Page 15 of Craving Darkness

With those parting words, the lift slowly began to lower while my temperature grew hotter. I’ve read one too many romance novels to not be asking myself what my reward would be. Or even, what would be my punishment? I stood up and headed straight for the shower as I reminded myself over and over that he didn’t want me. I wasn’t sure that the reminder was going to help stop my growing infatuation with the man.

Chapter 10

Valen

Iwasn't expecting much as I approached the small apartment Kallista had been calling home. Between the comment made by Syn and Kallista herself telling me she didn't have many belongings, I figured there would be maybe a couple of drawers full of clothing. Maybe a few of the momentos that humans liked to collect. What I hadn't been prepared for at all was seeing her door practically hanging off the hinges.

I shoved the door open wider to gain access. The broken door creaked ominously, and I waited for it to fall to the ground as I stepped around it. Surprisingly, the flimsy wood held on. Inside was a mess of broken furniture and ripped fabric. It was difficult to tell what was what from the way it was all tangled together in scraps of colors.

"Hey, bitch! You need to pay for this damage!"

The sound of someone stomping down the hallway outside the second floor apartment had me reaching for the gun in the holster at my back. I stood to the side of the doorway out of sight, waiting for him to walk through.

"Hey! Did you hear me, cu-"

My hand was wrapped around his meaty throat before he could get another insult out. "Who the fuck are you?" I growled into his round, shiny face. He smelled of sweat and beer, and the stains on his Hawaiin shirt told of his penchant for Cheetos and lack of hygiene.

"I'm Bob, I-I own the place," he garbled out from the pressure I was putting on his windpipe.

"Did you see who did this?"

He tried to shake his head, his sagging jowls wobbling back and forth with his jerky movements. "No. Someone called down a complaint of noise. When I saw the broken door, I waited until she got home," he wheezed out. I let him go and wiped my hand on my jeans, needing to get the sticky feel of sweat off me.

"Someone has to pay for the damages," he whined as he coughed while leaning his heavy weight against the wall. He eyed me warily as he rubbed at his reddened neck.

I pulled the wallet out of my back pocket and opened it. His greedy eyes lit up at the sight of cold, hard cash in front of him. I peeled two one hundred dollar bills off the stack and held them out toward him with the bills between two fingers. As he reached for the money, I pulled my hand back.

"No one saw who it was?"

He swallowed hard, his eyes not leaving the bills as I slowly waved the cash in front of his face. "I might have looked outside and seen two guys dressed a lot like you. It was still dark, but I'm pretty sure one was blond. The other had short dark hair. Neither one was as big as you, though. You're pretty fuckin' big, ya know?"

His description matched that of the vamps from the night before. I held my hand out and let him snatch the money before quickly tucking it away in his pocket.

"I don't want any trouble around here." He squared back his shoulders, suddenly full of bravado again now that he'd made some cash. “Tell the girl she ain't welcome back here." His sudden bravery almost made me smile. Guys like this were so predictable. He owned the place, so he liked to throw his weight around, making demands and trying to make his tenants feel inferior.

"She won't be back." I turned my back to him, taking another look around at the tiny, trashed apartment. There was a small kitchenette, a bed in the corner, and an open door next to the kitchen, which was likely the bathroom. From what I could see, nothing was salvageable.

"She still owes rent for this month." I turned back to see the short, paunchy man with double chins staring around the apartment. I could almost see him sizing up everything inside that he might be able to sell for even the smallest profit.

"How much does she owe?" I asked, not giving a shit but not wanting this greedy asshole to have a single extra penny he didn't deserve. He obviously provided the bare minimum to his renters. The flimsy door that was hardly more than cardboard was proof of that. At any time, someone could have easily kicked it in and robbed Kallista blind. If she had been at home, she would have been virtually defenseless against a home invasion.

"Three hundred." He paused. "If you don't clean this up, it's going to cost a cleaning fee, too."

I pulled my wallet back out of my pocket and picked off another five crisp one hundred dollar bills. "You can have this and one more if you can tell me anything else about the guys who trashed her place."

His wide eyes darted toward the door, and his gulp was audible. When he looked back at the money, it seemed he had made up his mind. "I hear they are a gang that lives on the other side of town. A whole bunch of them live in a big fancy house. Kinda like a big frat house or something. I've never seen their leader. I hear he's a real ugly son of a bitch, though." His laugh was obnoxious, nervous, and high-pitched.

"Where, exactly, is this frat house?"

I allowed him to snatch the money and stuff it into his drooping trousers, which were hanging dangerously low on his non-existent hips. I averted my eyes, not wanting to see what would be exposed if they managed to slide down his flat ass.

"I hear it's over on Buchanon, about a block from the high school."

I nodded once and peeled off two more bills before tucking them into the pocket of his stained floral shirt. I patted his chest roughly. "No one knows I was here, and no one knows anything about the girl." I patted him harder, hard enough to make him wince. "Do we have an understanding, Bob?" He nodded emphatically. "Good. You can come back in ten minutes to start cleaning."

With that settled, I turned back once again, internally sighing. I had no idea where to even begin trying to figure out if there was anything salvageable in the mess. As soon as I heard his footsteps retreating, I stepped forward and began picking up different scraps of material before tossing them to the side. It seemed the vampires did a good job destroying everything they touched. If their goal was to send a message, they succeeded. I wouldn't allow this to serve the other intended purpose, though. She wouldn't be frightened because I would make sure she knew she was safe. With me.

It took me less than the allotted ten minutes to figure out that pretty much nothing was left intact. Instead of gathering the cut-up clothing, I looked at the tags of the destroyed garments, committing the sizes to memory. I was down the metal stairs and straddling my bike before the owner stuck his head out of his office.

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