Read Banshee Charmer (Files from the Otherworlder Enforcement Agency, #1) for Free Online

else fit. Except for the fact that they weren’t known for draining people to the point of death. Succubi were listed too. The female version of the incubus could only produce female offspring. Like incubi, succubi were averse to killing their food.
    I scrolled down the list, and saw too many species to go through. Nothing other than the wraiths, baku, incubi, and succubi were known for being powerful enough to actually kill something through draining. I clicked in the “search within results” box and typed “sex.” The enter key made a loud click in my otherwise silent house. Rather than pull my hair out watching the page load, I went and grabbed another beer. When I got back to the laptop, there were only two species left on the list.
    I rubbed my eyes, not surprised, but I’d hoped for some beastie out there I hadn’t heard of that fit the bill. Nothing else even came close. Not a creature anyone knew about, anyway. Every otherworlder species that existed, now or in the past, claimed its share of space in the OWID. As the words “incubus” and “succubus” flashed at me from the screen, I wondered how I was going to convince anyone that a succubus was running around killing women while making it look like her victims had been killed by a man, or that incubi weren’t extinct after all.
    A loud knock startled me. I snapped the laptop shut and made my way to the door. The vision through the peephole made me sigh.
    “Well hello, beautiful,” Aidan said when I pulled the door open. He held up a six-pack of beer and waved the bottles hypnotically at me. “Can I come in?”
    I waved him inside, grabbing a bottle as he passed, and then followed him to the dining room.
    “Did you find anything we missed?” I asked, already knowing the answer. The paranormal unit ran a tight ship.
    “No, your team was very thorough. What did you find out?” He picked up the bottle opener I’d left on the table, and held his palm out. I gave him my beer and he flipped the lid off, then handed it back to me before opening his own.
    “Our local sensitive checked out the most recent vic. She was drained of her life force. Astrid’s calling that COD.” I gestured at the laptop. “I’m seeing a few things that can kill that way, but only a couple fit.”
    “Let me guess: succubi and their incubi cousins.”
    I took a sip of my beer. “Yup.”
    He hesitated. “Look, I know this is a little rude to ask, but…your banshee powers, do they extend to the visions?”
    I narrowed my eyes. “No. Why is that relevant?”
    “It might come in handy if they did.”
    “Do you really think that if I got visions of people dying before it happened that I’d be in this line of work? Hell, if I was a true banshee, do you think I’d be living with humans?”
    He shrugged, obviously uncomfortable. “I knew it was a long shot, but I had to ask.”
    “Do you know how banshee society operates?”
    “Probably not as well as you. I know that they can usually see when someone near them is going to die. And their screams are fatal.”
    “That’s true—to a certain extent. Their screams can kill and, unfortunately, most banshees scream when they’re hit with a vision. That’s why they live away from humans.”
    “But all banshees are women, right?” He grinned. “How do they, you know, make little banshees?”
    “Some journey out to mate with humans. They only produce female children, and only keep the ones who inherit their full range of abilities. The rest are discarded as half-breeds.”
    “Discarded?”
    “Oh yes,” I said bitterly. “Literally. Like trash.”
    “I’m surprised law enforcement around their reservations allows them to journey into human territories, let alone toss out their young.”
    “It’s not legal, but they’re difficult to police. I mean, I wouldn’t want to try to stop a full-blooded banshee. Plus, they look like humans. So unless you catch one crossing the reservation line, they can be hard to ID.”