The Sidekick Chronicles: Sixx and the Hellhound

by Becca Vincenza

  The Sidekick Chronicles:

  Sixx and the Hellhound

  (Book 1)

  Becca Vincenza

  Copyright

  Copyright © 2021 Becca Vincenza

  Cover: Covers by Christian

  Proof Reading: Dawn Yacovetta

  All rights reserved. The book may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  The books are works of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author‘s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Books by Becca Vincenza

  HEXED SERIES

  Hexed Hearts

  Hunter’s Heart

  THE REBIRTH SERIES

  Stolen

  Damaged

  Healed

  Burned

  Drowned

  Tamed

  MERCENARIES FOR HIRE

  Freelance

  Hired

  Contracted

  Authorized

  CURSE BREAKER SERIES

  Art of Death

  Secrets of the Dead

  Dance with Death

  THE SIDEKICK CHRONICLES

  Sixx and the Beginning (Prequel)

  Sixx and the Hellhound

  Sixx and the Fae

  Sixx and the Incubus

  Sixx Saves the World

  Dedication

  For Ellie, I tried for no swear words. Really, I did.

  Chapter 1

  So, maybe Kias weren’t the coolest or stealthiest vehicles out there, but when you were living on a strict budget and crime-fighting didn’t pay – especially since most humans were blissfully unaware of those things that went bump in the night – you took what you could get. Plus, who would ever suspect a Kia? No one, that’s who—paranormal or human.

  My fingers clacked loudly against my industrial-grade laptop. It was heavy-duty and durable, another practical choice. My hacking skills were slowly progressing as the years went by, which I put to use when my crime-fighting best friend and I decided to take on the creatures of the night. I didn’t consider myself so much a Watchtower as I did a White Hat hacker.

  “Why do you type so loudly?”

  “I type with passion,” I muttered.

  Ana snorted. “Sixx, I fucking love you. Never change.”

  “Um, thanks? Love you too.”

  Ana’s laugh filtered through the speaker on my phone. I shook my head and rolled my eyes, trying to keep an ear open to listen to the conversations filtering through the police scanner. She had gone on ahead and was patrolling the streets while I remained behind, tracking her movements and searching for anything out of the ordinary. An alert went off for something I didn’t recognize, so I pulled up a search engine and typed as quickly as I could.

  “Got a live one, Tinkerbell.”

  “Worst code name ever.”

  I should mention that my code name was not Sixx. That was my actual name. But don’t let the badassery of the name confuse you; I am not the heroine of this story. Me, I’m the one with a weird name, untamable brown curls, and uh, vertically challenged and, well, width challenged. Complete with chubby cheeks and plain Jane brown eyes, I was a rather average looking girl.

  “You were the one who nixed all my Shakespearian ones.”

  I practically felt her eye roll from here. The air became somber as I gave her the lowdown on the assault in progress. It supposedly involved a weapon, but the caller couldn’t see a weapon, which led me to believe this could be a crime that fell more under our specialized jurisdiction.

  “You’re going to have to move fast. It’s a couple blocks away in an alley near a club, and it sounds like the para is pretty far into their feeding. Or whatever it is they’re doing,” I explained. I closed my laptop, setting it in the passenger seat and turning the key over in the ignition. I checked my blind spot and then checked it again before pulling out of my spot on the side of the road. The plan was for Ana to kick ass, save the human, and scare off the creature. Hopefully, the incapacitated para would think twice about feeding on a human from now on.

  Ana and I had moved to the city a couple of years ago, but city driving still stressed me out. And during times like this when I needed to follow by car, it was slow going. Luckily, the traffic in this area wasn’t too bad at this time of night since everyone was inside the clubs or bars that lined the streets. Even so, I needed to hurry to the reported crime location so I could be Ana’s lookout.

  As I pulled around the block and closed in on the incident location, the only open parking spot I could see was a tiny parallel spot tucked between two very expensive looking cars.

  “What I wouldn’t give to own one of those fancy cars that could parallel park for you. Are they even a real thing?” I muttered.

  “Hon, you know I love you, but park the damn car and be my lookout, please,” Ana said, breathing a little harder as she used her enhanced strength to leap from building to building. While taxing on the body, it was the easiest way for her to move undetected through the city.

  “I am, I am,” I grumbled, holding my breath and squeaking each time I thought I got a little too close to the cars. They looked like the kind of cars you’d owe money for just by looking at them. Ana’s husky laugh came over the line. Too focused on my task, I didn’t even feel a ping of annoyance at the sound. Or jealousy at the melodious timbre of her laugh, since mine sounded like a dying hyena.

  Finally managing to get the car into position, I put it in PARK and climbed out. Thumping bass vibrated the street and poured out of the doors of the packed club perched on the side of the road. Shivering, I tugged my coat closer against the biting chill of the late fall air. My hair fluttered around me, and I snatched it with one hand and smoothed it down while glancing furtively up the street. I was a good distance away from the alleyway, yet the hairs on the back of my neck stood on edge. As if a para was nearby. One that wasn’t Ana.

  “Hey, Ana?”

  “Yeah?”

  “You know about that superpower of mine?”

  “I don’t see how remembering the tiniest, most ridiculous things from work is going to help us right now,” Ana muttered.

  “No, not that one.”

  “Ah, the one you developed in high school.”

  “Yup.”

  “Well, keep your eyes peeled. I’m tracking him right now. He must be a hungry bastard because he fed and then only moved to the next alleyway over.”

  Dread curled in my stomach. I was not the hero type as much as I wished to be. That title fully belonged to Ana. But it might also be because she had a buttload of power behind her punches and could actually take on the paras whereas I…didn’t.

  Ana’s line went dead, the signal that meant she found her mark. It was my job to wait, watch for any humans getting too close, and try to divert their attention if they did. A job I didn’t necessarily enjoy but one I’d pick any day over kicking butt.

  My senses kicked into overdrive when I noticed two guys walking down the street. One was massive and ruggedly handsome, the kind of handsome that hinted he was more than just a pretty face. His features were rough and hawkish, but his eyes were kind as they swept over the area. He walked with the confidence of someone who knew exactly how to handle himself and anyone who got in his way. He wore dark jeans and a plain t-shirt, which seemed odd since it was almost winter and most people were bundled up. His rugged look, paired with a little more than a five o’clock shadow and thick, tousled hair s
creamed slightly dangerous but in the most delicious way.

  His friend diminished the danger vibe only slightly. He was pretty. Like, annoyingly pretty. Wearing designer jeans and a crisply pressed button-up, I could tell he definitely cared about his clothing and probably spent more time primping in the mirror than I did. I usually threw my hair up in a ponytail and hoped for the best. The pairing between the two men seemed a little off, but when I compared me and Ana… well, we didn’t match so much, either. The pretty guy with his carefully styled hair and clean-shaven jaw made me feel silly and self-conscious.

  When Ana and I were out patrolling the streets, checking out guys was not my M.O. Especially when they were bee-lining it right to the alleyway Ana had disappeared down.

  “Oh, fudge-nuggets,” I hissed as I headed after them, trailing behind just far enough so they hopefully couldn’t sense me. Suddenly, their backs straightened at the same time, and they seemed to sniff the air. Could they hear Ana fighting? The bigger, sexy one’s shoulders started to shake.

  The wind was blowing, but not that bad. Then again, he decided to wear a t-shirt on a chilly night. He was probably freezing. It made me feel colder just watching him. I tugged my own sweater sleeves over my hands to conserve additional warmth. A strong gust cut through me, and I adjusted my earlier thought as my hair flew forward into my face, blocking my vision. Huffing, I pushed the wayward curls back. When I glanced back up, the two guys in front of me had disappeared. With my heart in my throat, I turned around, only for my world to go topsy-turvy.

  “Oof.” My stomach hit a powerful shoulder as the wind was knocked out of me. “Ouch!” I shouted, getting my bearings. As I came to, I realized my face was inches away from a ridiculously toned butt. Like, whose butt actually looked like this? I heard a snarl, one that sounded very much like one from my past.

  Oh, fudge-nuggets. Cold, icy fear dumped into my veins as panic burst over me in a wave that threatened to take me under.

  “Anastasia! Help me!”

  Chapter 2

  The shoulder currently pressed in my gut bumped upward, jostling me painfully. Whoever said being thrown over the shoulder of a big, beefy man was romantic or fun or literally anything other than painful had apparently never had it done to them. Another minute or two of this, and I was going to throw up. Grunting loudly, I used the male’s back as leverage to lean up, pressing my hands against it and straining up to see my best friend.

  Anastasia wore a matching look of distress on her face, which only increased my panic. Anastasia did not get worried. She was the epitome of cool. I realized the rugged-looking man I’d admired earlier had thrown me over his shoulder while his pretty friend tugged Ana along by the arm, following right behind us. She must have heard me cry out and came to investigate. Now, she was captured, too.

  It was hard to focus on anything but the beast holding me and trying not to puke all over his muscled back, but even so, my body responded to the warmth he radiated. It was almost freaking winter, and he was only wearing a thin t-shirt! How was he so toasty warm? And why was his body heat seeping into my skin, calming me down like a tranquilizing Xanie bar?

  My heart stuttered, and I started to feel light-headed. No, adrenaline, come on and pump through my veins. I willed it to happen at the same moment my glasses started to slip off my nose as if the bounce in his step encouraged them to fly off faster. Hanging upside down as I was, I’d have to touch this ridiculously muscled back to gain enough leverage to push them back up my nose.

  Moving like lightning, Anastasia snatched my glasses the instant before they would have hit the ground. I breathed a little easier. Glasses were stupid-expensive. Hell, I had been rocking a two-year-old script because I couldn’t afford to buy new ones. I was nearsighted, but even that was starting to blur out the older I got. I would not live an easy life without my glasses.

  “Z, fuck, you need to take this one,” the pretty boy grunted as he rushed forward to grip Ana again after she’d slipped from his hold.

  I knew that not all paras had super speed like she did, but did that mean this Z fella did? Welp, if he did, I was hecked three times over.

  “Nyet,” the beefy man said with a Russian accent.

  No. Nooo. No. No. No. I peeked up at Ana. Even in this dire situation and with blurry eyes from not wearing my glasses, I could see her openly smirking. Smirking. I stuck my tongue out at her. Stupid accent, making me all squishy in the head.

  “Z… Man, she’s testing me,” the pretty boy grunted.

  “Ope nope, don’t like that,” I whispered just as Z twisted around so quickly my head spun, my horrid accent combatting his own. Unfortunately, I still heard Ana’s ladylike snort at the use of my accent and token word.

  “Female, you will remain complacent,” the massive man named Z growled.

  “Or what?” my strong, badass friend snarled. If it weren’t for me, she could take down both these fellas without breaking a sweat. But my dumb ass had to get in the way. “You gonna hurt an innocent woman?”

  A fierce, terrifying snarl rumbled through Z, and his body heated more significantly than before. If we didn’t have miles of clothes separating us – thank goodness for that – I think his skin might have burned me.

  Indignant, he scoffed, “I would never.”

  My God, I did not like what that dangerously deep, sexy voice was doing to my body. Not one single bit. He swung back around, and I gripped the back of his shirt, closing my eyes against the spinning sensation until he continued to walk again. I peeked one eye open to watch as the street went by.

  Where were they taking us, anyway?

  “Pineapple,” Ana said.

  I peeked up, glaring at her.

  Seriously? Right after I was swung around and already feeling rather nauseous? Sigh. But I guess a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do. Thinking on the spot was more Ana’s specialty. I was a planner. Oh boy, did I love to plan. To the inch of the plan’s death. Which was why we’d developed an extensive set of code words of plans we could use on the fly.

  Usually, Ana was the one who executed Plan Pineapple, which consisted of doing anything you could to shock your assailant into confusion, so I had to think for a minute about how I’d go about it. Then my eyes widened as I realized exactly what I’d have to do.

  “Oh, fudge nuggets,” I whimpered as I leaned closer to my captor. I had no idea how Ana was planning to distract her guy. Maybe the same way I was. After all, she was the one who called out Pineapple.

  Rolling my eyes heavenward, I opened my mouth wide, trying hard not to laugh when the image of a GIF popped into my head. You know, the one where the cat rears back and powers up its bite. Because, well, it was the closest thing to reach, and I was about to do the same.

  My teeth found purchase and latched onto a too firm, too round ass. Sure, he was kidnapping me, but dang, it was hot. Z roared and tightened his arms around my legs, causing me to squeak. The moment I released him, he swung me back over his shoulder to stand in front of him, and my knees protested from the impact. I swayed as the blood quickly drained from my head and my vision blurred.

  Ope nope. I backed up three steps.

  “Eep,” I whispered. Z’s eyes were burning. Like, a literal fire seemed to be crackling in the depths of his pupils, blazing and getting bigger by the second. Before I could register it, Ana appeared in front of me, holding my glasses in the hand tucked behind her back. I grabbed them and crammed them back on my face, blissfully seeing in HD again.

  “Breathe in!” she screamed one-point-two seconds before her powers wrapped around us like a cocoon. I didn’t have time to suck in a breath, so when we reappeared a couple of blocks away, I hunched over wheezing.

  “Sorry I didn’t give you enough of a warning, but we had to move. Like, right now, we need to run.” Her head was tilted in the direction of our would-be captors while Z’s roar still thrummed through my head.

  “Come on, Sixx.” Ana tugged on me. “We’ll have to circle back to t
he car.”

  I huffed along with her, wishing that I had taken to running every once in a while. Or something. I don’t know. I hated the idea of running, but I sort of got why people did it now. In case of zombies, rabid bears, or, you know, two paras.

  Ana slowed down to keep my pace but turned her head to listen behind us, her half-fae heritage affording her a better range of hearing than my normal human one.

  “I think they lost our trail for now. As long as we keep to populated areas, we should be able to make it back to the car and hightail it out of here. But Plan Polka-dot if we spot one, okay?”

  I shifted uneasily. I didn’t love the idea of Plan Polka-dot because it meant she would stay behind and fight while I ran like a bat out of hell. But her utterly startling violet eyes held mine unflinchingly until I agreed with a tight nod.

  She gripped my hand, squeezing it reassuringly as we made our way through the crowds. Bodies brushed against ours as we moved through the streets, but none popped out as being familiar. My tense shoulders sagged with relief, believing we’d lost them. As soon as our little Kia was in our sightlines, I breathed a little easier. Then, Ana’s hand tightened on mine.

  “Um, Sixx… What did the guy look like that had you tossed over his shoulder?”

  “I mean, I got a great view of his ass,” I joked, laughing until I looked up and my eyes collided with… Oh no. “Yeah, he looks a lot like him,” I squeaked when my gaze dropped to his full lips that were peeled back into a satisfied smile. “Polka-dot…polka-dot…polka-dot!” I whispered frantically, grabbing Ana’s arm and trying to tug her back the way we came. I turned and collided with a hard, chiseled chest.

  “What do polka-dots have to do with anything?” Z’s pretty friend asked. I swallowed and backed up a step until a vicious growl came behind me from the man called Z.

  Ana’s fist came flying forward, and suddenly she stood between me and the fiendishly attractive man who had tried to overpower her earlier.