Page 20 of Wicked Succubus

Where did that come from? Fuck, why did I say that? I don’t fucking trust her. For all I know, she’s going to use my car to kill an unsuspecting human.

She breathes hard before saying, “I want my freedom.”

“If you come with me, I’ll consider it,” I reply smoothly.

“You know I’m not your suspect. There’s no point keeping me under surveillance twenty-four-seven for a crime I didn’t commit. I think you just want me as your new BFF.” She snorts.

“Fine. I’ll give you your freedom.” Instead of looking happy like I thought she would, she looks at me skeptically. “The fae can’t lie, remember.”

I’m startled by her high-pitched laugh. “There’s always ways around that for you guys.”

She has a point. We can always get around the wording, but what she doesn’t know—and what we don’t advertise—is that most can’t lie. There are some who can, but I won’t correct her. There’s no need to reveal all my secrets.

“So, what’s it going to be?” I ask knowing full well she doesn’t have a choice.

There’s a loud knock on the front door, but her brown eyes stare right through me. She’s probably having an internal debate with herself.

“Fine, I’ll go.” She turns away before I can read her reaction.

I go downstairs and open the door for the three fae stylists I called in. They have extensive experience with my father’s lavish events, and they came equipped with an entire wardrobe and suitcases filled with hair and makeup tools. I tell them where her room is, and they quickly gather their things and head upstairs. No one will mistake her for fae, but maybe they could help her blend in better.

After ages of waiting for the stylists to finish, I’ve thrown myself back into my home office to get some work done. I’m not a patient man, and wasting time that could be used productively is a nightmare, especially when the alternative is to sit around feeling helpless and anxious about all the shit that’s out of my control. I take a few deep breaths to calm my wired nerves, but my mind spins in unsettled circles. I need answers about this case, a plan of action, anything to quiet this relentless tension gripping my body. Until I have direction, this awful anticipation will continue grinding away at me.

I look back at the gruesome crime scene pictures on my desk. Something about the women has been bugging me for a while. They’re both supernatural. I checked our database, but we have no record of anything like this ever happening before.

But maybe . . . I log onto my computer and look for similar cases in the human world. I have a feeling of déjà vu in the pit of my stomach, but my access to the human case database looks restricted. I learned to trust my gut long ago, and something isn’t right about this. Something is being hidden.

I grab my phone and call Sawyer, my boss. He answers on the third ring, and judging by the noise level, he’s probably out at a bar getting wasted.

“Hey, Sawyer.”

“You better be taking the weekend off, Coop. You need it,” his gruff voice sounds through the speaker. He doesn’t sound drunk yet, but I know he’s getting there.

“I will once I figure this out.” I grab the pen and notebook from my drawer in case I need to write anything down.

“What’s going through your head?” he asks.

“Something is not sitting right with me regarding this case.” I grip the pen a little tighter.

“Indeed, it’s strange,” he says, and when I no longer hear the chatter in the background, I know he’s gone to a quieter spot.

“Yeah, and I’m worried that we still have no leads. We should have had something by now, but we haven’t come up with anything.”

Trisha turned out to be a dead end. She didn’t know anything that could help this case. Radnor is still trying to see if he can uncover what she’s blocked out, but so far, she’s given us nothing.

“Maybe the weekend will help you clear your head.” He exhales, and I know he’s smoking a cigarette.

“I will once you give me access to a human file I can’t get into,” I push.

“Human files?” His voice is alert now. “Why do you need those?”

“We may find something there that might be connected with our case,” I answer with exhaustion.

“Coop, just let it go for the weekend. Go get laid, relax, and come back with a clear head. There’s no reason for you to look at human files right now.”

I scrunch up my paper, getting angry. There is nothing that I hate more than being in the dark. We have no leads, which means more women will have their limbs dismembered for who knows what. Does he not see how important this is? I need to see if there’s something there I can use.

“We’ll figure it out on Monday.” He doesn’t budge, and I bite my tongue. I’ve never had to listen to anyone but my father and his advisors. People usually listen to me, so it’s been hard to let others take charge since I came to this realm.

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