“Do not fear, my pchelka. I will return you whole to your car.”
“No! You don’t understand. I don’t have…” Did I really want to tell him I didn’t have my phone? My brain said the logical thing would be not to tell him. But for the life of me, I couldn’t shake the feeling of being safe with him.
“Sixx?”
I sighed. “I left my phone in my car. I didn’t have time to tell my roommate I would be late tonight, and she might be worried.”
“Then I will not delay you any longer. Come, my pchelka.”
We moved quickly after Z paid for the food and left the waitress a generous tip. We hustled to his car and made it back to my workplace in record time. Before I could try to open my door, Olezka opened the door for me. He held his hand out for me to take, which I did only because he drove me back to my car so quickly. Definitely not because I wanted to feel his skin against mine.
A zing passed between us upon contact, and my gaze immediately dropped to his full lips. As soon as I stood, Z leaned forward, and my heart fluttered dangerously. The only thing that brought me back to reality was the blinking flicker of a light in my car. My phone!
“Um…” I scooted backward an inch. Disappointment crossed his features for a second before he wiped it from his face and allowed me out of his space. “Thank you for taking me out.”
When I started to open my car door, Olezka blocked me from getting in. Did he finally figure out what I’d tried to do yet completely failed at?
“I do not want you to think this is goodbye. Our time is not over, my priyatel.”
“For tonight it is. I gotta go.”
Olezka didn’t move for a minute longer. My breath came out in short pants, but my mind snagged on the new nickname he’d given me. He said it with such reverence, I felt compelled to learn what it meant.
“I will be seeing you soon.”
I nodded dumbly, not sure how to react. He finally took a step back, allowing me to breathe. He waited until I got into my car and shut the door before getting into his own. I picked up my phone to see it flashing with notifications of missed phone calls, voicemails, and texts.
The moment of elation passed, quickly morphing to horror as I listened to the voicemails first and started up my car. I didn’t even check to see if Z was still watching. I squealed out of the parking lot and headed to the last location that Ana gave me.
Ana was in danger.
Nausea rose up my throat. I was fucking around, thinking I could pry information out of Z like a snappy detective, and now my best friend was in danger because of my stupid, stupid idea.
Tears rolled down my cheeks and I drove faster.
“I’m coming, Ana,” I whispered.
Chapter 9
Ana sent me her last location in a text, but when I arrived, it looked abandoned. It was only a couple blocks away from the bar where she’d interviewed, but the rundown buildings coupled with the sketchy-looking folks stumbling around didn’t give me a vote of confidence. The back of my neck tingled with awareness.
I parked my car and reached over into my glove compartment, digging out my taser labeled SOL. I triggered it once just to make sure it was charged, and it buzzed with an electric arc. Shit out of Luck, as we so lovingly named the taser, was only for extreme emergencies. Tonight seemed to fit that bill. Several years back, we’d hired a para to modify it to a voltage that would knock most paras on their asses. Of course, I never had an opportunity to try it out before, so whether it worked or not was a complete mystery.
I climbed out. Sticking out like a sore thumb in my dress, I strapped my purse across my body, palming SOL. Goosebumps pimpled over my skin. I rubbed my hands up and down my arms, trying to create a bit of friction. I walked up the street and peeked down every alleyway, but there were no signs of Ana. Fear threatened to overtake my senses even as I tried to tamp it down.
Pulling out my phone, I redialed Ana’s number even though I’d tried calling her a hundred times on my drive over with no response.
I heard Ana’s phone start to ring. Frowning, I strained to listen and moved my phone away from my ear, stepping toward the sound. The ringtone started up again, and I followed it down a dark, dingy alleyway.
A big, blue industrial dumpster sat near the back of the alley. The song echoed once more before shutting off. My heart pounded in my chest. I ran over to the dumpster, gripping the edges of the little peek-a-boo window by standing on my tippy toes. The moon hung high in the sky but gave off very little light in the shadowy alleyway.
I activated the flashlight app on my phone and pointed it into the grimy dumpster. The insides lit up, but all I saw inside was a mountain of black trash bags filled to the brim. I released the edge of the little window to plug my nose and took a couple of steps backward. Stumbling away from the dumpster, I called Ana’s phone again. This time, the ringtone blared from a little farther back in the alley. I held up my phone, still using the flashlight app.
A streak of blonde hair caught my attention, and my breath got caught in my throat as I stumbled forward. Tears filled my eyes as I hovered my hands over my best friend’s prone body. Ana was on the ground, her hair plastered over her face, her body half covered by discarded trash bags.
“Ana, I swear to fuck, if you’re dead, I will force you back to life and kill you myself!” I screeched, unable to calm my racing heart. Her platinum blonde hair covered her face, and sections were tinted red with dried blood. I gagged, unable to help the knee-jerk reaction. “I’m so sorry. You know how much gory stuff freaks me out.”
Uncovering her face, I found the damage wasn’t quite as awful as what I had imagined. My imagination had a right to run wild went it came to the safety and wellbeing of my friend. She had bruising around her eye, her nose was swollen, and caked blood streamed down over her lips.
Her lips moved as she whispered something, but I couldn’t hear. I leaned down closer.
“You…owe…dollar.”
A choked sob escaped me as my hand fluttered over her face and body. “Where are you hurt the worst, you big idiot?”
“Everywhere,” she gurgled out. Then, her eyes rolled back into her head, and she passed out.
What happened next could only be explained by adrenaline. Ana wasn’t a big girl by any means though she worked out regularly to keep in shape for our evening activities. But she still stood over a head taller than me, and I did not work out. Not even a little. I somehow managed to get her halfway on my back, her feet dragging behind us as I half-carried her out of the alleyway.
Thankfully, my car was in sight and there were no other people on the streets. I didn’t know how I would explain my friend on my back, passed out with a beat-up face. Fear continued to rage through me as I fumbled with my keys. After clicking the fob, I managed to awkwardly open the back door and roused Ana to consciousness again.
“Okay, Ana, I need your help to get you in the car.”
“Sixx…” Ana’s head lolled to the side. My heart squeezed, and guilt bit at me. My stupid, stupid plan. If I had been there with her, I could have at least gotten help. I shook my head. No point thinking about ifs at this point.
“You gotta help me, Ana.” I groaned and tried to lift her again.
“Sixx, promise,” Ana wheezed, “don’t take me to him. Price too high.”
I gritted my teeth. That was my exact plan because I didn’t know who else to go to. Ana needed para help, and there were very few I would trust with Ana’s life. And only one that was located in the city.
“Let’s get you in the car first,” I said quietly, ignoring her. I wouldn’t promise Ana not to go to him. After Ana helped me get her into the car, she passed out again, lying motionless on the back seat. I imagined the rest of her was bruised up as much as the parts I could see. What if whoever she fought used magic and she had wounds I couldn’t see? Ana rarely ran into a para she couldn’t handle, but after the odd fight where she was injured and didn’t think she’d heal on her own in a day or t
wo, she visited him.
After gently closing the passenger back door, I rounded the car and breathed in deep. Pure panic dissipated as my gaze landed on my best friend. She would do anything in her power to help me, and I had to do the same. Especially as my guilty thoughts started to eat away at my mind.
Shaking my head, I climbed into the driver’s seat. I pulled up an address on my phone that Ana thought I got rid of a couple of years back. I should have deleted the address and forgot his name if I knew what was good for me, but now I was grateful that I hadn’t.
A different face flashed through my mind. Even if I had Z’s number, I didn’t know that I could ask this of him. He might have been a perfect gentleman at dinner, but I didn’t know him. The devil you knew and all that.
My guilt came full circle. I didn’t go out on the date for the date aspect even though that was all I got out of it. My plan to use it as an investigation into Z’s illicit activities failed miserably.
“Don’t worry, Ana. I got you this time.”
****
You can do this. There’s nothing to fear. I clutched the steering wheel, my chin sitting on it as I glared at the house ahead of me. It only took twenty minutes to drive there, but it felt like forever. Ana never even stirred, which made me drive faster.
Sitting in front of my destination, I found myself reconsidering my decision to bring her here. Should I do this? I glared at the doorway. Breathing in, I slapped my hands against the wheel and climbed out of the car.
I stomped up the walkway, determination fueling my steps. Whatever his price, I would gladly pay it. I would. For Ana. Climbing the steps that led to the door, I had my hand poised to knock when it swung open and a lithe body leaned against the doorway.
“I wondered how long you were going to sit out there. Then you came rushing up like a little demon. What can I help you with, treat?”
“I hate when you call me that,” I gritted out.
He knew it, especially when he gave a smug smile, showing off longer than natural canines. His skin was pale, and his eyes were rimmed red, a stark contrast to his otherwise human complexion. My instincts to flee sparked to life.
“Whatcha doin’ here, treat? I thought your keeper told you to stay away from me.”
“Ana needs your help; otherwise, I would never have come here.”
“Never say never, treat.”
“Effie, I’m only going to tell you this once…” I busted out my stern, take-no-prisoners voice, but Alonzo – who hated it when Ana and I called him Effie – flashed forward and gripped my neck. It wasn’t enough to cut off my circulation, but it was certainly enough to prove his point. He was a deadly predator, and I was weak without Ana. Then again, he didn’t expect me to have SOL at the ready, pressed against his manhood.
A roar reverberated through the night, crackling like thunder. I jumped and tightened my hold on SOL, which triggered it. Effie snarled and tightened his grip around my neck as I tased him. I dropped SOL to scrabble at the hand wrapped around my neck when a freight train slammed into me and knocked me back. In the commotion, Effie’s claw-tipped fingernails raked over my neck. I cried out in pain.
As I stumbled backward, I watched in disbelief as two bodies grappled on the ground. I gritted my teeth at the wrinkle this caused. Even if Effie hurt me, I hurt him, too. In any event, I needed him to help Ana, and whoever attacked us needed to leave. Effie managed to push the person back, but the unknown entity erupted into flames. My eyes widened as the newcomer’s body shifted, wreathed in blistering flames.
Effie raised his hands in surrender. “What the fuck did you bring to my door, treat?” Effie growled, keeping his red eyes fixed on the burning man crouched in his foyer.
“Don’t fucking speak to her.”
Wait… That garbled voice sounds awfully familiar…
“Z?”
He looked over his shoulder at me, his eyes blazing with the same fire that surrounded him. His chest seemed to expand with every passing second, his skin tightening over his bones. The flames on his arms retreated when he gripped Effie by the throat as if he feared the vampire would come after me.
“Get in your car, ozornoy.”
“No, you need to leave.” I placed my hands on my hips.
“I will not. In the car now.”
Effie glared at me, Olezka’s hand still gripping his throat. The scene would have been comical if it weren’t so tragic. There Effie dangled, wearing black silk pajama pants and no shirt, looking positively tiny in comparison to Olezka’s beefy frame engulfed in flames.
“Oh, no. Treat, you take your rarog and get the fuck out of here.”
“I don’t know what or who that is, but I need your help, Alonzo. Z was just leaving.”
“Nyet. Get in your car,” Olezka growled, looking more pissed off by the minute. His hand tightened around Effie’s throat as his flames crept closer and closer.
“I don’t have time for this! Ana needs help, so one of you better fucking help me right now, or I’m heading out to find someone else!” I snapped, pissed off by this whole situation.
Olezka withdrew his flames and released Effie, who watched us with a strange look on his face as he staggered back a step or two.
“You will not be assisting Sixx any longer. You will not take any form of payment from her.”
Effie bared his canines at Z. “She came to me, rarog. Remember that. Be seeing you, treat.”
“You will not. Sixx, get in your car. Passenger side.”
“Olezka?” I tried to get his attention, but he pulled out his phone and stormed past me toward my car. He poked his head into the back, checking on Ana. My eyes filled with tears of guilt and frustration. I needed Effie’s help because I wasn’t sure I could trust Z with this.
I looked back at Effie, but he snarled at me before stomping inside and slamming the door. Without any other options, I headed back to my Kia, surprised to see Olezka sitting in the driver’s seat.
The look he gave me was glacial, so different from the fiery passion he kept giving me at dinner. My stomach dropped even further as I hung my head and joined him.
“I need to get Ana help.” I twisted my hands together.
“And you think I will not help your friend?”
“I don’t know what to think.”
“Neither do I, priyatel.”
Chapter 10
“Olezka, you’re scaring me. Please tell me where we’re going, because I need to know that you’re taking Ana somewhere where she can be healed.” I had all but forgotten the scratch Effie had given to my neck. It stung like the dickens, but it was nothing compared to what Ana was dealing with.
He squeezed the steering wheel and muttered in Russian for a few moments without speaking. His jaw tightened before he released a harsh breath. Remarkably, his clothes didn’t look singed or destroyed. He still wore jeans and a thin flannel, his body heat pulsing to me in hypnotic waves across the tiny space.
“Why did you not call me for help?”
I twisted in my seat to look back at Ana, whose prone body lulled with the movement of the car. “Well, first off, I don’t have your phone number. Second, I don’t know you. We went on one date, Olezka.”
He slammed his palm against the dashboard in frustration, causing his flames to flare to life. “That does not matter! That male would have taken from you. And you would have allowed it?”
I answered with more bravado than I felt. “I’ve dealt with Effie before. I know how he works. He would have asked for a pint of blood, which I would have given him gladly to help my friend. Again, Z, I was working with the only resources I had at hand. The only thing I really know about you is that when you threw me over your shoulder and I bit your butt to escape, apparently that was some type of mating ritual for whatever you are.”
Silence reigned between us for a moment longer until Z burst into laughter, a full-throated belly laugh that vibrated through the seats and shook me. I gripped my arm rest and faced him before shif
ting my gaze to Ana, who was still unconscious. My heart raced.
What the heck is going on?
“This is the ozornoy I have been waiting for.”
“What do you keep calling me?”
“Oзорник means hellion.”
“Excuse me?” I practically shrieked. I wasn’t a hellion; that title belonged entirely to Ana.
“I will forgive you this once, but you must promise me that you will never return to that vampire for his help. I guarantee you he desired much more than your blood. And after he took a pint, you would have been too weak to use your weapon.”
“Oh, no.” I covered my face with my hands as I realized I dropped SOL after I tasered Effie in the crotch. Thinking back to my actions, I felt my neck heat with mortification. “Effie is going to kill me. Probably with SOL.”
“He will not touch you,” Z growled.
“I’d really rather not talk about Effie. Can you just tell me where you’re taking us?” I asked, glancing outside the window. We were traveling down roads that I had rarely frequented, and I quickly lost my bearings. At least, it looked like we were heading into a nice neighborhood.
“To Kallan. Ana is part fae, and he is fae, so he will be the best to heal her. It wasn’t a smart idea to take her to a vampire. He would have used his blood, which can have… unwanted side effects.”
Guilt ate at me again. I didn’t know that. But we also hadn’t been in a situation like this since we escaped the rogue pack. Back then, we could rely on her aunt to help us. While we both liked to pretend we knew what we were doing, sometimes I realized how out of our depth we were.
But Effie would have helped. I knew he would have.
“What unwanted side effects?” I asked, needing to know for future reference.
Z shifted in the seat and grunted. “For humans, their blood acts almost as a drug.”
The Sidekick Chronicles: Sixx and the Hellhound Page 6
