Page 30 of Wicked Succubus

I don’t know if I believe him or not. It looks like he might’ve been glamoured by a vampire to tell this story. There’s no way for us to know if he was telling the truth.

I daydream about the faceless beauty. It makes me wonder what kind of person she is. Is she helping out a friend? Is that why she had Agent Cooper’s card? Is she in trouble and on the run? I’m curious to get to know more about her.

“Do you think we’ll find a clue on her whereabouts at the agent’s house?” Killian takes another bite of his burger.

“If there’s no information there, we can always interrogate him, but it’ll be hard to sneak into the FBI.”

He nearly chokes on his food, but the devilish grin tells me he’d be up for the challenge. We can totally get away with it, but if there’s a sliver of a chance that we might get caught, it’ll create more tension between the Arcana Society and the FBI. I’m sure my superiors wouldn’t be too happy if we did do it, especially because we’re deviating from our mission. We’re here to complete our tasks, not to find a human woman with an intoxicating scent.

Once we’re done eating, my phone dings with an address. We clean up and discard the waste in a trash can just outside my window. I put the address in the navigation, and we head out. It takes us over an hour to get there. I hate LA traffic.

We stop in front of a nice neighborhood littered with BMWs, Mercedes, and Bentleys. The houses have fresh paint, and the lawns are neatly mowed. We park the SUV a couple of houses down from the address we were sent. As soon as we get out, her scent assaults me. Well, I guess we know we’ll definitely find something in Agent Cooper’s house.

“She’s been here for a while,” Killian growls. His eyes darken in anger.

We follow her scent, and it leads us straight to the house. The same location the GPS showed us.

“Do you think this is the guy she had at her apartment?” I ask. I fist my hands in anger. I don’t even know the woman, and here I am getting extremely envious. I may only be here for a couple more days, and it’s not like we’d be able to date her, yet jealousy bubbles up in the pit of my stomach.

“I sure hope not, but it’s looking like a strong possibility.” Killian huffs, scanning the area. It’s dark out, and as long as the neighbors are human, they won’t be able to spot us.

We pull out our Radio Frequency Detector. This helps us find any hidden cameras around the property. We approach Agent Cooper’s house, making sure to keep an eye out on our device. We walk the perimeter three times before we’re confident we’ve taken care of all his cameras. With the security cams disabled, we stand outside the front door.

“Do you detect any magic? I don’t want to accidentally alert anyone or ignite a bomb after being so careful.”

“Nope. Not even a drop.” Killian gets his tool kit out and picks the lock. He pushes the door open and lets us into the home. I guess the agent either doesn’t know a witch to ward his home or he’s too cocky to care.

We immediately realize Agent Cooper must be fae when we spot the Spring Court crest on the floor.

“I hate the faeries,” Killian grumbles. “This guy must be connected to the royal family somehow to flaunt his court affiliation so openly.”

I nod in agreement. He’s likely an arrogant, uptight asshole just like the rest of the pretentious fae nobility. No wonder we couldn’t find much on this guy’s background when we looked him up. We have to tread carefully now that we know this guy might be connected. We can’t let the Arcana Society find out we’re not doing the job they sent us to do.

We search every room, saving the one with her maddening scent for last. My heart pounds as I slowly open the door, but the space is empty, devoid of the woman who drew us here. A heavy sigh escapes my lips unbidden as I take in the walls and furniture. The anticipation that has built steadily within me vaporizes, leaving only frustration. I run an agitated hand through my hair. Who is this mystery woman who smells so tempting, so mouthwatering? She invades my thoughts, and my instincts scream to hunt her down. To devour and be devoured in return . . . I clench my fists, fighting the urge to put a hole in the wall. No one has ever provoked such a maddening obsession in me before. I need to find her, to possess her, to feast on every intoxicating inch. This craving consumes me, such an exquisite torture.

“I don’t think they’re dating,” Killian says as he runs a hand over her turquoise sheets. “She wouldn’t have been in a separate room if they were together.”

Relief crosses his face, and I feel some of the tension ease from my shoulders. So, the intriguing mystery woman isn’t involved with the agent after all.

“Maybe they’re just roommates,” I muse as I observe her belongings filling the room.

“Even so, I still want to rip this guy’s head off for being so close to her,” Killian says with a nod.

The thought of another man being near the alluring mystery woman makes my blood boil. Roommate or not, the agent’s proximity to what I’m rapidly coming to think of as mine enrages me. We need to find her before anyone else tries to claim her. How is it that this human woman has us all frazzled?

“How do you know she’s not a supe?” I give him a pointed look. “I can’t smell it on her either, but it just doesn’t make sense to me.”

I walk back downstairs to the agent’s office. The lock is more complicated to pry open than the front door, but Killian has an affinity for breaking and entering. Agent Cooper definitely doesn’t want people in here. Fifteen minutes later, the door finally creaks open.

When I approach his desk to look through his case files, one that says Zelyah catches my eye. It’s laying right on top of the pile, and I get a tingling feeling that this is the girl we’re looking for. I run my hands over the folder, bracing myself for the information I know I’ll uncover. I open the top slowly and gasp as an image of the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen assaults my vision. Her wrists are chained to a desk. The crease in her forehead says she’s angry to be there. I mean, who would be happy about being detained? I run my fingers over her plump lips, imagining what it would be like to kiss them.

Why would a fae agent detain a human, but more importantly, why would he let her live here? Does she know about the supernatural world? Is she living here freely or is she in his custody, and if she is, why would she be detained here and not in jail? None of this makes sense. I should probably stop going through her file. I feel kind of guilty for snooping. For all I know, whatever is written here might be biased. I’d like to hear her side before I read his notes. I close the file just as Killian takes notice of it in my hand.

“What do you have there?” Killian crosses the room and stands in front of me.

I look down at the brown folder in my hand before meeting his eyes again.

“It’s a file on a woman named Zelyah,” I say, savoring the way her name sounds on my tongue.

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