Ana finally unwrapped her constrictor-like hold and dragged me into the palace. I was pretty sure she was taking me along a route that skirted around the worst of the damage. She offered her own colorful commentary along the way, and it was good to see my best friend in high spirits. But there was someone else I needed to see.
“Ana, you know I love you and am beyond glad that you’re safe, but…”
Ugh, could I really be this selfish right now? Even while she was fighting for her life, she was probably just as worried about what was happening in the human realm with me. From what I learned from our brief conversation, the passage of time on both sides of the Veil was exactly the same: three weeks. After four days passed from the day I departed and the rest of Key’s human army didn’t show, they figured I’d succeeded.
The battle didn’t last the entire three weeks I was gone, but there were several issues they had to work through before they deemed it safe enough for me to return. Ana didn’t provide the gritty details, just the Cliffs notes version, but that was okay. I didn’t really care about hearing a play-by-play as long as those I cared about were safe.
“Don’t worry; you’ll get plenty of alone time with your man tonight. But tomorrow, you’re mine! We’ve already discussed our joint custody arrangement,” Ana joked, still dragging me through the palace. Finally, she stopped and opened a door. “You get her until lunch tomorrow. Then I get to hang out with her!” Ana shouted before pushing me through the doorway and shutting it behind me.
I blinked a couple of times and tried to get my bearings. Ana was definitely in a hyper mood. But those thoughts fled as my gaze leveled on him.
Olezka stood in a towel, dripping from his bath, staring at me with longing in his eyes. Desire flared when we locked gazes.
“Sixx?”
“Olezka,” I breathed. Warmth swept through me at seeing him alive and well, and the tightness in my chest loosened. Before I realized I was moving, my hand was brushing against his naked chest. His heart thumped under my palm, and I closed my eyes. He was alive. To feel him and touch him was almost more than I could bear.
“Olezka…” I whispered again. His hand brushed against my cheek, and my eyelids fluttered open. “Are you okay?”
“Of course, my Sixx. I would never leave you.” Olezka wrapped his other arm around my waist and tugged my hips against his body. “And you, my Sixx?”
“I’m okay. Better now. Excellent, if you would kiss me,” I added with a smile.
Olezka didn’t hesitate. He gripped the back of my head and pulled me close, pressing his lips against mine. My heart melted. Though his desire was apparent and he kissed me hungrily, his lips were gentle.
When the kiss started to turn into something more and our hands began to explore, I allowed my body to relax, and I breathed a little easier. He was whole and safe. We were together again, and I needed to be physically reminded of that. I needed him.
“Olezka?”
He growled contently deep in the back of his throat as he lifted me up. He placed me gently on the bed before ripping his towel away. My heart skipped a beat, and I forced my gaze back to his face with great difficulty.
He smiled. “You’ve seen me before.”
He was very proud of himself.
“Yeah, but it’s been a while. I’ve missed you.” I pulled his head down and kissed him again, matching his desire with equal fervor.
This night was for us to reconnect and rediscover each other. It was like coming home. Finally.
****
“I can’t believe you banged all night!” Ana joked, poking me with her toe.
I shook my head and took another sip of the heady fae wine. Since bonding with Olezka, I could handle the alcohol better than before, but it still had quite a kick to it. After each of us spent the day with our mates, we snuck away while they discussed what their next steps would be.
Ana and I swung by the kitchen to pilfer an assortment of desserts and a bottle of wine, returning to the same balcony where we’d watched the events the night of the Oidhche Dorcha what felt like a lifetime ago. Things were so different that night. We didn’t know it at the time, but it sparked the events that led us here and marched the Dark Court to war with itself. That was the night Key began trying to steal a throne that didn’t belong to him.
“So is he…?”
“Dead? Yeah. In the end, it came down to a fight between Erebus and Key. He was able to extract quite a bit of information out of Key because the male couldn’t stop boasting about his so-called achievements.” Ana paused and took another sip of her wine. “Key had a lot more going on than we realized. Just because Key’s gone doesn’t mean it’s over. I’m not sure that cutting the head off that particular snake killed the body if you get my drift.”
I did. Key offered paras in the human world something more, something they obviously longed to have. I had a feeling the Sentinel would have their hands full for decades to come as they worked to settle the paras back down. Not to mention those who followed Key’s lead on this side of the Veil or the legions of humans addicted to the drug he created.
The information we gathered from the factories would help our efforts, but since Key didn’t need to be brought to justice, the sole information that I had gathered didn’t hold much weight. There would be countless ripple effects we’d have to deal with, but for now, the immediate threat had been neutralized.
“You okay, Sixx?”
“Yeah. It had to be done. I know this world works differently. But catch me up on everything else.” I waggled my eyebrows at her. “Did you and Erebus finally make it official?”
Ana smiled and glanced up at the dusky sky.
“In a fashion. But things are still weird between us. It’s not solely up to us; whether I like it or not, I’m the Light Princess, and we have to deal with the Light fae, too. In addition to the forces he sent here, Key sent a small but deadly force to the Light palace as well. But for some stupid reason, the Light King believes Erebus was behind the attack. Plus, he doesn’t love the idea of me hooking up with the Dark King.”
I knew the Light fae King Malcolm didn’t recognize Erebus as the true King of the Dark Court, though he was more than willing to let his daughter be forcibly bonded to someone he thought he could control. Fae politics were funny that way.
Ana looked at ease outwardly, but I heard the underlying tension in her voice and the worry she held. This was far from over for her. She would have to work through the politics of this realm, something she didn’t much care for even in our world. At least, for now, we were both physically safe from harm.
“It’s crazy how you helped save this entire Court,” I whispered, proudly looking over the lands she helped save.
“Me? What about you? You saved the world, Sixx.”
Ana and I looked at each other and laughed.
She was right about saving our world. Not the human world, per se, but our little piece of the world. I had my mate, and my best friend was still alive and well. She was safe. We were all safe.
In the end, that was all we could really hope for after one human-fae hybrid and her faithful human sidekick triggered the attention of two paras.
The End
…Ish
Friendly Warning:
The following epilogue will set up for Season 2 of the Sidekick Chronicles. The arc with Key is completed, but if you are interested in continuing reading about Sixx and her crew, feel free to forge ahead!
Epilogue
Miles and Miles Away
Deep in the Light Court, a human vehicle crashed into one of their sacred trees. Behind the car was a pulsing gate, the human city bustling and alive with life beyond its glistening perimeter. A human stumbled from the car and looked around, unaware that there were fae watching from a distance – Lower Fae who saw this as a fortuitous escape into a different world, leaving the poison of the human world to leach into the Veil.
Across the Veil and the globe, more unprotected gates appeared
without warning or intention, opening entrances from the Veil into the human realm.
Note from the Author:
First off, thank you so much for taking a chance on a strange concept for an Urban Fantasy. Sixx’s story came to me right before COVID hit, and because of it, I managed to write the first two books in record time. Ironically, because of COVID, it took me a little longer to get books 3 and 4 done because I, myself, got COVID and was completely out for it for almost 2 weeks.
Anyway, with that all said: I love – love – Sixx and her crew. I loved the idea of having the story based around the sidekick character. Which brings me to the epilogue. I know for some people, maybe this was all of Sixx they really wanted, and that’s perfectly fine! But I have some more stories I’d like to tell. However, with that said, the arc involving Key is done. Consider the next set of books – Season 2 for Sixx.
LAST WORD FROM THE AUTHOR
Don’t forget if you loved, meh, or just didn’t much care for the book at all, that reviews are so important for authors, and please don’t forget to leave one. Even one liners are helpful! There is much reviews can do: tell an author to keep working on a certain series, whether this genre is for them, gives them encouragement to do better.
Thank you all for your support.
Stuff about the Author
Becca Vincenza lives in wonderful Michigan. She has an obsession with candy, her animals, and of course books. When she's not wearing her author hat, she's working to pay off her student loans for her acquired English degree.
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Sixx Saves the World: The Sidekick Chronicles Page 21
