Page 17 of Wicked Succubus
“Who’s her friend? Do you have a picture of her?”
She puts her hands on her hips and rolls her eyes. “How would I have a picture of her? You won’t let me have a cell, remember?”
I suppress a wince at the jab. I hate when she has a point. A picture would have been pretty helpful right now.
“Would you be able to identify the friend if we found her?”
Zelyah clears her throat softly. “Yes,” she replies in a small but steady voice. “I can identify Trisha.”
She walks toward the tattered couch to sit but hesitates as she takes in the grimy state of it. She steps back and returns to stand next to me, arms crossed protectively over her chest. There’s commotion outside, and my officers draw their weapons on their way to the front windows and door to see what’s causing the ruckus.
I push my way through and they move aside to let me pass. Stepping out the front door, I see one of my agents stationed out front trying to restrain a young woman violently fighting against his hold. Her eyes are wild, and her movements unhinged.
The young woman struggles furiously and yells, “Let me go!”
I sense Zelyah joining me in the doorway, drawn by the commotion. Her eyes widen when she spots the girl, clearly recognizing her.
“You can’t go in there. It’s a crime scene.” The officer lets out a grunt, still grappling to contain the girl.
“No!” she screams, distraught at the mention of a crime scene. My stomach drops, this must be Trisha, the victim’s friend.
She manages to get out of the officer’s hold by blowing out small amounts of fire. She runs up to us, but her piercing eyes glare at Zelyah. The way the friend looks at her seems like they didn’t get along, but I don’t know their story yet. The venomous way Trisha glares at Zelyah reveals no hint of friendliness.
Trisha thrusts her arm out, pointing accusingly at Zelyah. “You!” she shouts for all to hear. She lunges at Zelyah, forcing her to take a step back. One of the officers grabs the Dragon Shifter, keeping a tight hold on her. “You murderer,” Trisha hisses venomously and points to Zelyah with hate-filled eyes. Trisha’s body trembles with barely contained rage as she tries lunging at Zelyah again. The officers hold her back with straining muscles. “You killed my best friend!” Trisha lets out an anguished cry, nearly collapsing in the officer’s arms.
Chapter 10
Zelyah
Well, if the FBI Supernatural Unit had any doubt about me being responsible for these murders, they’ll definitely be convinced I am the one now. I try to take a step toward her, but Agent Cooper stops me with a hand across my body the same way he did in the car, but this time, he’s not whispering in my ear. He’s wearing his signature scowl, but for once it’s not directed at me.
Trisha doesn’t take her eyes off me as she shakes her head violently “I don’t know what you are, but you’re something else. Something sinister. Something evil.”
A monster is what she would’ve called me if she’d known what I really am. Everyone would’ve been looking at me with disgust, more so than they already are. I look at the crowd surrounding us. They’ve all stopped what they’re doing to stare. This is not how I hoped things would go. I can’t get caught. I’ll use my powers to get away before they try and treat me like a lab rat, or worse, use me for their own gain.
“What is the last thing you remember?” Agent Rodriguez asks, taking out a small notebook and a pen from her pants pocket.
“We were at the liquor store buying some uh . . .” I think she forgot who’s surrounding her. “We were buying some alcohol.”
Alcohol. Yeah, right! Probably some illegal shit they were trying to score. Her hands are braced against her forearms to hide the tremors, but her sweat-dampened shirt and blown pupils are not as easy to disguise. I’m not the only one who notices how sick she looks. My guess is that I interrupted her hooking up with their dealer last night, but no one seems to care about her cover story.
“We were there to meet our friends and get some alcohol, but we met her instead.” Her eyes swivel back to me. “We took you to The Velvet Room.” She narrows her eyes like she wants to fight, but she can’t move. The officer has a tight hold on her.
I shouldn’t have given up finding them so easily. Feeding was on my mind, and I left a messy trail. I used to have a clean system using my warehouse. I would stalk my suspect for a couple of days, bring them back to the warehouse, and complete my kill by feeding. It was the perfect plan until I let my emotions get the best of me with Nick.
I’m still high from feeding on two humans instead of one, but now that I’m being accused, I’m sobering up quickly.
“Did she leave the club with someone else?” Agent Rodriguez asks. Walking down the last step making sure she keeps her attention on the woman.
“We left the club to meet up with our friends and . . .” Trisha furrows her brows, her voice faltering as her gaze drops to the ground. She relaxes, the visible tension in her body going slack, and the officer holding her back releases her, taking a tentative half-step back.
What the fuck just happened?
“Trisha, are you okay?” Agent Rodriguez asks. Concern is etched across her face, and frankly, I’m just as worried as she is. It’s like Trisha was animated and then a switch flipped out of nowhere.
“And . . .” She tries again, frowning back up at the Fox Shifter. “And . . . I can’t remember what else happened after we got in the car.”
“So why did you say this woman is the one who killed your friend?” Agent Cooper asks as he walks down three steps and stands in front of her, nearly blocking my view. I’m only able to see bits and pieces of her face when Agent Cooper moves.