Page 50 of Wicked Succubus

“Hi, Agent Cooper.” I look up to see two forensic investigators with cameras in hand, ready to take photos.

“I’m done for now,” I tell them as I stand from my kneeling position. I walk away, being careful not to disrupt anything.

I look around the house gripping my phone tighter. Where the fuck is Zelyah? I call her again, and she still doesn’t answer. She was too invested in this case, and now she won’t take any of my calls. I call Easton instead, but I can’t get ahold of him either. I know that fucker is ignoring my calls. He usually always answers on the first ring. He’s trying to stay in my department permanently, so he does everything in his power to make sure he goes above and beyond.

He finally picks up after the third call, and the first thing he says is, “I lost Zelyah.”

My blood boils. Everyone distances themselves, moving away from me as they sense that I’m pissed. I loosen my grip on the phone, or else I’ll break it.

“What do you mean you lost her?” I say through gritted teeth. I’m about to pull my hair out with all this stress.

I didn’t get to catch the killer before they attacked, no matter how hard I tried to prepare, and now it looks like I have no witnesses to the attack.

“Well, I took her to dinner, and then we went to the club. I got us drinks. She grabbed hers and then told me she had to go to the bathroom, but she never came back.”

“Did you check the bathroom?”

At this point, I knew I’d use my status to close the whole club down and check every single person before they left. I’d interview the people who were there and wouldn’t let them leave until I found something of use.

“I had a female bartender go check for me.” I want to punch that man in the face.

“Check it yourself. She wouldn’t leave unless there was a reason.” I hope to hell that it was because she thought Easton was boring.

“I’ll go check now.” He sounds defeated, but I don’t really care.

“There’s been another murder,” I spit out.

“Shit.” He doesn’t sound surprised, but we all knew it was coming if we couldn’t catch the killer.

“Find her, and don’t come here unless she’s with you,” I tell Easton, seething as I hang up the phone.

The whole mood turns even darker when Rhett and Killian show up.

“What does the Arcana need with our investigation?” Agent Brown blocks their path. He stands in the middle of the sidewalk with his arms crossed.

I hear one of them shouting, and before it goes any further, I step in. “They’re with me, let them pass.” Rhett and Killian both stare down Agent Brown.

Everyone takes a step back. No one wants to cross these men, and with good reason. They can make your worst nightmares come to life. Of course, it didn’t work on me, and I know he’s dying to find out why.

I called them because, as much as I don’t want to admit it, they may be able to help. I don’t want any more supernatural women to die because I want to keep my pride intact and not ask for outside help. They’re living in my home rent-free. The least they could do is lend a hand. With all the skills they’ve been taught, I think I may have a better chance with them on my side.

I hate to ask, but I know I have to. Still, I don’t want to make it seem like I’m interested in her. “Have you talked to Zel?”

“I thought she was with you already?” Rhett looks out the door like she’ll magically appear, and to be truthful, I catch myself doing that too, and I hate it. She shouldn’t matter to me as much as she does.

“I can smell that ritual magic from the corner of the street,” Rhett says.

“Any idea what this person is trying to obtain?” Finally, information we can use.

“No.”

“Your killer is human.” Killian doesn’t hesitate as the words leave his lips.

I whip my head toward him so fast, frowning with confusion. I thought it might have been another supernatural.

“Why do you say that?”

“Because the pattern doesn’t match any known supernatural MO,” Killian explains, his gaze intense as he surveys the scene. “These methods are too . . . chaotic, unrefined. It’s like the killer is mimicking what they think a supernatural would do, but they’re getting it all wrong. Only a human trying too hard to seem otherworldly would make these kinds of mistakes.”

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