Sixx and the Incubus: The Sidekick Chronicles Page 13

  “I hate you. I hate you. I hate you,” I whispered as we walked into the forest. Despite my new mantra, I was secretly thrilled we were finally doing the clichéd, secretive para meet-up. The middle of the woods meet-up where so many meet-ups that I’d read about in supernatural fantasy books was finally happening, and the book nerd in me was a little giddy. Of course, it was a bit of a letdown that the long-awaited meeting was just in a local park, but at least, it was decently wooded.

  Cyril and I spent a full day working on a plan of attack that would take place over the next two days. I started by using my hacking skills while he reached out to various connections in his para network. In the end, the best plan we came up with was to set up this meeting and play it by ear from there.

  The night before our plan was set to go into motion, I laid on the lumpy, economy motel mattress and worried about Olezka, imagining him in those rings.

  Cyril kept my wrists tied tight throughout the night, still not trusting that I wouldn’t run off the first chance I got, which begged the question: Who would I possibly go to for help? It was a dismal thought. These thoughts kept me tossing and turning all night. In sharp contrast, Cyril slept soundly, barely moving once he settled on the twin mattress separated by the cheap night table. It seemed like the moment I finally fell into a fitful sleep, Cyril woke me up to get ready to set our plan in motion.

  “You need to shut up,” Cyril hissed through clenched teeth.

  “Well, you need to not be an ass, yet here we are,” I retorted.

  “You’re the one who agreed to this!” Cyril snapped, obviously annoyed.

  It was true; I did agree. But I didn’t realize I would have to be, well, ugh.

  “Ouch!” I slapped at my thigh where a bug bit me. The recent rain in the woods encouraged the bugs, which were out in droves. Being uncomfortable and riddled with mosquito bites certainly wouldn’t help my already pitiful acting skills.

  I peeked down at my horrific outfit. If I thought the one I wore to the fighting ring was revealing, this one made that outfit look like a nun’s habit. The lingerie he presented me with to wear was something I didn’t think I would even wear for Olezka.

  The spring breeze brushed over my skin and made me shiver. The transparent fabric was lacy at the bottom with solid strips of lace covering my nipples and the apex of my thighs. The material was blood-red, which flared against my light skin color. My face was itchy from the layers of makeup he’d forced on me, complete with crimson lips, lined with an exaggerated pout.

  I groused, “I certainly didn’t agree to be walking around with my butt hanging out.”

  “Do you really think they would buy the idea of an incubus bringing in Rugged Anne?”

  “Raggedy,” I muttered, correcting him.

  He quirked a brow. “Does it matter?”

  I supposed not, but arguing with Cyril took my mind off this last-ditch plan. What was up with baddies wanting scantily clad women? Couldn’t we be dressed sensibly and still be offered up like a piece of meat? The only reason I agreed to this was because we had a Plan Back Door figured out. At least that was what I dubbed it in my head. It meant that if things went south, Cyril would find a way to get me out.

  “Seis, try to at least pretend to pay attention, please.”

  Oh, right. I was supposed to be acting like a love-struck groupie because he’d supposedly used his incubus mojo on me. But the idea of clinging to another male while mine was trapped in the fighting rings made me recoil.

  Since this entire charade was my attempt to save Olezka, I would suck it up and play the part. I draped myself over Cyril’s arm, mentally comparing it to Olezka’s. Cyril was tall and wiry with sleek muscles like a swimmer, whereas Olezka was broad with defined muscles and a sweltering heat that made me feel safe. I missed how I fit perfectly in his arms. I still felt a twinge of guilt when I thought of our last conversation where he asked me to trust him and be his partner.

  I took a deep breath. This was to save Cyril’s sister so we could save Olezka and then, hopefully, save Ana.

  I patted his arm and looked up at him with what I hoped was a dreamy, starry-eyed look. Honestly, I didn’t know if I was pulling it off, but Cyril seemed pleased, so I figured I was passable, at least.

  He grabbed one of my roaming hands and clasped it to his chest. “Easy, doll. We wouldn’t want to give anyone a free show.”

  I made a small sound of defeat but continued to lavish him with my attention. Before we took five steps, a lyrical laugh came from the forest.

  “You know I don’t mind a show. Especially when you’re the shining star and you can make her do whatever you want, Incubus.” The speaker was female but kept herself hidden within the shadows.

  I shuddered at the thought of Cyril commanding me to do his bidding but tried to disguise it as a shiver of wanton desire and twisted my legs.

  “Hmm, what did you bring me today?” the female asked coyly.

  “Not for eating, for bargaining. I want out of the fights, Zola, and I know you’ve been wanting to get your hands on more human prizes.” He nodded at me. “This way, we each get something we want.”

  The woman sighed. “Yes, well, unfortunately, the humans they desire are… more slender than that one. She’s rather flabby, don’t you think? Even for your tastes.”

  My confidence took a hit, and my anger flared. Like, Excuse you? I’m standing right here! But I tried not to react outwardly. After all, I was supposed to be senselessly enraptured within Cyril’s Lure.

  “What are you talking about?” he scoffed. “You’d rather have a stick that would break after the first fuck or someone who can take a little more?”

  The woman clucked her tongue and stepped forward, finally coming out from the shadows and into my range of vision. I didn’t move from my spot draped against Cyril’s side; I continued staring lovingly up at his face like he was the only creature in existence that mattered. But the moment I saw her, I had to cover my shocked reaction.

  Here was yet another Light Fae with sunny features and ethereal beauty that transcended all others. Her hair was a tawny sunflower color, and her eyes were the color of freshly grown grass after a healthy rain. They gleamed and sparkled, a little too large to be human but striking all the same. Her lips were rosy, and her skin was smooth and flawless. She tried to blend in by wearing human clothing, a navy-blue summer maxi dress, but the fabric looked plain and dull compared to the radiance she emitted. Even the trees seemed to curve around her, offering her protection that was unnecessary, considering how deadly I knew she could be.

  “I’m not interested in humans like so many of my kind seem to be. Those creatures are weak, meant to be used as cattle.” She sniffed condescendingly. “I have my sights set far higher.”

  She walked forward and brushed me away from Cyril’s side like I was nothing, then walked her fingers up Cyril’s chest and flattened her hand over his heart.

  “I’ve heard there’s nothing quite like a climax with an incubus,” she purred. “Prove me wrong. Let me be with you for a night.”

  Cyril pushed me to the side and indicated that I should stay where I was. He grabbed her wrist and stared her down. Shadows crossed his features, and his lips curled back. “All you Light Fae are the same, always wanting to dig low on the food chain and sleep with us Dark just to see if it’s better. It always is, but you’re too prim and proper to admit it.”

  The Light Fae woman shivered and groaned, rubbing her body against him. “I do love it when you act like you’re in charge.” She leaned up and suckled his earlobe then nipped it before taking a step back.

  Cyril didn’t even flinch, keeping his eyes trained on me. “Take the human, and let me leave, or I’ll take her and find someone else who wants to bargain.”

  The fae pouted. “So temperamental. What happened to Esterma?”

  “She and I had different views on my future path,” he answered carefully. “She wanted me to continue fighting, and I was done. We went our sep
arate ways some time back, but I still owe a debt to Key. She’s,” nodding to me, “how I’ll pay it off.”

  The woman placed a delicate hand on one hip and placed her other hand on her chin, her long, slender fingers tapping. “Hmm, so you sought me out because you know I have a soft spot for you?”

  “No, because I know you have a debt of your own that you need to pay off,” Cyril replied flatly, remaining poised and collected as if this was a normal business transaction for him. Heck, maybe it was.

  The fae female took a step back, and her exquisite features twisted into an ugly snarl. If looks could kill, she looked ready to perform a massacre. “That happened decades ago,” she spat. “He should just let it go.”

  “Rumor has it you were the one to botch the assassination. But she,” Cyril jerked his chin at me, “could be your savior.”

  What assassination? My heart hammered in my throat as I thought of the only assassinations I knew about that involved the fae.

  “That ugly human? How could she possibly compare to what I lost?”

  Hey!

  “Humans have a saying… An eye for an eye. How about ‘A royal for a royal’?” Cyril leaned in and whispered to the fae woman, his lips teasing her ear.

  She turned to stare at me contemptuously. “Human trash doesn’t come close to fae royalty. Has this frail human pussy muddled your mind, my dear Cyril?” she mocked.

  “You are shortsighted, Zola, and it has cost you before. This frail human is considered a sister to the new Light Princess. You know, the one everyone has been talking about? They would each go to great lengths for the other.”

  “I’d heard that King Erebus had taken a shine to this particular human. Is she not under his protection?” She leaned in and added in a conspiratorial whisper, “The rumor I heard is that his assassin was placed as her guard.” She examined me closer. “Are you playing with the royals again, Cyril? After all that trouble it brought you before?”

  Cyril lifted his chin imperiously as if bored. “I’m not playing; I’m trying to get out of the game. The way I see it, the best way for me to do that is to pay my debt to Key by allowing him to take the fall for stealing the prized human. But if you want to take her from me instead, that’d suit me just fine.”

  The female stepped closer to me and placed a sharp nail under my chin, forcing my head up. I kept my expression neutral, merely blinking up at her and acting like I still only had eyes for Cyril, the dreamy incubus beside me.

  “I don’t understand it, but if that’s what you want, I’ll dangle this human as a front to get Key’s favor. He’s been collecting humans for his own purposes anyway, so if nothing else, he can use her for that.”

  With her attention focused on me, the fae female didn’t see Cyril nod to me behind her back. So far, everything was going according to our plan. When he was explaining his plan to me, he told me he knew of a couple of fae whom he could try to pressure into taking me off his hands. The problem with introducing an unknown variable into the plan was that we couldn’t guarantee what they would do with me afterward. But Cyril promised this particular fae would do anything to regain Key’s favor, and providing the human he sought was a surefire way to do it. I didn’t understand why this woman wanted to get back in Key’s good graces since he was Dark Fae and she was Light, but there was a lot about Veil politics I didn’t understand. They seemed to live very separate lives in the Veil, but in my world, Dark and Light worked together for a myriad of reasons. Maybe that was why many chose to live in this world.

  “When’s the next fight?”

  “In a couple hours. You picked the perfect time to reappear.” Her eyes flicked to the side, behind Cyril. “Stan, take the human.”

  I squeaked as a pair of muscular arms banded around my chest and lifted me off the ground. My heart pounded in my chest. I knew this would be part of the ruse. I knew I would be traded like chattel, but to be stolen and taken away was terrifying.

  When she turned her calculating gaze on Cyril, I had a feeling things were about to go from bad to worse. “And you, Cyril my dear, will be the one to secure my good graces with Key. He’s been asking everywhere for the whereabouts of a stout little human and a certain infamous incubus.”

  She nodded her head, and another of her cronies emerged from the shadows and jabbed a needle into Cyril’s neck. Though he struggled, Cyril dropped to the ground in a motionless heap thirty seconds later. My stomach plummeted, and I wiggled, trying to escape.

  This wasn’t part of the plan!

  I needed that two-timing incubus awake and out of her grasp so he could get me out of here!

  “Cyril!” I screamed like it would wake him up.

  Instead, the beefy goon who held me slapped a meaty hand over my mouth and tightened his hold there, grinding my teeth into my lips until I tasted blood. I shook my head, terrified because this was going wrong, all wrong. Seeing I wouldn’t be so easily subdued, Zola approached me and studied me with the intensity one would give bacteria under a microscope. With a sneer that curled her perfectly lined lips, she nodded at my captor. He tightened his hold around my ribs, and the air left my lungs in a rush. Black spots clouded my vision, and I became lightheaded.

  “Hello, pet,” she whispered with an unnerving smile. It was the last thing I saw before I succumbed to the darkness and passed out.

  Chapter 19

  The incessant pounding in my head coupled with a raging case of dry mouth was an all-too-familiar pattern I didn’t care for. The moment my eyes opened, the sight of prison bars greeted me. Our plan had gone south, fast and hard. I gripped my head and wished the pain would magically go away.

  “Good, I’m glad you're awake.”

  The silky voice that had starred in many of my nightmares was startlingly close to my ear. I jerked back and rammed my body against another wall of bars. I cringed but didn’t dare speak as I glared at the legs that were visible in front of my short cage. It looked like I was locked in a dog crate meant for large dogs, only reinforced with industrial-strength bars. If I tried to stand, hell, even sit up straight, I would hit my head on the bar-lined ceiling.

  Frantically, my eyes roved the rest of the room, trying to figure out my location, but it looked like any one of a thousand bland office buildings. I refused to turn my back on him when he was so close. Cold fear iced my veins as I tried to move as far from him as I could. With a start, I realized I was no longer wearing the red lingerie Cyril forced me to wear – for no good reason, might I add, since that chick was planning on kidnapping us both anyway. I was wearing booty shorts, which wasn’t much better but was a definite improvement, and a tank top. I deflated at the idea that a stranger had changed me out of one to put me in the other. Eww.

  “You’re rather slippery, for a human,” Key snarled. I could only see him from the knees down, but it seemed as if he straightened his clothing and brushed invisible dust from his sleeves as he said it.

  “I don’t know why you were looking.”

  “I agree. I waste my time, searching for you, yet you have proven time and again to fall into my lap at precisely the right time. It’s mind-boggling to think that you, an inconsequential human, will be essential in the upcoming battle. Not only do you have the Princess’s eye, but you hold the aloof assassin who could change the tides of everything in the palm of your hand.”

  Though I hadn’t intended to get close, I couldn’t help but lean my head down and look up at the fae who had caused so much turmoil in my life. Key looked insane, imbalanced. There was a shine to his eyes that made me think he was on drugs.

  “Shackle her,” Key commanded.

  I jerked back from the bars and craned my neck around to see who he was talking to. A man who looked to be in his early twenties peeled away from the wall and walked over to us. He looked human; there was nothing that set him apart. Not even a hint of glamour magic scraped against my neck. However, the dead, expressionless look in his eyes unnerved me.

  I gathered my courage enough t
o ask, “Where is Olezka?”

  “Does it matter, human? You’re nothing but a bargaining chip,” Key replied dismissively.

  His lackey lurched forward to remove me from the cage. I darted as far back against the bars as I could as he started to unlatch the door. My brain short-circuited, and for once, I reacted with fight instead of flight. As soon as he opened the gate, I struck out with my legs, kicking wildly, but it didn’t seem to faze him. He took the blows like a champ, reached inside with both hands, and wrapped them tightly around my legs. When he started dragging me out, I gripped the bars.

  “Quickly! We have an event to attend,” Key said, annoyed.

  With unequal speed and strength a human his size shouldn’t possess, the zombie-like man yanked again. One second, I was struggling; the next, his knee was on my chest and I couldn’t breathe.

  He moved methodically, keeping his bony knee jabbed on my chest, and gripped my wrists in a bruising hold as he clicked on a pair of metal handcuffs. Panic did silly things to people. In this moment, my mind went blank, so base instincts took over. I started to twist and turn, to no avail.

  This wasn’t part of the plan.

  Cyril and I were supposed to stay together. He had the cell phone that would initiate a sequence, but we needed to be together for it to work. I had no idea where I was, much less where he was, so –

  The man’s fist came down hard and unexpected on my cheek, which knocked any sort of sense I had remaining out of me. While I lay there, seeing stars and reevaluating my life choices that led me to that moment, he lifted me to my feet. When I stumbled to grab my glasses that thankfully were intact, he prodded me along. Key was nothing more than a blur ahead of me as my brain was scramble eggs now. The walls kept morphing and shifting, my eyes unable to focus, but the man beside me kept me upright and moving. He didn’t say a word or make a noise of disgruntlement. He did as he was told.

  Was that how I was when Key used his Lure on me? I had yet to recollect all of the suppressed memories of that time. I could remember the big events but nothing small, and certainly not the hows or wheres of it.