After following Axel for what felt like miles, he finally slowed down and glanced over his shoulder. I ducked behind another person walking in front of me, grateful for their taller, thicker build. When I popped back up, Axel had disappeared. And unfortunately, this wasn’t a part of the city that I knew. I walked over to the place where I last saw him. The foot traffic had decreased quite significantly. An alleyway greeted me; the two buildings on either side didn’t look like they were functioning.
Instead of peeking around the corner like I wanted to, I waited a second before slowly walking past the alleyway and pulling out my phone, pressing a button to record. I kept walking until I was another block away. I worried that if Axel was down the alley, he would notice me. What if Key was using him to lure me closer?
After I made it far enough away to breathe a little easier, I entered the address of the antique shop and used my maps app to get me back there. I decided to wait and review the video after I was safely back at the shop, but I made sure to place a navigation star at the location in case I wanted to backtrack.
The entire walk back, I was eager to pull up the video to watch it, but I was too nervous. What if it was just an alleyway? Had I followed a para for no reason and put myself in more danger than I needed to?
When I made it back to the storefront, Roman was pacing, running a hand through his hair. He watched the ground as he moved back and forth. I checked the time and cringed. I hadn’t realized my little outing had taken so long.
Roman stopped his pacing and looked up in my direction. The moment his eyes met mine, I saw the tension drain from his body, only to return moments later. He strode over to me with a look of utter rage crossing his features.
“Where the hell have you been?”
“I’m sure doing something stupid,” I mumbled but pulled out my phone.
“Are you fucking shitting me right now, Sixx? I thought a fucking fae had snatched you up!”
“Roman.”
“Do you know what my brother would have done to me? Do you know what it did to me, not knowing where the fuck you went?”
“Roman.”
“What?” he snapped, finally looking at me.
I held up my phone, showing him the video I’d managed to record. We both watched as Axel stood in the middle of the alleyway then stepped forward and disappeared into thin air.
“Fuck.”
Chapter 15
“I don’t know what’s worse: the fact that you convinced me by threatening to tell Olezka I ‘lost you’ earlier and the sure knowledge he would kill me, or that if he finds out you convinced me to do this with you, he’ll kill me anyway.”
“Hush, he won’t kill you.”
“You’re right; he’ll only maim me but just because Mama will be pissed if he kills me. But she will still see it as his right to disfigure this flawless face for taking off with his mate on a foolish errand.”
“Stop whining. You’re fine. I promise this is just a stakeout! It’s fine. We got snacks and energy drinks. And,” as if on cue, Anubis poked his head between us, looking for a snack, “Anubis is with us for extra support. We’re fine,” I said again, giving Anubis a fry.
“You shouldn’t be feeding him that,” Roman groused. He had been a pain since I came up with my latest brilliant plan. I knew if I told Olezka about it, he would refuse to let me come on the stakeout even though it was my idea. He was being ultra-protective, especially since our stay got delayed. Apparently, there had recently been a flurry of activity around the gateway to the Veil, and the Sentinel Core wanted Olezka to remain to help them defuse the situation.
“If you’re just going to complain on our first stakeout together, you can always leave,” I said, pulling out a filled Twizzlers to eat. I’d gone a little insane with the snacks, but I didn’t know how long we would be sitting outside the alley, and I wanted to be prepared. To be fair, we’d stopped and gotten takeout, too.
“My brother isn’t as hard-headed as you think he is. He’ll listen to reason. This is something he would have gladly done with you.”
My face dropped at his words, knowing he was right. I looked around the Kia that Ana and I had bought years ago, one of the only things that remained from our stint in the Veil. Thankfully, Kallan kept it safe for us while we were gone. The more I found myself in the Veil, the more I wanted to return to the chaotic world of humans. At least, I understood them. Sorta.
I touched my newest accessory. SOL Jr, as I dubbed it, was a thing of unsurpassed beauty. The last one I had was bulkier, and it was a hassle to tuck into a woman-sized pants pocket. This one was sleek, shiny, and double the amps, according to the crafter. He watched me closely as he handed it over, his eyes fixed unnervingly on me. My brain kept telling me I should know him from somewhere, but I didn’t know where.
Those thoughts disappeared as headlights illuminated behind us. I glared over at my partner in crime. He shifted in his seat guiltily.
“What did you do?”
“What you wouldn’t!” Roman snapped.
“I didn’t because…”
“Because you don’t think he trusts your strength. But Sixx, he does… it’s just complicated. You don’t understand the fierce need to protect your mate that paras have. You don’t understand the pressure of his beast and heritage to watch over you.” Roman’s jaw clenched. He looked so much younger than his brothers at times, but in moments like these, I had to remind myself they were all probably decades older than me.
“Roman.”
“Don’t push me away because you think you know what’s best. Trust him, and he will trust you.” Roman got out of the car without another word. I watched in the rearview mirror as the brothers exchanged a few words. Then Olezka opened my car door and dropped into the driver’s seat Roman had just vacated.
I shoved a Twizzler in my mouth to avoid answering any of his questions immediately. Instead of launching into a heated tirade, he patted Anubis, who had just poked his head into the front seat again.
“I hope you got my favorites,” Olezka said, peering straight ahead into the alley. The headlights of the car Olezka had driven behind us disappeared as Roman drove away.
I opened the glove compartment, pulled out a box of Reese’s Pieces, and handed them over. He touched my hand, refusing to take the weight of the box until I looked up and faced him head-on.
“Don’t lie to me. I know of your strength. I know of your loyalty and love. I will not abuse it. I would never stop you from doing this, but at least, being here, I know I can protect you.”
“And how about when I want to protect you?” I asked, hating the pit that churned in my stomach. How did I tell him that the reason I wanted to do this without him was the possibility of who might come out of the new tear? Even so, I had to stop lying and keeping this from him. He wanted to protect me, and I wanted to protect him.
“And what do you mean by that?” Olezka asked, reaching over to brush the strands of hair that had popped free of my messy bun. For the purposes of this stakeout, I’d opted for comfort with baggy sweatpants and a comfy hoodie.
“What I mean is that there’s something I’ve been keeping from you. At first, it was because I didn’t know how to tell you. Then it became a matter of never having time alone when we weren’t running for our lives. Now, it’s more of a matter of-”
“Sixx.”
“…wanting to protect you,” I finished. “But it was also because I just, ugh… I didn’t want to see you get hurt.”
“Sixx.”
“And then I got a warning today from someone about it, which was how I found this tear. And now I’m terrified to see who’s going to come out of that tear.”
“Sixx.” Olezka gave up trying to get my attention by just saying my name as he cupped his hands around my cheeks, pulling me close. “There is movement inside the alley.”
“Fudge.” I turned my eyes toward the entrance, but I couldn’t see, especially with Olezka’s large hands on my cheeks. I turned my h
ead, only managing to squish my cheek. “Letgo,” I mumbled through my squished face.
“Nyet, not yet. I’m not sure if they can see us.”
“Stopletmesee,” I mumbled. Olezka looked back at me before smiling and pressing a kiss to my nose. Then he released me. Shaking my head at him, I turned to face the opening. Axel stood there looking bored, but it wasn’t long before two more beings filed out of the alleyway. Axel nodded to both figures before heading back in and taking his position in front of the tear again.
“Are they…?”
“Both High Fae, both from the Dark Court. But what are they doing here?” Olezka murmured, watching them closely.
I briefly wondered if I should just go up and ask Axel, but to be honest, I didn’t trust him, hence the reason for the stakeout. “Did Roman tell you about what happened earlier today?” I asked as we both sat back and decided to wait it out. We knew that as inbound and outbound activity increased, the tear became bigger. And I assumed that the way Tess talked about it, it would also make the tear more unstable. We shouldn’t allow them back through that gate, but we also needed to make sure no one else came out of it.
“Da. You could have told me that, too.”
“I was going to!” I said half-heartedly. “Look, about what I was going to tell you earlier. There’s something you need to know. The dark mage standing there was the one who grabbed me earlier, claiming he had a warning for me.”
“Roman said Ana gave him a message for you.”
“Yeah, but it was more than that. There was so much more to it,” I trailed off, fiddling with my fingernails, flicking at them and scratching my fingers. I didn’t want to tell him this. Shifting in my seat, I tried to think of the best way to deliver this news.
I glanced over at my mate, who watched me with calm, amber eyes. It had only been a handful of months since I’d met him, but it felt like years ago. The night we met, my face got up close and personal with his ass when he flung me over his shoulder and started walking off with me. It always struck me because of how handsome I found him, even in the Veil when his glamour was down. He wasn’t classically handsome. He definitely had rougher edges. And he needed to trim up his ever-growing beard. I reached over and touched his cheek under the eye that his twin was now missing.
“You’ve told me about Illarion. But you probably don’t know that I met him. A couple times, actually.”
In a blink, Olezka’s features hardened. He reached up to grab my wrist and held it in a tight but gentle hold. “Go on.”
My words tumbled out in a rush. “Key has him. He’s been using him in the fighting rings but also for other purposes that I’m not quite sure about. The first time I saw him, he must have recognized me as your mate because he tried to protect me. When Key threatened me, Illarion went with him so he would leave me alone. And I think that’s who Ana saw when she thought it was you working with Key. She thought you were betraying us. But if she saw Illarion, it might mean he’s willing to work with Key even without the threat looming over me.”
Olezka got quiet. Anubis groaned in the back seat, and I peeked over my shoulder to see the crazy boy with his tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth, his head cocked as if listening closely to something. I shook my head.
“What if Key does have something he’s holding over him?” Olezka asked after a couple more minutes of silence. He gripped the steering wheel.
“How do you think?”
“Your stab wound,” he answered slowly. “It healed slower than it should have. We all assumed it was because you were human and possibly already weakened from Dreamscape, but what if Key had already poisoned you by then? My family takes care of their own. It’s part of our DNA. The reason you will not see hellhounds or rarogs in the palace is because we travel in packs and clans. Illarion would have smelled our bond, and he would have known you were mine, forcing his instincts to take over. He would have protected you at all costs.”
Well, if that admission didn’t swamp me with guilt, nothing would. It made me even more determined to do everything in my power to save him and Ana.
“We will find him. But you are not at fault. Illarion was missing long before you came into the picture. Things were difficult with him,” Olezka explained. Before he could say anything more, Anubis sat up and barked loudly. We shifted our attention back to the entrance of the alley. Axel stepped out again and looked directly at the car. I yelped and attempted to duck down, but Olezka remained upright. Axel stopped looking at our car and peered down the street.
One of the High Fae was returning, but he wasn’t with the other fae with whom he’d arrived. Instead, he had two humans with him. Two pretty women, one on each arm, laughed as they stared up at him adoringly. Axel said something to the male before they entered, to which the fae just smirked in response.
“What are they planning?” I whispered, gripping the dashboard. I’d seen what the Light fae did with humans. I couldn’t imagine what the seedier part of the Dark Court did with them.
Why would Key be allowing fae to use the tears on their own? What was he getting out of the deal?
“We have to find out.”
Chapter 16
After a relatively successful stakeout, I was feeling pretty proud of myself. I considered it only relatively successful since I ended up falling asleep halfway through the night. Even two energy drinks couldn’t keep me awake much longer after my self-appointed bedtime. Partly, I think my brain and body were so excited to be back on a normal schedule, knowing when daytime and nighttime were, that I just fell asleep on pure instinct. Olezka claimed it was because I’d had a big day. I told him he was full of crap.
Olezka told me the other fae never returned. While I slept, Olezka called Kallan and explained the situation. He arrived around 5 A.M. with coffees for both Olezka and myself. He would be taking the next shift while we went home to freshen up. We had to monitor the activity, not only because the gate would continue to grow with extensive use but also because Sentinel wanted to keep tabs on those entering the human realm.
Once we returned home, showered, and redressed, we sat down at the kitchen table. My mate looked like he was ready to fall over, and my heart pinched with worry. He needed sleep, but I also knew he was forcing himself to stay awake a little longer so we could discuss what he’d learned about the events in the city since we left for our last stint in the Veil after Sentinel found me and Olezka in the fighting rings.
Olezka was hunched over in his seat, staring at the table.
“I’m guessing it's bad news.”
“It isn’t good,” he said.
I reached over and grabbed his big hand, holding it in mine, brushing my thumb over his knuckles. “Lay it on me. We’ve been exchanging bad news lately.”
It was kind of sad how true that statement was. We seemed to pass bad news back and forth. In the back of my mind, I kept thinking that once we got over this next hurdle, we’d be in the clear. I breathed in, sure in the knowledge we would. We’d get through it together.
“After we retreated into the Veil, Kallan and Sasha remained behind in the arena. They found an office and a small lab. Most of the research had already been cleaned out, but whoever did it must have been in a rush. Sentinel managed to get a few vials of the drug they were injecting into you. We believe it’s a variation of Dreamscape. Do you recall what the drug did to you the second time?”
I nodded slowly. “It gave me hellfire again, but this time, Key had total control over me. I’ve had a lot of time to think about it, and I think the moment that Cyril broke the favor that bound us together, it snapped the control of Dreamscape’s magic as well.”
“They have a few paras researching the contents of the drug, but they said, so far, the most disturbing aspect of the drug is that it seems to contain multiple DNA of different types of paras. In addition to the information I was able to supply, we’re piecing together a better picture of how dangerous Dreamscape can be.
“What I fear he might be
trying to do is recruit humans. Key is using it to control humans and enhance their strength as you saw with his guards.” Olezka swallowed. “He never honored Erebus as his King. Key’s father was Erebus’s brother though a younger brother from a different mother. He had no true claim to the throne, according to the way of the fae.
“Key has never been exceptionally powerful, but he somehow found a way to enhance his abilities. When Erebus’s second brother disappeared, it was up to him to take the throne with my help. We had to face Key, who used an off-the-charts, powerful Lure that had affected half the Court already.” When he saw my confused look, he explained, “Most High Fae’s lures don’t affect each other.”
Just then, a distant memory tugged at my mind. The times when Ana used her Lure, even on accident, she affected everyone around her. We just assumed that was how it was for all other fae. We had no way of knowing she was more powerful because she was actually High Fae. Was that part of the reason why Key wanted her? More than just for her value as the Light King’s daughter? Did he plan to use her magic for Dreamscape? What could Key do if he had the power of not only his Lure magic but Ana’s as well? The thought was unsettling. Olezka noticed the change in my mood. “What if he wanted Ana for more than just her status as the heir to the Light Kingdom?” I ventured.
“We would have a very dangerous fae on our hands. Marriage is different for the fae. I don’t know if you two were ever taught about it. Mates, like you and I, are bonded for life. Our bond is formed by instinct and cultivated by love. Marriage for the fae, especially those who choose to live in the Veil, is for power, accomplished by binding their powers. Like the ceremony I performed for you, they have a ritual they perform to enable married couples to use each other’s strength.”
Well, that was a terrifying thought. A million questions popped into my head, but the one that rose to the top was: Could the ritual be forced? I had a feeling it couldn’t, followed by another feeling that it was why Key poisoned me.
Sixx Saves the World: The Sidekick Chronicles Page 10