Anastasia used her magic to protect herself from a wayward fireball.
“Well done, Sixx!” Roman cheered.
“Shut up!” Ana yelled at him as she tried to get close to Sixx again. I picked Sixx up and turned her away from her friend and my house, saving both from an inadvertent barbecue.
“She must use up her energy in order for it to go away. You can’t handle her fire,” I tried to explain again from over my shoulder.
“And you can?” Anastasia scoffed, placing a delicate hand on her hip. She did that move often when Kallan tried to tell her to step back. She was very stubborn and headed into danger without a second thought.
“Yes. I am equal parts hellhound and rarog; my kind lives for fire. There is no temperature that we cannot endure. But my flames could never harm my mate, nor can hers harm me even as temporary as they are.”
“Come sit with me before she turns you crispy,” Roman cajoled with a wink.
“Over my dead body,” Anastasia muttered.
“Zzzzz, I don’t feel so good,” Sixx muttered. Her heat quickly faded, and she slumped heavily in my arms. I caught her easily, lifting and cradling her to my chest. I sighed, thankful that she had finally knocked out. She had been frenzied and energetic for the past several hours as a result of Dreamscape, long enough for the sun to peek over the horizon. I turned to my brother and Ana.
“She’s finally asleep. Hopefully, she will sleep off the rest of the drug, and we can get the full story later. Do you want Roman to drive you back to your car?” I asked Anastasia, already knowing the answer.
“No.”
“Fine; you can take Timur’s room. I doubt he will be returning home today.”
Anastasia and I went inside while Roman stayed outside with Anubis. I carried Sixx to my room after showing Anastasia to Timur’s room. She settled in, but not before telling me to wake her the moment Sixx woke or if anything changed. I promised her I would.
As I laid my small, sweet mate down, I knew I couldn’t leave her. She let out a small huff, and I wrapped my arms around her.
“Zhizn’ moya.” I breathed in her scent, relieved the chemical smell already starting to fade. However, I knew my worry for her wouldn’t diminish until she woke.
Chapter 27
As the elevator dropped, my stomach lurched at the sudden stop. Fudge. I hated elevators. Not always, of course. Only when it occurred to me that they were essentially steel-covered death traps. I tried to focus on the buttons ahead of me. They looked hazy as if I forgot to put on my glasses, but I reached up and touched the frames. I blinked hard, moaning as the stabbing pain in my head registered.
My head hurts.
“Shh, that is perfectly natural. You’re completely safe,” a soft, lilting male voice said. But the moment he spoke, it seemed like I forgot everything about the pain besides the words and the calming wave that followed. Somewhere in the back of my mind, it screamed to run. Or…
I lost track of my thoughts again as I blinked heavily.
“Forward, little pet. I’m going to need you to incite some of our more stubborn males.”
The scene around me morphed and shifted into something else. My stomach twisted as my mind sharpened back to reality.
“We need to ensure this does not get out. This fucker is as bad as they come. How strange he enlisted a human. I thought he despised them.”
Cages. No, not quite that but something very similar. My mind was fuzzy, lost. I found myself trapped between two bony arms that cut into my stomach with a painful grip I knew would leave bruises. I walked down a blindingly white hallway that had an almost unending row of doors with little windows placed near the top. I recalled walking past them and seeing blurry bodies strapped down to tables with tubes attached to them.
Dark liquid pumped from each body and dripped into bags attached to the tubes.
Struggling.
Pushing against the punishing grip around me, I almost broke free when a meaty fist jabbed into my gut and stole my breath away. I cried out in pain as a hand clamped over my open mouth and forced me to swallow something small that was shoved down my throat. My head splintered with pain, and I tried to recall who brought me down in the elevator. That’s right… it was Doug.
Darkness surrounded me.
****
“My priyatel, you must wake now. You tear me to pieces.”
A warmth filled me from head to toe, slowly seeping into my bones as my blood pumped feverishly throughout my body. My body felt solid, grounded, but my mind still felt like it floated somewhere, lost to the clouds, miles and miles away. I wanted to stay there in the comforting embrace of the clouds that dotted the sky. Up there, things weren’t so scary. There, the consequences didn’t have dire results.
“Why isn’t she waking up?” a scared voice whispered beside me.
Another voice, “Maybe we should take her to a human doctor?”
“I could call Effie,” Ana’s voice cracked. “He told us-”
“No. I will never let him near my mate again.”
“Shh, I don’t want Effie. I want you,” I whispered, patting my moving pillow and tucking my toes between two colossal calves to warm them. I snuggled closer.
It went deathly quiet.
“Sixx?”
“Hmm?”
“Sixx, will you open your eyes?”
I shook my head as a response. If I opened my eyes, I would be forced to face the day. I felt a sense of emptiness in the pit of my heart, a hollow space I didn’t know existed. The further I examined it, the more I felt an overwhelming, crippling sadness crashing over me. I whimpered and gripped my stomach, which caused me to wince.
“Ouch.” I released my stomach. Maybe the dream about getting punched in the gut wasn’t really a dream? Slowly, I untangled myself and opened my eyes. Amber eyes on the verge of orange stared back at me, full of questions.
“I am going to lift your shirt, Sixx,” Olezka said. His face was colder than I had ever seen it before. He looked like a different man. He sat up, his broad shoulders blocking me from Ana’s view as she stood uncertainly near the doorway.
“What happened?” I asked, confused.
Olezka’s warm fingers brushed over my skin, tucking under the hem of my shirt. I tried not to squirm when he lifted it up. My gaze went to his face, seeing no hunger but rather an emotionless mask. I would have thought he was unaffected until his jaw ticked.
When Olezka’s skin glowed with his fire, I had a feeling it wasn’t a good sign. I looked down at my exposed stomach. It certainly wasn’t flat, but I was pretty sure that wasn’t what bothered him. My ribs had dark purple bruises in a wide swath, and my stomach matched.
“Well, I guess we know why that hurts,” I muttered. Olezka stood back after draping my shirt back over my stomach.
“Do not leave. We’re not done.” His tone was clipped, and he left the room without another word. Disappointment stabbed at me, but I couldn’t say why. And to make matters worse, the moment he left, the aching emptiness in me returned, opening like a yawning canyon.
Ana rushed forward the moment he shut the door and hugged me tightly. I soaked in her comfort.
“What happened?” I asked again, desperate.
“You don’t remember?” She sat back, searching my face for an answer.
“No… My head really hurts, though.” I rubbed at my temple.
“Here.” Ana reached behind her on a small end table and handed me a glass of water with a couple of pain relievers. I smiled gratefully. This felt like our hangover from the other night, magnified tenfold. Ana looked slightly uncomfortable, which was very unlike her.
“So…?” I prompted.
“I guess the best way to do this is to just jump right in.” She took a deep breath. “Last night, Olezka’s brother Timur found you wandering the sub-levels of Nova. He said you seemed drunk.”
I frowned. I remembered running late for work and rushing out of the house so I would make it to the office before
Doug. I didn’t have time to pee before I left, so I went to the bathroom as soon as I got there.
That’s strange. Everything after that is blank like it didn’t happen.
“Are you saying I got black-out drunk?”
“No.” Ana got that strange look on her face again. “You were drugged with Dreamscape.”
I blinked at Ana. Even though I heard her words, I couldn’t comprehend what she meant. “What?”
“Someone drugged you with Dreamscape.”
“No way.”
It was impossible. I didn’t agree with it, so it couldn’t be true. But the longer I sat and tried to force my mind to open its secrets, the more I realized it was hollow. A fierce chill racked my body, and my teeth started to chatter. I pulled the thick blankets tighter around me, but they couldn’t ward off the shakes. This was a different kind of cold. One that started deep inside and spread like a virus.
“Ana…?”
My thoughts were scattered, but there was something about these chills. Withdrawals weren’t good, but they were very uncommon for one-time drug use. What was wrong with me?
“Yeah?” Ana climbed onto the bed to sit next to me, taking care not to jostle me. Once she situated herself and wrapped an arm around my shoulders, I spoke.
“What happened to the humans who used Dreamscape?”
“Shit.” Her eyes widened as she realized the same thing I did. From what we’d learned, most of the humans who took it either died or simply disappeared off the face of the planet.
What if…
“Ana, I think I know what they’re using in Dreamscape.”
The faster my mind tried to work through the puzzle of my strange dreams and the residual effects of the drug, the more suffocating darkness crept in. My head felt heavy, and another chill rocketed through me. I was cold.
So fucking cold.
“Olezka!” Ana called as she shifted on the bed to face me. She cupped my cheeks and stared into my eyes. “Hey, Sixx, what’s going on?” she whispered. A wave of dizziness hit me so hard that I felt nauseous.
“What’s wrong, little fae?” a gentle voice asked.
I knew that voice, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I whimpered. It wasn’t the voice I had hoped for. Where is he?
“Roman! You gotta fire up and warm her. She feels like ice!” Ana released my cheeks and twisted around to speak to Roman, who stood in the doorway.
“If I used my fire, I would burn you and her, both.”
“Where is Z?” Ana demanded. My eyelids felt heavy. I could no longer hold them open. Warm arms wrapped around me.
“Careful, little fae,” Roman snapped as the warmth around me grew.
“Well, if you won’t help her, I will!” Ana fumed as her magic wrapped around me and began to thaw my frozen skin. “I thought your brother cared for my friend. He should be here! If his flames don’t burn her, yours wouldn’t, either.”
“Back off, little fae,” Roman responded icily. “You are walking a thin line. He is caring for his mate, in his way.”
“Well, he’s not here now, and she needs him!” Ana argued. “My magic won’t sustain her for long. I don’t have great control over it yet.”
“When…?” I began, my voice cracking.
“Shush, you. I’m learning that I have a whole lot more power than Aunt Lola led me to believe.”
“I will find Z,” Roman said before spinning on his heel and leaving the room.
I peeked one eye open to glare at Ana. My vision blurred. “Talk?” I asked, desperate to latch onto something other than the cold that had seeped into my veins.
“Okay, Kallan told me that not all fae can do what I can. My magic originates from the Light Court, but lightning is a fairly unique trait. He seems to think it’s because of my unique heritage. I guess being half-human isn’t so bad,” Ana explained as she nudged her shoulder against mine.
I smiled. Or tried to. Take that, paras! Humans aren’t so weak after all.
Ana smiled back. “Kallan has started to tell me a bit about the Veil. It sounds like a whole other experience.”
“That is one way to put it.” Olezka’s voice cut through the room with an icy tone that made me shiver.
“Where the hell have you been?” Ana yelled.
“Getting answers,” Olezka snapped, his anger growing.
“Well, if you think you can calm down, I’ll let you visit Sixx.”
“You will not keep me from my mate. From what I was able to ascertain, Sixx entered Nova yesterday at nine A.M. and didn’t leave the facility until Timur found her wandering the lower levels, drugged out of her mind. Once I know she has come out of this, I will be paying Nova a visit.”
Tubes. Paras tied down. Blood rushing from their bodies.
My dreams – or were they memories? – rushed through my mind, replacing the otherworldly beings, their glamours gone, with Olezka’s ruggedly handsome face, Ana’s stunning looks, and even Timur and Roman’s dark features. My heart raced as my panic grew. I blindly grabbed at Ana, gripping her hand in a death hold.
“What’s wrong?” she asked as she turned her attention back to me.
“Tubes. Hooked up to tubes,” I whispered, retreating further into my dreams. Ana untangled her hand from mine and placed a pillow in my reach.
Suddenly, my surroundings changed, and I found myself in a dark lab. Certain areas were spotlighted. Those areas were blindingly white, yet red was splattered in brilliant arcs across the otherwise sterile space. It was utterly macabre.
A voice whispered in the back of my mind.
Calm.
I heard Ana’s voice although she sounded very far away. “I think the drug is lingering in her blood and messing with her mind.”
No. That’s not right! Why can’t they see?
Relax. Sleep.
Darkness crept in and surrounded my mind, drowning the memories and dreams. Another violent chill swept through me. I shook hard enough to rock the bed.
“You need to come hold her,” Ana ordered.
I shivered as my mind continued to whirl around and around, but then the whispered voice in the back of my mind reminded me that I needed to sleep. Deliciously warm arms wrapped around me. Strong, sure arms that obliterated all other thoughts and promised safety.
****
The coldness was replaced with scorching heat. Slipping out of bed, I snagged my glasses from the side table and blinked. The night came rushing back to me as I perched on the edge of the bed I shared with Olezka. Maybe one of these times I sleep with him, I’ll actually remember getting into bed with him. My bladder screamed to stop ignoring it. I slipped out of the room silently and looked back at Olezka, realizing how peaceful he looked when he was asleep. I stared at him dreamily for a moment more until I realized if I waited any longer, I’d pee in my pants. Thankful for still being dressed from work, I ran to the bathroom.
After I finished, my stomach growled.
“Fickle thing,” I muttered. Since I was awake and couldn’t remember the last time I ate, I figured I might as well grab a little snack. Sneaking down the stairs as quietly as I could, I opened the fridge door and peeked inside, the low light illuminating the contents.
Come.
Chapter 28
Ana
I tossed and turned in the unfamiliar room. Timur’s room had become my temporary room for as long as Sixx was here. She was the reason for my tossing and turning. We started this journey together, but now I feared that I’d made a mistake. Maybe keeping her in the loop was the wrong move. Kallan had been telling me for weeks that humans didn’t belong in our world, but Sixx reminded me what it was to keep my humanity. She was my link to keeping my feet solidly on the ground.
I breathed in deeply and punched the pillow again. A small creak on the hardwood floors outside my room caught my attention. Roman slept like the dead, which I found out the first night I’d slept over. He didn’t wake up even when Anubis was barking like crazy or when Sixx was throwing fi
reballs at my head. When he finally did wake up, he stumbled outside with his coffee and watched like he was checking out a matinee.
Olezka wouldn’t have left Sixx’s side… then again, maybe it was Sixx on the stairs.
I slipped out of bed and crept forward. I certainly didn’t want to startle any of these crazy brothers. Roman seemed to hate me for some unknown reason, while Timur was a whole other strange case.
As I stepped out of Timur’s room, I just caught the front door swinging shut. Anubis sat staring at it with his head cocked. It could have been Roman, but my instincts said otherwise. I took the stairs two at a time and pushed past Anubis then peered out the small window built into the door.
Taillights flared to life. Before the car got out of sight, I managed to see the driver. Sixx.
Where was she going? If she’d had an argument with Z, wouldn’t she come to me? Then again, Z wouldn’t have let her leave. Of that, I was certain. My best friend had that man wrapped around her little finger, even if she couldn’t see it. Nor would she ever use it to her advantage.
Where are you headed, Sixx?
This wasn’t like her. She planned every move six times over while I forged ahead without a plan or even back-up. I hoped for the best and thought of plans on the fly. Hell, Sixx made me sit down and plot out a playbook of plans we could use on missions when we landed in a sticky situation.
If I didn’t act now, I’d lose her. Reaching over to the small bowl on a side table, I grabbed Roman’s keys. He drove a beautiful Indian motorcycle that I practically drooled over when I first saw it. He told me to never touch it, so of course, I wanted to drive it. Also, it’d be the easiest way to keep up with Sixx.
Slipping out of the house and bolting down the driveway, I ran to the motorcycle. The chilly night air brushed against my bare legs. Since I knew I’d be staying with the guys for a few days, I’d brought along a couple of changes of clothes for myself and Sixx. Unfortunately, in my mad dash out the door, I neglected to switch out of my tiny cotton pajama shorts and a thin tank top.
Sixx and the Hellhound: The Sidekick Chronicles Page 18
