Page 29 of Wicked Succubus

Well, I wasn’t expecting this at all. As much as I dislike the agent, I don’t want to do that to him.

“And if I don’t?” I dare ask. I must be stupid for even voicing this out loud.

“Well, Zelyah, you aren’t going to like that option,” the king warns.

He doesn’t have to explain. I know he won’t turn me in; he’ll use me.

“Six months, Zelyah,” he states as he walks away. “You have six months to get my son to propose to you.”

I stand frozen, his words hitting me like a physical blow. Six months to get a proposal from the asshole prince? The king couldn’t have come up with a more impossible task. He looks out into his garden and picks up a stunning blue rose. Oddly, it matches the way my eyes look when I feed.

“Six months?” That’s going to be a challenge. He stands beside me again. “He hates—”

“Use your powers.” He tucks the elegant petals behind my ear. As much as I’ve been itching to use my powers, his words leave a bad taste in my mouth. I’ve never wanted to seduce a partner this way. It’s unlike me.

“He’ll know,” I tried to reason with him. Agent Cooper is too smart for me to fool. I’ve tried to look for ways to use him, but I can’t, and now I know why. If this man is his father, he’s probably always had to be on high alert.

“No, he won’t. He’s already smitten with you.” I want to cackle at his words. He’s definitely got the wrong idea. “This task should be easy. I expect you . . .”

He suddenly stops talking. No longer looking at me. What the hell is wrong with the king? I look around, but there isn’t anyone close to us. Maybe that abrupt stop was a sign for me to leave. I take a step back when—

“There you are, Zel.”

Agent Cooper approaches us, and it all makes sense. The king didn’t want his son to hear our conversation. How did he know he was approaching? I can never hear Agent Cooper.

Agent Cooper steps between his father and me, eyeing us curiously. “What are you two doing out here?”

His gaze falls on the enchanted blue rose in my hair, and his frown deepens.

“I just wanted to get to know the woman who’s been staying with you in your home.” He speaks like he didn’t just threaten me a couple of minutes ago.

“How do you know about that?” Agent Cooper asks defensively. He fists his hands in anger before he lets them loose. His body betrays his face.

“I have spies everywhere, son, just remember that.” But instead of looking at Agent Cooper, he’s directing those words to me, letting me know that if I don’t comply, he’ll find me.

“My life with the FBI doesn’t concern you.” He clenches his jaw.

“Everything you and your siblings do concerns me.” Siblings? Cooper has people that are related to him. I need to meet them to see if they resemble Agent Cooper.

“We should get going.” He doesn’t have to tell me twice.

“It was nice meeting you, Zelyah,” the king says, emphasizing my name. “I can’t wait to see you again.”

A shiver runs through my entire body. There is a threat and a promise behind those words. I look over at Agent Cooper, unsuspecting of his father’s plans and of the secrets that have been exposed.

Chapter 15

Rhett

The desire to catch the human burns like a hot flame through my body. She doesn’t know we’re coming, but catching her will be our reward. It’s been two weeks since we were sent here to capture the Succubus, but we haven’t found anything, not a sliver of information to let us know she exists. Just like Killian and I suspected, it was probably a random kill that looked like a Succubus had done it.

Usually, we would’ve called Tanner and let him know it was a dead end, but we’re worried that if we do, we’ll be given another case. We want to stay here as long as possible to get to know the person plaguing our minds.

We’ve been focusing our energy more on finding the human girl than our investigation of the possible Succubus, and if our handlers find out we’ve gone rogue, they’ll extend our contract, and there will be nothing we can do about it. We are bound by the oath we gave. We’ve served for fifty years and have fifty more before they give us our freedom. If they ever do. The Arcana Society likes to extend your contract without telling you so that you’re there until you’re killed on a job.

We’re sitting in our SUV eating a burger when I message Jerry and ask him to look up Agent Cooper’s address. It might be a good place to start. He may leave clues at his home about the woman we’re looking for. It’s a long shot, but his card had to have been in her home for a reason.

We’ve been watching her apartment, but she hasn’t shown up. The place has been abandoned. We checked with the landlord and, apparently, it’s registered to a guy named Gus, but that was a long time ago. When he moved out, he left it to a group of people, and he didn’t do a background check for the new tenants because he didn’t care. He was getting paid in cash, and that’s all that mattered.

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