Ana got quiet again. I remained in my seat, fiddling with my phone. I pulled up Google Translate to look up the words Olezka had spoken but didn’t have much luck since I only knew them phonetically.
Ana started pacing again, working through what this meant. “Okay, you said Z burst into flames after he got between you and Effie. Any idea what he is?”
The blood drained from my face as I finally got a hit on one of the words. Rarog.
“Sixx?”
“Ever heard of a Russian fire demon?” I asked.
“What?” Ana came over to peek over my shoulder and look at what my Google search turned up.
There was a bit of folklore about the ‘mythical’ creature called a rarog. We clicked the first link, which explained that a rarog was a Russian fire demon. Some said they were similar to phoenixes, and others called them fire falcons. Some of the lore claimed that they reigned over all other birds. Just because that was what Effie called him didn’t mean that was what Z was. The chance of that was very slim, right?
Ana slapped her hands on the back of the couch, looking proud. “Well, now, that’s a bit of information we definitely didn’t have before! I’ll ask around the bar to see if anyone knows anything about them, and I can keep an eye out for any more drugs. Are you going to work tonight?” Ana asked, bursting with energy.
Her sudden vitality seemed strange to me since she was just healed last night. Usually, when Effie healed her, it took a couple of days to bounce back to normal.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked skeptically.
Ana bounced on the balls of her feet with catlike grace. “A little wired, not going to lie, but I think it has something to do with the way Kallan healed me. I’ve never felt like this after a healing session with Effie. With him, I feel almost loopy for several days after. Right now, I feel like I have a ton of stored energy. I think I’ll pop out for a run before work,” Ana said before literally popping away.
I pressed my lips together. Maybe going to Kallan wasn’t the best plan, either. Z said that Effie’s blood had unwanted consequences, but as I watched my friend sprint down the street, I wondered if Kallan’s magic did, too.
Shaking my head, I decided to go back to the almighty Google. I had become fixated on the words Z had called me. I pulled up a translation site and tried to speak the words I remembered.
“Pchelka.” I butchered the word the first two times before the mic finally picked it up.
“Pchelka… Russian for little bee.”
Little bee? My lips twisted with my confusion. I decided to look further into that and learned it was a semi-common pet name for Russian men to use for their loved ones. Not that I was Z’s loved one. I scoffed at the idea and decided to play around with the other word, the one he said with such reverence and pride when he used it to refer to me.
“Priyatel.”
The website took a little longer to load this time.
“Priyatel… Russian for mate.”
“Excuse me?” I asked my phone as if it would repeat itself. “Excuse me?”
Chapter 12
I ended up skipping work that day, feigning a migraine when I called in. I felt horrible about leaving my coworkers in a bind, but after this latest revelation, I couldn’t focus on ensuring I processed people’s prescriptions correctly even if I tried. When Ana came back from her run, she was still bursting with energy. We decided to use our time together to strategize a game plan. The guys wouldn’t give up; that much was obvious. But we needed to get our head in the game and have a plan in place for when they tried to ambush us.
I decided to forgo telling Ana about my discovery of the Russian words. I tried to convince myself he probably just meant mate like friend. Yup. That was definitely what he meant. I nodded to myself, pleased with my blatant self-deception.
“Alright, so I’m training with Mark tonight at Xibalba. Apparently, each night they change the theme with glamour. Some nights it’s super casual, and other nights it’s like when we went.” Realizing how late it was, Ana glanced at the time on her phone and asked, “Don’t you have to start getting ready for work?”
“No, I think I should come with you. Maybe I can catch another exchange of hands with the drugs. Para clubs seem to be a hot bed of activity for it. I checked my scanners and programs when we got back the other night and saw there were hits everywhere. This drug is moving fast on the streets, and it’s causing a lot of havoc.”
From what I read, it was spreading like wildfire, and police and paramedics were at a loss for what it was or how to treat it. Without an actual street name of the drug, the police reports and news coverage of the drug simply referred to it as Drug-D, for the D embossed on the front of the pill.
The drug was circulating quickly in the normal circles, but what made it so dangerous and exclusive was that unless you knew the street name, you couldn’t get your hands on it. At least that was according to the report I read in the police database, from an undercover cop who had been checking in since this new drug surfaced. His squad was trying to infiltrate the inner circle so they could take them down but, so far, hadn’t had any luck finding the source or learning the street name.
Ana’s brows pinched as she bit her thumb nail. A nervous habit of hers. She obviously didn’t like the idea of me coming along, especially since the stakes were higher with this case.
“Come on!” I pleaded. “I’ll be perfectly safe with you. Also, if the guys come – which, fun fact, I’m pretty sure they already know where we live – I won’t be alone for long.”
“Yeah, so are we going to talk about the fact that you were sharing a bed with a hot Russian man?” Ana asked with a smirk.
“Nope. Because in my mind, it didn’t happen. He slept on the couch. You slept in one room, I was in the other. Kallan slept in the bathtub. Face down. With the water on.”
Ana laughed. “Wow, what made you hate him so much?”
“Nothing. I mean, his comments weren’t wrong, so I shouldn’t be so mad at him.”
“What happened?”
I tried to brush off her concern, not wanting to get into what I heard Kallan say about me. “Don’t worry about it, Ana. Seriously. We gotta get you ready for work and get me ready for my spy game.”
“Spy game?”
“Subversive mission?”
Ana snorted and wiggled her eyebrows at me. “That sounds a little more like a dirty game you might want to play with your hot, beefy Russian.”
“Stop that right now, young lady, and go get dressed.”
Ana gave me another one of her playful smirks before heading to her room. I laughed quietly to myself, but the weight of the word mate still rolled around in my head. Shaking my head, I tried to dislodge the memory of the look he gave me each time he said it.
Just friends. We were just friends. Not even that! As of right now, he was our main suspect as one of the dealers of a new drug we were trying to pull off the streets. Or at least get enough information to take to the proper authorities to help them close the case.
I followed Ana’s example, going to my room to change for the evening. If I was going to be hanging out at a para bar that was swanky enough to change its theme every evening, I needed to pull out the big guns. Ana and I weren’t big shoppers, but when we did go, we often picked out one outfit for each other. Tonight, I would choose one she picked out for me.
It was time to dust off an oldie but a solid pick.
****
Human bars on Wednesday nights were weird. They seemed to be filled with denizens of the office workforce, those who got together with coworkers to celebrate “hump day”. Some places hosted trivia nights, which always proved to be a good time even if we didn’t know the answers half the time. But Xibalba had an altogether unusual vibe.
Tonight, the vibe of Xibalba felt like Sea Creature, and I half expected the bouncer Todd to be waiting at the door, checking IDs. The last time I was there, the theme appeared to be trendy industrial warehouse. Tonig
ht, wood grain paneling wrapped around the walls, lit by dim bulbs hanging from cords that dropped from the ceiling. In the right setting, it might have been able to pass as romantic. Instead, it gave off more of a seedy bar vibe. Just like the other night, it was packed. Some people opted for conversation and sat huddled around deep, red leather booths while others enjoyed the energy of the bar.
I found an empty seat at the end of the bar, tucked in the corner. I made a disgusted sound in the back of my throat as I touched the sticky bar top, which rather fit the rest of the evening’s dingy theme. The patrons seemed excited to learn about Ana joining the Xibalba team. Several paras came up to the bar and lingered, waiting for their chance to speak to her or Mark.
Ana wore her hair pulled up in a tight, sleek ponytail. It was her signature look, sharpening the allure of her otherworldly features. She looked supermodel ready with her light makeup and stunning style. Ana chose painted-on, tight black jeans, a sharp contrast to her white combat boots and white undershirt. With her customary black leather jacket, she looked like a kickass badass.
The din of chatter surpassed the music that swelled through the speakers. I roved my gaze over the crowd, searching for illicit activity. I heard Mark tell Ana to follow him into the back so he could show her where the extra kegs were kept as well as a few other specialized drinks served on para-only nights. Ana said Mark told her humans were admitted on Saturdays, but other than that, the only humans allowed in were like me. The ones who knew.
“Enchanting creature, your friend,” a smooth, icy voice said behind my back.
I twisted in my seat and came face-to-face with the cold-blooded man from the other day, the one I saw talking in the booth with Kallan. This close, I felt his presence like a winter chill, devoid of warmth or compassion. My heart clenched with fear, even as I mentally dubbed him Ice King. He wore such unassuming clothes. Casual jeans, black button-up. Everything about him should have screamed ordinary, but he was so very… not. His voice seemed to project past all the other sounds right into my ear.
I straightened my spine, determined to keep my friend safe from him. Something about him just sat wrong with me. “She’s not for you, so move along, Ice King.”
I had met some of Ana’s love interests before and usually got a gut instinct for which ones were no good. This was different from sensing if someone was a player or not. I didn’t like his interest in her. Not one bit.
He made a sound under his breath and leaned down closer to me. “Hard to do when this is my bar.”
A shiver went down my spine. I glanced over to the doorway where Ana had followed Mark into the back room. Now that I knew this guy was the owner, I no longer thought it was in her best interest to work here. She didn’t need to work here; she could stay at Sea Creature full time. Ice King moved around me and sat on the stool right next to me. I spun back around, determined to ignore him. I picked up my drink, hoping he wouldn’t hear how the ice clinked together as my hand shook.
“Tell me, little human. Why would you presume to say she is not for me?”
“She’d eat you up and spit you right back out, that’s why.”
“Hmm, perhaps that is exactly what I’m looking for,” he mused, watching the doorway where Ana and Mark disappeared. He darted reptilian eyes to me when I kept staring at his cold features.
“And you, little human, what are you doing in this bar?”
I twisted in my seat, keeping my back to the wall and him in my sights. “Are you asking me to leave?”
He quirked a brow. “Did I say that?”
An unbearably tense moment of silence passed between us. Jesus, what am I doing? For Ana’s sake, I had a hard time backing down. I would protect her with my last breath. Tonight, it appeared I was going to test it.
“No, I suppose you didn’t.”
He gestured at me with a wave of his hand, wordlessly asking me to stop stalling and give an answer. I noticed he had long fingers, tapering into strong hands. They reminded me of a pianist’s hands, which almost made me want to laugh.
I plastered an innocent look on my face. “Just spending some quality time with my best friend,” I finally answered.
“And protecting her from her boss?” he asked shrewdly.
“If necessary, yes.”
He leaned back in his chair and gazed at me speculatively. “So brave for a human. I think you would be well-liked as a prize in my world.”
My stomach swam and I tightened my hold on my drink. “Your world?”
“Your friend is part fae, correct? Surely you know of the Veil, where our kind rule. I would think that the fae male whose scent clings to her would have explained that to her by now.”
Kallan? How did this guy know about him?
Ana and I had done a bit of research into the fae world, but we quickly learned that most of the lore online had been produced by humans. We tried to learn as much as we could through contacts we made along the way, but very few paras wanted to talk about fae kind. Ana had learned her magic through a lot of trial and error and a smattering of lessons from her aunt, who’d passed away several years before.
“So innocent, little human. Best to keep your distance from our world.”
His words stirred anger that most of the time, I tried to keep buried. I was preparing to snap back with a snarky response when the door to the club swung open. My body tensed in anticipation at the same time warmth flooded through my veins. Somehow, I knew exactly who was walking through the doorway.
“Oh, fudge,” I hissed under my breath, but the Ice King heard. He twisted in his seat to take a peek at the two men walking into his club. His tight lips curled at the corner.
Olezka strolled into the club and quickly scanned the area, Kallan trailing behind him. They both wore jeans and t-shirts, but damn, did Olezka pull it off. The sight of him in the bar felt like an iron weight resting on my shoulders. I ducked and attempted to use Ice King as a shield. Surprisingly, he made no comment and didn’t move to expose me.
“Well, tiny human, it has been… most enlightening, but I must attend to business.” The Ice King moved like liquid, smooth and gracefully. Standing, he dipped his chin in acknowledgment, already forgetting my presence, and headed over to an empty booth.
As much as I hated to admit it, I knew what would follow. Z’s eyes caught Ice King and watched as he took his seat. Z elbowed Kallan to get his attention and nudged his jaw in the direction of the sinister club owner.
Ana emerged from the back just as Z and Kallan scooted into the booth with Ice King. With Mark following her, they came over to check on me.
“What’s the owner’s name?” I asked, not even issuing a greeting in Mark’s direction.
“Erebus,” he answered smoothly. “Good enough guy. He doesn’t come in a lot, but he’s been in more lately. I think mostly because one of his businesses in the area is starting to manufacture a new product.”
“What type of business is it?”
“Pharmaceuticals, I think. Honestly, he doesn’t talk about his other projects when he’s here,” Mark said as his gaze roamed over the area.
It was too much of a coincidence. There was a new drug circulating on the streets, and the menacing club owner just happened to own a pharmaceutical company in the area that was ramping up production of a new drug? It seemed like more research was in my future.
“What is he?” I blurted.
Ana raised her brows. She and I both knew it was considered rude to ask another para about their origins. But… desperate times and all that.
Mark looked uncomfortable, and his gaze darted to the booth where Erebus sat down with Kallan and Z. I snuck a peek, watching as Ice King bob his head almost too subtly to notice, even as his attention remained on Kallan and Z.
Stupid. Super fae hearing.
“A fae, much like the new girl here,” Mark answered with a smile before taking off to help a new customer.
Ana leaned in close. “Is that Kallan?”
“Yup
.” I popped my “p” and gave her a pointed look.
She frowned and leaned back. “We need to talk, but not here and not now. You need to go home.”
I nodded, for once, not even considering an argument.
Chapter 13
Slipping off the bar stool, I headed toward the back of the bar, planning to sneak out the way we came in. None of the other employees stopped me as I stumbled out into the alleyway. The back door was heavy, but I managed to push it open. I stepped out and let the door shut behind me, hearing the click when it locked from the inside. Warm air blasted over my skin, and a quiet sigh escaped me. I enjoyed the sensation of being warm and fuzzy. Closing my eyes, I took a moment to soak it in.
The sound of shuffling feet and harsh whispers came from a little farther into the back alley. My neck flared, the small hairs standing straight up. I looked both ways before steeling myself for making a horribly stupid decision, deciding to approach the whisperers.
The stench of the overflowing dumpsters assaulted me the farther I went. The back alley was poorly lit and set my teeth on edge. I refrained from plugging my nose, moving slowly and quietly as the whispers grew louder.
“The contact was supposed to be here twenty minutes ago. I’m off. Fuck this.” Person one, a man with a gravelly voice.
“They paid in full already. We stay until they arrive.” Person two, another man with a grating voice.
“I say we take the cash, the drugs, and resell again. They knew the meeting time.”
Sweat pooled on my lower back, and my mouth went dry. Spontaneity was definitely not my strong suit. Adrenaline poured into my veins, and I clenched my fists. Time to fix my mistakes and do something wrong for a change. With a quick nod to myself, I straightened my back and smoothed the wrinkles from my dress. Walking tall with my chin held high, I turned the corner.
They weren’t what I expected. I thought I was about to approach two junkies, but instead, I came face-to-face with two paras, both huge and intimidating. I had expected stringy humans with greasy hair.
Sixx and the Hellhound: The Sidekick Chronicles Page 8