The Sidekick Chronicles: Sixx and the Fae Page 7

  “For what?”

  “Why don’t you ask our Lord yourself and allow me to do my task?” Isa replied snarkily. Timur pushed me away with one hand and leaned heavily against the doorframe, blocking the woman from entering.

  “Tell me what you need of the human, and I will do it for you,” Timur promised, his voice thickening and deepening into something more sensual.

  My eyes widened in shock. It sounded like he was asking for some extra alone time with the weak human. My cheeks burned in embarrassment, and I took a couple of steps back from him. Rationally, I knew he wouldn’t do anything sexual with me and was only trying to stall, but goodness, he was a rather convincing actor.

  “Leave, hellhound,” Isa said with such venom in her voice that I bet if she spat, it’d burn like acid.

  “Watch it, little fae.” All of the lust was stripped from Timur’s voice, replaced quickly with loathing. His back straightened, and he seemed to have grown five inches in the last two minutes.

  “Move along, mutt.”

  Timur growled.

  “Sir, King Erebus requests your presence,” another voice called down the hall.

  Timur cursed under his breath, and his shoulders tensed before they dropped in resignation. He tucked his chin into his shoulder, looking back at me before returning his attention to the other fae.

  “Be careful with the human,” Timur warned her then reluctantly left the doorway to allow the warrior woman from the throne room to enter. Goodie.

  I stepped further away from her. “Can I help you?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest. I tried to look intimidating, but I think all I managed was mildly timid from her “oh-aren’t-you-dumb” look.

  “Undress,” Isa commanded before stepping into the monster-sized closet filled with clothes for Erebus’s concubine.

  Um, yeah, no way that’s happening. Not only were these fae ridiculously good looking with bodies that seemed to be sculpted from the gods, even with their glamours down, but they certainly didn’t have the curves and bulges I had. I was not stripping to try and stuff myself into one of those dresses.

  Isa stepped out of the closet, holding a deep purple gown. It was stunning and far too clingy for anything I would ever attempt to wear.

  “Well, this is the closest to your size that we have.” Her eyes roamed my curvy figure with disdain. “Why aren’t you undressed?” She sounded annoyed.

  “Um, because I’m not getting undressed in front of you? Or changing into that.”

  “Little mortal, you do realize that I could rip those clothes from your body, force you to the ground, and dress you like a little doll, all while making it extremely painful for you, right? You should be so lucky that our Lord is generous enough to allow you in such quarters.”

  Isa flung the dress at me and folded her arms, waiting for me to start moving. Her threat was enough. I grabbed the hem of my shirt, suddenly hating that I chose not to wear a bra while I was at home working. I turned my back and pulled off my shirt then quickly tugged the dress over my head. The silky but strangely slinky material caressed every one of my curves. Thankfully, it was warm enough in the room so that nothing was poking out to say hello.

  I tugged my sweatpants down, and the dress wrapped around my legs. I plucked at the material, wishing it away from my skin. Before I could bend and fold my discarded clothes, her cold hand wrapped around my bicep and hauled me away from where I stood in the center of the room.

  “How did I get charged with babysitting the human?” Isa muttered as she continued to pull me toward the bedroom door.

  “You could always leave the human,” I suggested under my breath.

  “If my King demands your presence, he will get your presence. Now, move.”

  As Isa dragged me out of the room, I told myself I needed to pay attention to my surroundings so I could find my way through the castle when help finally arrived. I was half out of my mind the first time I was delivered to the room that was to be my prison, so I forgave myself for not remembering these steps. But as Isa pulled me along, I realized it was something else. As I watched, the walls seemed to undulate and shift like a living thing, though they were made of chunky rocks like the ones that comprised medieval castles on windswept moors. The floor was comprised of cold stones that leached the warmth from my bare feet as I padded along their surface.

  Even with my eyes wide open and searching, and even if I had any skills at reading or making maps, there was no way in hell I would be able to recall the route from my room to the throne room. Besides the fact that we seemed to turn down a myriad of hallways, the walls continued to move in different directions to the point where we doubled back and forth until I was hopelessly lost.

  When we arrived in the throne room, the chilly air that greeted us was the same as when I was first dumped on the floor. Small groups of fae were milling around in clusters, speaking quietly to one another in hushed tones. This time, we didn’t enter through the big doors for a grand entrance, for which I was grateful. Instead, we snuck into a side door and wound through the crowd, Isa never releasing the punishing grip on my arm.

  Some of the fae glared down at me with their noses high in the air, but most of them ignored my presence as if I were no more important than a piece of trash on their supple leather shoe. Unease slithered over my shoulders. Something about the iciness of their stares made me feel like I was nothing. Worse than that, more like a disgusting bug. I tucked my chin down and let Isa drag me. I didn’t want to be around these fae any longer than I had to be.

  Erebus sat stiffly on his throne, never moving, but I sensed he knew exactly what his people were saying and doing at all times. His focus remained on the grand entry doors ahead of us. Though my head was down, a shock of white hair caught my attention, and I swiveled my head to the side to see the eerie man with the long white hair. Inexplicably, I felt like I should know him, but that was impossible. Before I could delve into it further, he disappeared into the crowd without a ripple.

  The fae assembled in the room all had the same air about them, an overwhelming superiority and assurance that they were better than everyone else. Each one was more lovely than the last, their unearthly beauty almost more than I could absorb. I realized these must be the High fae. The buzzing in my neck became a steady, almost painful hum as a continuous stream of magic hit me.

  The High fae had darker complexions, ranging from medium chestnut to the glossiest ebony, with hair that streamed down their backs in intricate swirls and loops. Their eye colors were a mixture of shades I’d never seen on any of the paras I’d ever encountered, a mind-warping mixture of deep amethyst, crystalline topaz, and slate onyx. All of the women wore dresses much more extravagant than what I had on, which made for a dizzying visual experience. The men wore garments just as vivid and lustrous as what the ladies wore while some were arrayed in slim-fitting leatherwear like the warrior woman Isa wore.

  When the doors slammed open, I cringed and jerked my attention to the doorway. A gorgeous fae strode through the throne room, escorting two shadowy figures behind him. My heart shuddered for a moment before stopping altogether. I groaned as I recognized who followed the fae in front.

  “Welcome home, Olezka,” Erebus said as Isa tucked me behind his throne.

  Chapter 10

  Welcome home?

  That’s what he has to say?

  The frown marring Olezka’s face didn’t bode well for my rescue attempt. He didn’t take his eyes off Erebus, who seemed as cool as a cucumber. Ana looked ready to explode, and her gaze kept bouncing over Erebus's shoulder to me. I wanted to run to her, but the moment I twitched toward her, magical restraints snapped around my wrists and kept me firmly pinned in place.

  I opened my mouth to call out but felt another invisible restraint clasp around my lips, cutting off my chance to speak. Ana charged forward when she realized what happened, but Olezka held out his hand, stopping her. He turned to her sharply and whispered. Ana looked pissed by whatever he said, but
she backed down.

  “Give us Sixx,” Olezka rumbled.

  “Sixx is a guest here. She will remain, as is our custom, for the full two weeks,” Erebus said as breezily as if I’d strolled in there of my own free will and said, How are you doing? Mind if I stay a couple of weeks?

  “We know she was tak-”

  “Anastasia!” Olezka snapped at her, his canines thick in his mouth and his eyes burning with fire. She quieted down with her brows pinched, obviously unhappy to be following his lead. This must be killing her. She hated to be silenced.

  “She is human; she does not live by our customs,” Olezka argued.

  From my vantage point, it didn’t look like Erebus was worried even though my beastly mate looked like he was about to release his hound upon the assemblage of fae. But then I recalled Timur’s altered state, and I realized he couldn’t alter his true form.

  “When we enter the human world, we must abide by their customs, do we not, Olezka?”

  Olezka’s top lip lifted as he snarled at Erebus.

  “Answer your King, lower fae,” Isa warned, stepping a little too close to me. If I could back away, I would have. She wasn’t brandishing any weapons, but that didn’t make her any less dangerous. Olezka’s gaze blazed into hers, and I saw her flinch. Interesting. It’s nice to know he scares these fae.

  “Yes, milord.”

  “You’ll join us for dinner tonight. All three of you,” Erebus announced, his voice echoing around the room with the command. “Isa, take our guest back to her quarters.”

  The restraints that weighed my arms down released with a magical snap, and Isa grabbed my arm again, leading me away. I glanced over my shoulder even as she tugged at my arm, unable to catch a glimpse of either of my would-be rescuers due to the other fae closing ranks and blocking my view. Disappointment stabbed me with the realization that we would all be prisoners there for at least two weeks. Why had Olezka given in?

  Questions filled my head faster than I could scramble for answers, but before I knew it, we were approaching my room. Isa was a woman on a mission and didn’t waste any time getting me locked back up. She shoved me inside the open door and slammed it shut with a resounding bang. I ran to it and pounded my fists against the dark wood, the desire to escape clawing up my throat.

  My burst of anger only lasted a few minutes before I backed away, running my hands through my hair and trying to calm my racing heart. Why did Olezka seem to be deferring to Erebus? Then again, this wasn’t my world. I had to trust Olezka.

  I walked over to the bed, determined to switch back into my normal human clothes and wait this out, but my panic skyrocketed when I realized my clothes were gone. The shirt I’d worn belonged to Olezka; it smelled like him, grounding me in a world when I felt anything but. Mourning the loss of more than just a shirt, I crawled onto the massive bed and pulled a pillow onto my lap.

  My stomach tightened with worry. How had our situation gone from bad to worse to absolute shit in a matter of hours? I hated that, yet again, I was at the center of it. It was my fault they were here. Now they were trapped.

  I groaned into the pillow, digging my nails into the too-soft-to-be-real material. I screamed into the pillow and gave my emotions free rein, trying to release my feelings of fear, desperation, and panic. I wanted to help, but as a human in this world, I was more of a liability.

  An indeterminate amount of time later, my door opened, and someone was shoved inside roughly.

  “Yeah, and tell that fucker, ‘Thanks!’” a female voice fumed.

  “Ana?”

  Gone was her slim, formfitting, kickass gear. Now she was dressed in a black and silver gown fashioned much like mine. But where mine was clingy in all of the wrong places, hers fit like a glove as if tailored to meld to her body. The supple drapes of material crisscrossed over her breasts, showing translucent slivers of skin. Her complexion was always something I’d been jealous of, but in this realm, she practically glowed. Her blonde hair shone with a luster that seemed to emanate from within even though the lights in the room were dim.

  At my words, Ana twisted around and faced me. Her shoulders sagged; her frown dropped and was replaced by a smile. She rushed forward and gathered me in a bone-crushing hug. I didn’t realize how much tension had built up in me until I hugged her back. My muscles relaxed, and I breathed in a shuddering breath. She tightened her hug before pulling back, keeping her hands on my shoulders.

  “Oh, my shit. I have been so worried about you! Are you okay?” Ana raked her gaze up and down my body, searching for imagined wounds.

  “I’m okay. I mean, I’m not, but I’m better now that you’re here. How you managed to convince them to let you in here, I will never know.”

  “Power of persuasion, baby,” Ana said with a wink.

  I smiled and rolled my eyes at her. “Mind catching me up?”

  “I could say the same to you.”

  Ana and I sat on the bed.

  “Love your dress, by the way. I’m always saying you need to show a bit of skin,” Ana remarked, poking the flash of skin my dress revealed. I squirmed and knocked her hand away.

  “I think I should go first because my story is going to be the shorter of the two,” I sighed. Ana nodded. I took a deep breath and told her how I’d been working at home when I got a headache and headed down to the kitchen for a pain reliever. Everything was blank after that until I woke up in the forest. After running for my life and getting caught, Erebus stuck me in this room, which I’d learned belonged to his mistress.

  While I spoke, Ana listened; her lips pursed as she thought it through, searching for clues or half-hidden meanings.

  “Ana, he even said, ‘I did warn you.’ He had to be talking to you at Nova, right? That comment wasn’t directed at me, was it?”

  Because as much as it might be considered flattering, I refused to be that man’s mate, too. One over-protective, overly-sexy male was too much for me to handle on a good day, much less the string of bad days I’d had lately. And while I could see Erebus’s appeal, he had a dark vibe going that just didn’t stir me in the right places. It was more like he gave me heart palpitations knowing that Ana was interested in him.

  “I know he has his eyes set on someone,” Ana said, a light blush tinting her cheeks.

  My brows went up with my curiosity. “Um, would you care to elaborate?”

  “I guess I should go back to when we found out about the werewolf pack headed to your house.”

  I gripped Ana’s arm as fear rocketed through me. “My parents?”

  “Don’t worry. We made sure the pack was tracing a different scent before coming after you. Kallan stayed behind to continue the investigation, and I drove your car to a parking lot nearby. I faked a note from you to your parents, telling them that I called and needed you to return home. Sorry, we didn’t know how long we would be.”

  “Thank you for checking on them. What happened after that?”

  “Kallan said that most fae couldn’t produce a portal into the Veil except in certain places. Apparently, there are places where the Veil is thinnest and easier to infiltrate, but because one had been recently opened, we could piggyback on it. Unfortunately, that particular portal opened in the Light fae’s Kingdom. Olezka and I booked it the hell out of there, but we did um… stir a bit of attention before we left. Oops.” Ana shrugged her shoulders, a look of mischief in her eyes.

  “Go on.”

  “When we reached the Dark fae Kingdom, Olezka took over. I swear that man was on a one-person mission to save the world. Or the center of his world, anyway. He gave me direct orders not to speak while we were in the audience of the King, but he failed to mention that Erebus was the King of the Dark fucking fae.” Ana sighed. “And there you have it.”

  “You hid your surprise well.”

  “Probably not as well as you did,” she answered with a wry grin. “You kinda have the whole poker face down when you’re around others. I don’t know how much you were able to see be
fore you came here, but the world here in the Veil is crazy! Their night is our day, and vice versa. The sky is filled with millions of stars, all glittering and wheeling around overhead. It’s absolutely magical. I can feel the undercurrent of energy thrumming through my veins on a constant vibe.” She had a dreamy look in her eyes now, her smile all blissed out.

  The selfish part of me tightened and strained. She saw this place as home. This felt right to her. The cruel part of my mind spoke up with a haunting whisper… This is their home. Hers and Olezka’s. Not mine.

  “Olezka gave me a quick rundown on the way here. He said glamours weren’t allowed while in the Veil because it’s considered a lie, and in this plane, the fae cannot lie. I haven’t given it a go yet, but I plan to see if that rule applies to half-fae like me as well. Olezka said he knew exactly who had taken you, and his theory was supported when Kallan confirmed that the portal magic had a Dark fae signature.”

  “Wait, Olezka knew about Erebus? Did you tell him what happened at Nova?”

  “Well-”

  Before Ana could speak, the door opened, and my least favorite fae so far stepped inside the room. “Come. Both of you,” Isa snapped.

  “Guess that means dinner is ready. Good, I’m starving,” Ana said with her effortless grace. But the fact that she jumped up from the bed and stood in front of me let me know she didn’t trust this woman.

  “Mortal,” Isa sneered, jerking her head in my direction.

  “She has a name!” Ana barked, defending me.

  Isa gave her a cruel smile. “Would you prefer I have it so I may use it against her? King Erebus holds her name, so for the time being, she belongs to him.”

  It irked me that she spoke like I wasn’t even in the room, but I didn’t say anything because my thoughts rounded back to Olezka when he cut Ana off in the throne room. Why was it imperative that she not speak in front of Erebus? Another question I had to make sure I got the answer to.