31. Chapter 31
Chapter 31
Zelyah
T he door flies open, and as my gaze lands on the newcomers, a wave of excitement rushes through me. The four figures slide across the floor. Finally, the cops are here, but I immediately deflate when I see Agent Cooper, Agent Rodriguez, Rhett, and Killian being pulled toward the black hole. Don’t get me wrong, I’m excited to be getting help, but I wanted to be able to kill the idiot dragging us to this demonic black hole mess. Now they’re going to take Zack in for questioning, and I can’t let that happen. He will surely tell them who I am as a bargaining tool to let him go.
Cooper recovers quickly and races over to me. He’s so focused on getting to me that he doesn’t see Zack coming. He pushes Cooper, and the agent falls to the floor.
“You’re not taking her,” Zack screams out, but then he falls on the floor with his hands on his head. His eyes have gone white. He’s thrashing around on his back, yelling loudly.
Cooper races to me as Rhett focuses on Zack. Agent Rodriguez is right beside him. Killian checks the man’s pocket. “I found some paper on him.”
The four of us are huddled near the hole.
“Guys, maybe we should move it a couple steps to the right, you know, so we don’t accidentally fall in this hole that goes goddess knows where.” I try to sound calm and reasonable about us not ending up in another hell.
“Stay still, Zel,” Cooper growls.
“These ropes are stabbing me,” I say through gritted teeth, feeling the blood trickling down my wrists. Hopefully, none of it goes down the black hole. No need to add more sacrificial blood.
Cooper’s hands work quickly behind me, his fingers pulling the knots free. The ropes loosen, and the pressure around my wrists eases. As soon as my hands are free, I bring my wrists to my chest, massaging them, grateful to no longer be tied down. I honestly don’t know how I managed to remain calm—err semi-calm with those ropes around me.
“Let him go,” Agent Rodriguez calls out to Killian. He looks over at Rhett and nods.
Zack stops screaming and touches his head, standing from his kneeling position. Rhett grabs him, and we shuffle over to the corner of the room, finally. The more space between us and that hole, the easier it is to breathe.
The five of us stand next to each other; Cooper to my right, Rhett standing next to him, and Killian to my left, while Agent Rodriguez stands the other side of him. We all face Zack as his eyes turn into slits. I guess he’s no longer feeling anything for me anymore. Good.
“Say the spell to close the portal.” Agent Rodriguez stares at him with disgust. She’s now facing the man who has been killing supernatural women.
“I don’t know how to close it.” He shrugs, looking like he doesn’t care if it’s left open.
“Are you fucking kidding me,” Rhett barks out in exasperation.
“I only got two spells, and this is my first time doing the second one. The first one has never done this,” he replies, stepping back from us.
“Well, read the second spell again. It should close it,” Killian suggests, handing him the paper.
Zack takes it, looking over the paper.
“No,” he says, taking a look at us.
“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.”
Her head pops in. “I heard my name. I wasn’t paying attention because I was on the phone.” She looks between me and Cooper.
“Can I call you Gabby?” I ask her.
Her phone rings again, and she steps out, but not before telling me, “Yeah, that’s fine.”
I turn my eyes back to Cooper. “Fine, you can call me Cooper,” he says like I’ve annoyed him.
“Coop it is,” I say with a smile. He turns around, shaking his head in frustration. The feeling is mutual Coop.
Gabby walks back again. “The crew is on its way. We should start heading out,” she says with a yawn.
We walk downstairs, where Rhett and Killian are talking among themselves. They immediately stop when we show up. I’m too tired to ask what’s going on.
“The killer is dead,” I say as I drag my feet out the door.
“It’s time for sleep,” Gabby says as she faces the sky.
“We’ll take Zel,” Rhett tells Coop as we approach the vehicles. His body tenses, but he doesn’t say anything else.
Right before we all get in, Coop gets a call, and he grabs his phone from his pocket. My body goes on high alert. His phone dings again, and he looks at the picture.
His face pales, and he brings the phone back to his ear
“What happened?” Killian asks. His eyes search around like he’s waiting for a threat. I know the feeling too well.
We wait for him to say more, but as he stares at each of us, I already know I don’t like where this is going.
“There’s been another murder.”