Page 60 of Wicked Succubus
“What do you mean no?” Agent Cooper takes a menacing step forward.
“I meant what I said. No, I’m not going to do it.” He tries to run out the door, but Rhett catches him before he takes his second step.
“You’re not faster than us, so don’t even try.” Rhett lets him go.
I look over at the hole. “It’s expanding.”
They look over at me and then at the void.
“If we don’t close it, it’s just going to keep getting bigger,” Agent Rodriguez says. Her eyebrows crease in worry.
Zack looks at me and then smiles. My body shivers. “How about I give you some information about a certain someone? I’ll give you the information, and you can let me go. I’m sure one of the witches you work with can close this.”
Zack, what the fuck are you doing?
“Not happening,” Agent Rodriguez snaps. “They’re forty minutes away, we don’t have the time,” she says as the dark void opens up wider, drawing us dangerously close.
“But this information,” he looks at the rest of them and laughs, “is about a certain vixen who could be used as—”
That’s the last thing he says before I lunge forward. It takes a moment for me to process what I’ve done; as the hole begins to close, relief washes over me but as the adrenaline subsides, a wave of disappointment crashes over me. My breath catches in my throat as I realize that shoving him into the hole might have also sealed away important answers.
My mother’s killer is still out there, and the thought is a crushing weight on my heart. I had hoped that this man, vile as he was, might have known something about the person responsible for my mother’s death. Instead, I’m left with nothing but a void where he once stood.
“Zel, how did you know shoving him in would work?” Killian rubs my shoulder as I face the floor where the giant hole used to be moments ago.
“He’s the one that said the spell, so I figured maybe something would happen if I shoved him in.”
Truthfully, I didn’t know it was going to work. I just knew that he was going to expose me, and I couldn’t let that happen.
“Well, there goes our guy,” Agent Rodriguez says as she sits on the floor looking defeated.
“Yeah, but he wasn’t going to close the hole. Something needed to be done,” Rhett pipes up and stands next to me, letting me know he’s on my side. I wonder if he would have eventually pushed him in. Rhett looked like he was over it and wanted him gone.
“I’m going to call the cleanup crew.” Agent Rodriguez stands from her position and steps outside of the room.
I can feel Agent Cooper’s eyes on me but purposely ignore him. “Guys, can you give me a few minutes with Zel?”
Killian lets go of me and stands in front of me with Rhett. They want me to decide. If I tell them no, they’ll fight Agent Cooper and stay close.
“That’s fine.”
Killian reluctantly lets me go while Rhett nods his head. I watch them both leave. Once they’re gone, Agent Cooper steps close to me. It’s hard to ignore his presence. My eyes are drawn to his.
“So, what happened, Zel?” Agent Cooper asks, searching my eyes for the truth.
“Shouldn’t we wait for Agent Rodriguez?” I am exhausted. I really don’t want to repeat myself over again.
“I’ll relay the information to her.” I lift my brow, but he doesn’t say anything more.
“He wanted me.” He waits for more, but I’m not sure what else to say, “Maybe he wanted me to like him, I actually don’t know. That’s all he said.”
“You better be telling the truth, Zel. I have no problem locking your ass up.” I want to roll my eyes at him.
“I am, Agent Cooper.” My voice sounds low and tired, even though I only just fed a few hours ago. I’m ready to go home now. I look out the bedroom window as the sun peeks through the palm trees. It’s been a long night. “Hey, since we know each other better, can I call you—”
“No.” He shuts me down immediately and doesn’t wait to see what I’m going to say.
“I can’t just call you Agent Cooper all the time. I don’t call Easton Agent Barlowe every time I see him. I don’t talk much with Agent Rodriguez, but I’m sure she’d let me call her by her first name.”