop and wipe everything I did on it, but it was one thing to help Cyril on the sly from my laptop and quite another to use my mate’s and then actively hide it from him.
Deciding to ignore my moral ramblings, I walked into our bedroom and grabbed his laptop, sitting on the bed. His scent wrapped around me like a warm blanket. I closed my eyes and thought about our fight. It hurt that he didn’t trust me, but I supposed that to paras, their mate belonged to them. That was that. In the human world, humans were fickle. Marriages that had lasted for decades could crumble overnight; love could blossom in two weeks and last for a lifetime.
Shaking my head, I powered up his computer and started my search. Hacking into school records was incredibly easy, but I needed a place to start. I went through Cyril’s social media accounts to narrow down where he and his sister might have gone to school. Instead, I stumbled across pictures of his sister. She was stunning.
With corkscrew curls that flared around her head and brushed down her shoulders, her dark brown eyes seemed to sparkle in the pictures. Soft, clear skin that was luminous and dewy. Jeez. His sister looked happy, radiant. Someone you wanted to be friends with just because she seemed sweet. Even from a photo, I could feel the intensity of her draw. I’d only met one succubus in our adventures, and it was a strange experience.
Cyril seemed able to control himself pretty well, or maybe he only flared when his power was weak. I didn’t know for sure.
After a bit more research, I had no reason to believe that Cyril was lying. But why me? Olezka had more resources and was far more suited to helping him find and rescue his sister. So again, why me? I needed to talk to Cyril again.
I glanced at the clock. I hadn’t realized so much time had passed. I stretched my back, waking Anubis from where he lay beside me, and made a quick trip to the bathroom. Roman hadn’t come back to check on me, but I doubted he would after our strange encounter in the kitchen.
Anubis followed me as I left the bedroom, his butt wiggling as he rushed down the stairs and went exploring for anyone else in the house. I didn’t hear any hellos, so I followed suit. There was no evidence of either brother in the living room, and I heard Anubis in the kitchen, drinking water. Poking my head in there, I saw it was empty as well. I ran back into the living room to peer out the window. Roman’s motorcycle and Olezka’s car were gone.
It was now or never.
Going down the stairs to the creepy holding cell basement became easier and easier each time I did it.
“Who the hell did he pay to do this?” I marveled about Olezka’s basement holding cells as I approached the bottom of the steps. “And why didn’t they ask any questions? It’s not like this is some weird sex kink you can just brush off,” I muttered, my thoughts drifting.
“What’s that, Seis? You want to try a weird sex kink?”
“Color me surprised that sex kink was all you took from that,” I said under my breath.
“He probably paid a para company to do it,” Cyril replied with an unconcerned shrug. “What have you decided?”
“Cyril… I still don’t understand why you picked me.”
Cyril approached the bars of his cell and looked at me earnestly. “Key is more powerful than you think. He has friends in high places, and quite honestly, because you don’t have much of a stake in their world, you can fly under the radar.”
“It’s your world, too.”
He scrunched his face. “Well, yes and no. I grew up in the human realm. This is the place I consider home. And right now, we’re in the human realm with human rules. Paras, those who lived in the Veil, see things differently. Do things differently. You worked with Ana before, right? You were the brains behind the operation?”
I shook my head and laughed. “No.”
Cyril nodded. “Yes. You sell yourself short, Seis.”
“No, I don’t…”
“Yes, you do. Why your mate hasn’t told you that yet, I will never know.”
My stomach dropped to my toes. No, Cyril was wrong. Olezka was just overprotective. I knew that about him. He made it very clear the moment we met. A smile threatened to tug at my lips as I recalled how he reacted when he first saw me, slinging me over his shoulder and carrying me away. Shaking those thoughts away, I refocused on the male in front of me.
“Let me bring in Olezka. He has more resources than I do.”
“He’ll need time to prepare and get permission from his higher-ups. What I’m suggesting is an easy in-and-out mission. Recon only.”
Recon only. I could do that. Hell, that was my specialty before. Well, besides research. And hacking. But I was a darn good lookout. Even so, guilt, mingled with unease, twisted knots in my stomach. Going behind Olezka’s back was wrong.
My mate had been dragged into this mess with Cyril because of my lack of knowledge about the power of favors. Because of my mistake. It should be my duty to fulfill the promise I made, not try to find a way out of it by hiding behind my mate. Olezka had his hands full, trying to find his brother along with Sentinel business. On the other hand, I couldn’t discredit my weaknesses. I wasn’t a para with supernatural powers. I was a human who could barely run up the stairs without going into cardiac arrest.
“How?”
“I came back to inform you, before your loving mate locked me up, that I knew how to get to the location of the next cage fight, which is where they are holding my sister. It changes every time, but more than that, you must have the right location and the correct password. My contact gave me the password to get in.”
“Okay, so what are they?”
“Oh, no, Seis. It’s not that easy. I’m not giving you the information just so you and your mate can go and leave me behind. I’ll keep the password to myself, but I do need your help getting to the location. All I have are the directions. Once we figure it out, the two of us will go.”
“Can we discuss bringing Olezka with us?”
Cyril deliberated for a minute. “Fine, but only him. Not the whole motley crew. The people who work the doors will be able to spot them a mile away.”
I nodded. “Okay.”
“Okay,” Cyril said, the right side of his mouth tipped up into a smile. My stomach dropped.
I think I just made a deal with the devil.
****
My jaw was slack. My eyes burned, and my head rested between my cramped hands that massaged my scalp. The glow of the computer screen was driving me insane. I had been staring at the website Cyril had given me for what felt like years. The riddle in front of me made my brain hurt.
I wished I was closer to deciphering it, but I wasn’t.
Without me and within me is death assured, but within you, I am life most pure.
“What do you mean?” I chastised the computer for the hundredth time. I tried to Google the answer, but it pulled back shoddy results. After staring at the screen so long, I decided on a way to convince Olezka to come with us – but just him. It felt like a betrayal otherwise, and he was being far too overprotective. He needed to
see I could handle myself. I knew my limits.
Slapping my cheek lightly to keep myself focused, I squinted harder at the riddle like it would tell me its secrets. Anubis barked once as headlights beamed through the window. Olezka must finally be home, I thought to myself. Roman had returned a while back with a grumbled hi before heading to his room. I didn’t ask what had his boxers in a twist.
I rushed down the stairs and into the living room to wait for Olezka. I sat on the couch, my knee bouncing with nerves about our upcoming conversation. I knew he would fight me tooth and nail about just the three of us heading to the cage fight, but it was the only way.
The front door opened, and voices filtered in from the foyer.
“Thanks for saving this stuff from their apartment,” Olezka’s voice carried. “I know Sixx will be happy.”
“It’s no problem. I’m glad I could save a bit for Anastasia,” Kallan’s voice drifted through the house.
I almost wanted to roll my eyes at his statement and the way he brushed me off as inconsequential, but excitement filled me. He saved some of our stuff!
“I hope you don’t still have your hopes up for that female,” Olezka chided.
“For my Princess? No, I realize it would never work. But her happiness is my happiness.”
Olezka snorted.
“And what of your mate?” Kallan challenged.
“She is my everything.”
My heart melted, and any anger I felt toward him dissipated. Until…
“But she is weak,” Olezka said, sounding mildly annoyed. “Things are not… what I expected.”
“She is human,” Kallan said as if that explained away everything.
Olezka’s words left me feeling lightheaded and broken. Olezka didn’t refute Kallan and say the fact that I was a human didn’t matter. He didn’t defend me. And calling me weak? While I knew physically I couldn’t compare to a para, the other implications were too painful to think about. Tears welled, and I wiped them away angrily. I stared at the moisture on my hands as something broke loose in my mind.
Water.
Oh, my, God. Water!
The answer to the riddle hit me over the head, but it still didn’t give me a location. Not really. We were in the city; there were no waterways close by. The closest body of water was an hour away. With my mind furiously working through the details of Cyril’s riddle, I didn't hear Olezka enter the living room.
“Hello, pchelka,” he greeted hesitantly.
“Hey.” Though my heart screamed otherwise, I tried to sound chipper and not hurt by what he said. I would show him. Humans weren’t weak, and I wasn’t weak.
The tension melted from his shoulders, and I could tell he didn’t think I’d overheard their conversation in the foyer. “I have a surprise for you.” Olezka disappeared and returned moments later, holding my laptop bag and a duffle bag. The tears I’d only recently wiped away threatened to appear again. I hated how he could be so kind and caring to me one minute yet also thought so little of me. It made my heart hurt.
“Is that mine?”
“Da. Kallan went to your apartment, when we didn’t return from the Veil after a couple of days, and managed to get a few things.”
“Oh.” I took the bag he held out for me and pulled it close.
I would prove to him that I was strong. He would see me as an equal.
Chapter 12
“Water.”
“I hope you have a key for this cell, Seis,” Cyril said from where he lounged on the cot. After Olezka gave me my stuff, he said he was going to shower. He asked if I wanted to join, but I declined, claiming that I’d already taken one. A cringe-worthy lie, but he accepted it, his lips tightly pressed together. For good measure, I told him I wanted to go through my computer. After being gone ten months, there were files that needed to be backed up. He readily accepted that with a tight nod and went upstairs to shower. As soon as I heard the pipes going, I ran to the basement. I had to be quick because I doubted Olezka would be gone long.
“Um…”
“Cariña, please tell me you have a key,” Cyril said, laying his head back down on the cot.
I shifted my weight and studiously ignored his question. “Do you know where the fight will be?”
“Si. If my contact is correct, it will happen in three days. I need to get out of this cell and put in a little leg work, though. I have no doubt my previous owner is none too happy about my escape, but knowing that, I need to make sure they think I’m still with her and under her command to be there.”
Was this a trick? Why did he seem to be okay ‘belonging’ to someone else? Fighting for someone else’s pleasure and money didn’t sound like a good time to me, especially when he was putting his life on the line every time he stepped into the cage.
I couldn’t help feeling like I was still missing a crucial element, but I’d already confirmed his sister existed. According to activity on her social media accounts, she hadn’t checked in for quite some time. After hacking into her last known job, I found out she was terminated after failing to show up three days in a row without a word.
“I’ll do my best, Cyril, but I’ve gotta go.”
“Are you going to tell your mate?” Cyril asked, watching me closely. I couldn’t help but cringe. He dipped his chin. “Those hounds are known for losing their tempers. And mingle that DNA with violent rarogs… Tell me he didn’t put his hands on you,” Cyril said, his voice tight and controlled.
I took a step back, both offended and disgusted by his words. Everything in me knew Olezka would never hurt me. Not like that. Not ever.
I shook my head, denying it. “No, I didn’t tell him, and contrary to what you may believe, he would never hurt me. I decided he doesn’t need to know about this just yet. For now, it’ll be between us.”
He nodded. “Find me a way out of here for the night, Seis. I promise your mate won’t even know I left.”
I bit my lip, considering how I could possibly make it work. Now would be the best time, but I didn’t know for sure where Olezka kept the keys. At best, I had ten minutes to look for them. Without another word, I turned and raced up the stairs. As much running as I’d been doing today, I was sure to get my workout in for the year.
The shower was quiet upstairs, but Olezka wasn’t around. Tiptoeing through the kitchen, I grabbed a glass from the cupboard and filled it with water from the tap, draining it quickly. Then I headed back to where I’d left my computer open on the coffee table to further my ruse that I’d been working on it.
I peeked up the stairs, straining to hear what he was doing.
“I’m ordering pizza, ozorink.”
“Eep!” I jumped, and my heart hammered in my chest. I turned to face Olezka, who had snuck up behind me. “Oh…”
Jeysus, he was handsome. I didn’t know how I could have forgotten, but with his hair still damp and droplets falling onto his very naked, very expansive chest, I was practically drooling. He had wide, strong shoulders and sported a dusting of hair on his chest. My hands twitched with the desire to reach up and touch him.
Olezka chuckled, putting his phone to his ear. He reached out and lightly tapped my chin, closing my hanging jaw.
“Oh, yeah. Food. Food would be naked. Good! I mean good,” I stammered, blinking and trying to refocus. I’d seen him shirtless before. Heck, I’d even slept using that naked chest as a pillow. But the sight of water droplets leaving wet trails and drawing my eye down was a far more intimate experience. Thank the Lord he was wearing sweatpants. He paced away as he ordered the food. Once he finished, he joined me on the couch where I’d slumped down after my brief embarrassing moment with him.
It tugged at me to tell him. It went against all of my preservationist instincts to leave behind the muscle and the big guns. But I couldn’t stop replaying his hurtful words, which only fueled my desire to show him I could handle it myself. Olezka turned on the TV and absently rubbed the back of my neck. I groaned and leaned into his touch. Out of the c
orner of my eye, I saw the pride shine across his features as if giving me that bit of pleasure pleased him.
“I have to go get the food. Do you want to come?” Olezka asked, releasing my neck and standing.
“Nah, I’ve enjoyed being a hermit today.”
Olezka gave me a warm smile that made my heart flutter and leaned down to kiss me. He ran upstairs to change and, within five minutes, was darting out the door to pick up the pizza.
My heart hammered. This was the window of opportunity I needed.
Time to hunt for a key.
****
My face scrunched up as I tugged the hem of my skirt down for the eight-hundredth time. If you could even call the infinitesimal piece of fabric I was wearing a ‘skirt’.
“Why the hell am I wearing this again?” I muttered, hating that my thighs were pushed even closer together in this skintight, short as heck skirt. The shirt was no better. Cyril had to keep tugging my arms down from where I’d crossed them over my chest multiple times already.
“You look good, Seis. I don’t know why you’re so uncomfortable.”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe it was how you showed up in my room with this skimpy outfit slung over your arm and said, ‘Guess what? You get to be my pet!’” I mumbled under my breath, annoyed with him.
“I told you they won’t allow just any human to come in, let alone allow me in with a human. If my owner got you for me to keep me satisfied, they’d believe that. But a bundled up, homely human would be a hard sell even if I wasn’t a lust-crazed para.”
“Did you just call me homely?”
“What would you call your style?” Cyril asked, eyeing me.
I opened my mouth to refute him but snapped it shut with an angry pout. “Why didn’t we park closer?” I grumbled instead, trying not to twist an ankle in the ridiculous heels he’d forced on me. Cyril laughed, although I didn’t see the humor in any of this.
Two days had passed since I let him out of the basement. True to his word, he was back in his cell the next morning—the precise moment when Olezka had to leave for work, which he still refused to share any information about. After he left, I headed downstairs to visit Cyril. He said he got the information he needed as well as the password that would allow us entrance to the next cage fight. Then, he gave me the location.
Sixx and the Incubus: The Sidekick Chronicles Page 8