Knock. Knock.
“Sixx?” Z’s voice floated through the door.
My eyes popped open, and I gritted my teeth. Did he hear me grunting? Oh God. My cheeks flushed.
Does he think it was something else? Does he think I’m pooping?! Oh my God. My mortification had never been higher. “Um, yeah?” I tried to talk louder so I sounded like I was still inside, but I had no idea if that would work.
“Are you okay?”
“Yup.” I struggled forward again. Shit, if he suspects…
Z pounded on the door, the force jarring the window. I yelped when the pane dropped onto my back.
“Sixx!” Z growled.
Oh, shit. I gave up any pretense of trying to be quiet. I gripped the grass between my fingers, leaning myself closer to the ground, almost kissing it. “Ugh!” With one more pull and a sharp twist of my hips, my butt passed through and the windowpane dropped on my calves. Thankfully, my pajamas stayed in place. I was mostly free when I heard wood splinter behind me.
“Eep!” I looked over my shoulder to see Olezka’s blurry form crashing through the bathroom door, his eyes raging as he took in the image of my feet dangling out of the window. Without wasting any more time, I pulled them through and scrambled to my feet. I had no idea where we were, so as I stood there, trying to collect my thoughts. Footsteps sounded from the house.
“Shoot, shoot, shoot.” Glancing around, I decided it’d be best to just run.
A booming bark preceded the sight of a huge dog bounding around the house. The big, black beast closely resembled Z’s beastly form from the night before. My heart pounded because even though this dog was a fourth the size, not on fire, and definitely a dog, my brain blanked.
The dog jumped at me and knocked me back to the ground. He stood over me with a big puppy grin, tongue hanging out the side of his mouth. His light eyes were gray; the color shocked me since it was such a startling difference from its black skin. Besides that, it was completely hairless. The dog barked, his standing ears jerking with the movement of his head. His paw dug into my stomach.
“No, no, shh, little puppy,” I whispered, trying to push him off.
“Anubis. Down.”
The dog, Anubis, followed the deep voice’s orders, climbing off me and sitting next to my head, his tail still wagging as if he was proud of himself. I narrowed my eyes at the dog. Even if he was only following his orders, he messed up my plans.
“Are you going to stay on the ground?” Z asked.
“If I play dead, will you leave me alone?”
“No, but if you stay there, I cannot guarantee what Anubis will do,” Olezka answered.
“You named your dog after the Egyptian god of the underworld?”
“What else would you name a Xolo?”
Using my elbows, I sat up and stared at him. “Huh?”
“Anubis is a Xoloitzcuintli. In Mexico, they are believed to be guides and the guardians of the afterlife.”
“So, is Anubis going to usher me into the afterlife?” I asked.
“Never,” Olezka growled, sounding deadly. “Come, I will make you some breakfast.”
Olezka stepped forward, putting his hand out for me to take. I grabbed it reluctantly, allowing him to pull me up. Anubis stood with us and ran ahead back into the house. I glanced around the area, already trying to plot my next escape route. The streets were mostly empty except for a few cars parked along the yards in front of houses. The houses were separated by at least a good fifty feet, which meant we were far outside the city.
“Do not make me send Anubis after you again,” Olezka joked as he opened the door to the house. I glared at him as I passed by with Anubis hot on my heels, his head bumping into the back of my knees.
“Straight ahead,” Z guided. “That will take you to the kitchen.”
I followed his directions, unable to do anything else. I tried to plot a plan in my head, but the smell of bacon, breakfast sausage, and eggs derailed me. My stomach rumbled, and even though I was still sore and a headache lingered in the back of my head, the idea of food sounded divine.
Anubis bounded ahead of me, bouncing with excitement. I couldn’t help but smile because I loved all kinds of animals but especially dogs. Our apartment had strict rules against them, so Ana and I weren’t allowed to have any. Plus, we kept weird hours, and I wouldn’t want to do that to a poor puppy.
“I am glad to see your smile,” Z said, his comforting heat brushing against my back. I twisted to give him my best glare and took a backward step into the kitchen when I hit a heated wall.
Olezka’s eyes burned with anger, and he bared his teeth as he focused on something over my head. When the wall behind me moved and I felt muscles bunching under skin, my eyes widened. I made a move to step away when thick arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me back.
“Kto eto, brat?” a thick, accented voice asked above my head. I leaned my neck back and tried to take a peek when a sharp chin plopped down on me to stop my progress before I could see him.
Olezka scolded, “English, Timur.”
“The little one cannot speak our mother language?”
“No. Release her. Now.”
“Nyet. I want to hold her a little longer. She is soft, and she smells good.”
I stiffened in this weirdo’s hold. I glanced back at Z, who bared his teeth as fire erupted over his skin. The male behind me barked a laugh.
“Careful, brat. You will burn your little visitor.”
“Nyet, I will not. Now release my priyatel.”
This time, the man’s arms tightened around me and he lifted his chin from the top of my head. I felt the weight of his stare and then his chest rumbled as he started to laugh. Loudly.
“Please don’t call me that,” I gritted out, my cheeks burning with embarrassment. Why is he continuing this ruse when Ana’s not even here? The newcomer found the entire situation hilarious. My stomach twisted with a mixture of disgust and disappointment. Fear slipped through me, chilling my blood.
“Timur, I will not warn you again. Release my priyatel.”
This time, the man heeded his words and released me. I refused to look at Olezka as I turned back around, following the massive male named Timur into the kitchen. He and Olezka were both big guys, but heck, that guy scared me. Hesitant, I moved farther into the kitchen.
“Olezka, get your dog off of me,” a different voice asked. This one’s accent wasn’t nearly as thick as the other two, but after seeing the new faces, I realized they all shared similar features. While Olezka and Timur were massive and bulky, the other man had features that were more refined and lithe. I assumed they were brothers when I noted all three shared the same black hair and mischievous spark in their eyes.
“Who’s the girl?”
Timur laughed again as he grabbed his plate and carried it to the table where the third man sat with Anubis pawing at his leg. Anubis’s attention shifted to Timur before he growled. Timur responded in kind.
“Ona nasha novaya sestra, brat,” Timur said when Anubis’s attention went back to the third male.
“English, Timur,” Olezka snapped from behind me. He put his hand on my hip and led me farther into the room.
“Your little one looks terrified. What did you do? Kidnap her?” the third one joked.
“Um, yes he did,” I spoke up for the first time. The two at the table glanced at me and then Olezka, then me again. Both started to laugh at the same time.
“I did no such thing. You and your friend were acting irrationally,” Olezka growled. My rage grew, and I twisted around to face him.
“Excuse me? We were acting irrationally? You came to our place at three A.M. to scold me! And I was just…” I breathed in deeply, trying to calm myself down when I realized how eerily silent the room had become. Olezka and I glared at one another, and fire glowed in his eyes.
“Mama budet lyubit' yeye ,” the third male said.
“Da.”
“Take me home,” I demande
d, ignoring the others in the room.
“Nyet. You are still acting irrationally. You will remain here until we can get ahold of Ana and Kallan. Then we will discuss this.”
“No. I’m leaving.” I jutted my chin out.
“Nyet. You are not.”
“Da! I am!” I screamed, annoyed with him. Childish, probably. Absolutely. But he started this whole nonsense. The way he was using me to get to Ana crossed a line. In fact, he’d treated me even worse than most other paras by disregarding how I would feel about being a pawn in his little “play”.
“You are my mate. You will not leave,” he insisted stubbornly.
“I’m not your mate, and I will most definitely be leaving here!” I declared.
“You’re mine!” Olezka roared, grabbing me by the hips and pulling me close. Before I could stop him, heat sparked in my veins. His lips crashed down on mine, dominant and possessive. My knees went weak as his hand curled into the hair at the nape of my neck. My insides liquefied as he brushed his tongue ever so gently against the seam of my lips.
Butterflies erupted in my stomach. I sighed, allowing him access.
Electricity jolted through my muscles.
The familiar smell of burnt metal and wood hit my nose, and my eyes popped open. My hands were trapped between his chest and arms, but I managed to peek over his shoulder as I pulled back from the kiss.
“Oh, shit! Ana, wait!”
Too late. Her bolt of magic flared down the hall, sparking and crackling with power. The bolt was headed straight for Olezka, who still had me in his arms. When he turned to face her, his nostrils flared as he pushed me away from him.
His body exploded into his beast’s form right as the bolt of magic hit him. Though he pushed me to the side, the force was enough to knock me backward.
Chapter 17
Timur jumped up and snatched me before I could hit the edge of the table. The third male jumped up from his seat, his body lit up with flames like Olezka’s. Definitely related.
“Holy… shot,” I muttered, falling farther into Timur’s chest and feeling the excruciating pain of needles poking into my back. “Ouch!”
I jumped away and twisted around to fix him with my strongest glare, but his face was morphing into a massive canine’s, his teeth elongating while needle-like fur burst through his skin. Trapped between the three beasts, I shook my head when Ana took another step farther into the house.
“Roman, get her out of here.” Timur’s voice became warped as he continued to transition into a bristling beast. The third man – Roman, I assumed –snapped his gaze to me and then back to Ana.
“Stop! Everyone just stop!” I stepped away from Roman and Timur so I would be out of their reach. Ana had come for me, and Olezka was keeping up the impossible ruse of me being his mate. I’d use that to my advantage for as long as we could.
Olezka snapped his jaws at Ana, who continued to creep down the hall, keeping me in her sightline. I stepped farther away from the cluster of men. Anubis, who had been tucked under the table when Ana broke in, crawled out and stood in front of me, baring his teeth.
Good to know I had a new guardian.
“I think it would be good if we all took a little breather since, you know, I’m the only one here that could die from your supercharged attacks.”
Olezka, Timur, and Roman exchanged wary looks before Timur shifted back, reverting to his human form. Roman’s clothes had burned away during his transition and fell to ashes around him as the flames sputtered and were extinguished. Ana and Olezka remained in their face-off. I tried to ignore the naked male to my left and the smug one to my right.
“Down, little fae. He will not shift back with his mate in danger until you pull back your power,” Timur said. Humor laced his words, especially when his eyes cut to Roman, who stood naked, watching Ana with the same sort of reverence that most human guys saw when she forgot to use glamour. It rarely happened unless she used too much magic. Her hair looked like liquid gold, her skin was milky white, and her eyes sparked amethyst with the magic she held inside.
“Fuck, I hate fae,” Roman muttered, shaking his head.
“It’s because you allowed that one in your bed, little brother,” Timur said. Roman got a strange look on his face, and I wondered what he was thinking. But more importantly, I worried about everyone else in the room.
“Guys! We need your brother to calm down.”
“He is your mate. You calm him, kroshka,” Timur chided, jerking his chin at Olezka, whose barbed tail flicked with annoyance.
“Sixx, Pina Colada?”
Pina Colada was a tricky plan to pull off in the position we were in.
“You want a drink?” Roman asked, still naked as the day he was born and not minding at all that his dangly bits were hanging out.
Olezka shifted so quickly that my eyes couldn’t track the transformation from beast on fire to man on fire.
“No, it is a plan they have in place. What it involves, I do not know, but I will keep my mate here,” Olezka said, never taking his eyes off Ana. His brothers closed ranks while Anubis took another step back against my legs.
“I want my friend back. Look – you want the drug? Fine. You want us to stop investigating you? Fine. But leave her out of this. You paras are such assholes sometimes. You can’t use humans like pawns!” Ana demanded. Her magic still radiated from her, but it took on a different edge.
“What are you talking about?” Olezka snapped.
“We know that you’re selling Dreamscape, but that’s all we know. If you let Sixx leave, I’ll give you any information I have on you. You can even have Kallan wipe my memories if you want, but I want my best friend to be back with me where she’s safe.”
“I think we need to have a talk. Roman, if you wouldn’t mind, why don’t you get dressed and away from my mate? Timur, would you mind leaving us?”
“Don’t know why you can’t call your own lackey, but sure. See you soon, kroshka.” Timur strolled past his brother and then past Ana down the hallway as if nothing strange had just occurred. Maybe for paras, this was all part of a normal morning for them. Ana and I avoided other paras as much as we could. Apparently, for good reason because they all seemed to act like this was no big deal. We had a lot to learn and adjust to, it would seem.
“Come, sit. Kallan will be by soon, but I think it’s best if I get Sixx fed, and then we will talk.”
“Hey! I’m not Anubis, I don’t need to be fed.”
“You need to eat, Sixx. You probably haven’t eaten since lunch yesterday. Not to mention you’ve had a rough night.” Ana shot a perplexed look at Olezka. “And I’m not going to be chill about this until you give us something a little more solid to go off of, okay?”
“How about this?” Olezka stepped over to his wallet and flipped it open, showing it to Ana. Her gaze narrowed on the thing he showed her, but I couldn’t see what it was. I tried to sidestep, but Anubis moved with me.
Huffing, I reached down and scratched behind his ear. Even though his attention remained fixed on Ana, he started to pant. “All right, little man, it’s okay to let me go now,” I whispered to him. Ana took a step back, her lips pressed close together, her brows pinched tightly.
“Anubis, down. Sixx, sit down.” Olezka closed his wallet and placed it back on the counter. A look of annoyance passed over his features as he took in the chaos. Ashes remained scattered from when Roman’s clothes burned off, and the table had been knocked against the wall, taking all of the chairs with it. The cozy little kitchen was absolutely disrupted.
“No thanks. Not until you start spilling. Ana?”
Olezka stalked toward me, and I took a couple of steps back, giving him an uncertain look. My heart raced in my chest, but fear didn’t accompany the new sensations. Instead, I slapped a hand to his chest to keep him away. He may have kissed me, and it might have been the most ridiculously sexy kiss ever, but it didn’t mean he got to control me.
“You will sit, mate. I hav
e had a long night, and I feel this day will be very, very long.” He towered over me.
I placed my hands on my hips and glared up at him, but Ana stepped over to us and touched my elbow gently. “Maybe we should try their pie.”
Plan Pie meant we would hear them out. Sit over a pie, listen to what they had to say, and then decide what to do next. Maybe bust out Pina Colada. I lifted my fingers in a V shape, pointing to my eyes and then his as I took another step away from him.
Ana snorted at Olezka’s bewildered look.
“Don’t worry. She only gets this feisty when she thinks I’m in danger.”
Olezka made a grumbling sound from his chest, but his features creased into a more peaceful look. “My mate is loyal,” he whispered with a smile as if we couldn’t hear him.
I rolled my eyes as Ana led me to the table. “You can let up on the ruse, Z. You already got Ana here.”
“Nyet. I am done with this!” Olezka exploded before he turned to me and tossed me over his shoulder. I yelped and clutched his shirt as my stomach clenched, my unruly hair flipping forward into my face.
“What are you doing?” I screeched.
“We will chat. Your Ana knows you are safe with me. Da?” He looked at Ana and waited.
“Yeah, but if she doesn’t want this…”
“My kind does not force our wills onto others. Remember that, little fae.”
“Could have fooled me,” I grumbled, still hanging upside down with all the blood rushing to my head. A breeze hit the back of my thighs, and my cheeks burned as I realized my butt was probably hanging out. Olezka turned so I faced Ana. I lifted my hand, giving her the finger as he walked away from her. I think I heard her snort.
Olezka took the stairs with me still over his shoulder. This guy’s got some crazy muscles. As he stalked through the house, presumably taking me somewhere a bit more private, I couldn’t stop my mind from going back to that kiss. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, it rocked my world. The foundation of my life, really. He was a phenomenal kisser, but it was more than that. In the split second before Ana’s bolt hit him, I was terrified. Not for my own safety but for his.
The Sidekick Chronicles: Sixx and the Hellhound Page 11