Chapter 25 Chapter 25
“I’m such a burden to you,” she said bitterly, only hating herself more.
“It’s great you finally agree with me.”
“You’re good at comforting people,” she countered sarcastically.
“It’s my specialty,” he retorted with a smug smirk, not meaning his words. “Actually, my specialty is dragging sinners to hell.”
“Sure,” she replied, snorting.
“I’m good at many things, you know?” he whispered, his lips dangerously close to her ear. She looked at him to meet his mischievous gaze.
“Then you’re in charge of washing the dishes today, Mr. I’m-good-at-many-things,” she said, snickering at him. “I’m sure they will be spotless once you’re done.”
He grimaced. “Tch, as if I would ever do that,” he grumbled, secretly feeling victorious since their banter had distracted her from her worries so much that the pain in his chest had disappeared.
“So, where exactly did the last kidnapping happen?” he asked, remembering her conversation with Thorne. “I would love to get my hands on that creep. I’m not letting myself be challenged by a mere human.”
“I expected you to say something like that,” Valerie answered.
“I want to take a look at the area myself. Maybe I’ll find something that your human eyes missed.”
“You suddenly seem very interested in it,” she commented, uneasily shifting her weight from one leg to the other.
“It’s become personal now, and I tend to hold grudges for a long, long time,” he hissed and scowled deeply, crossing his arms. “Also, if I murder the fucker, they’re out of the way.”
“Please don’t talk about murder so casually. That’s a terrible crime.”
“I’m a demon; why do you expect me to care?” he said, not understanding her problem.
She sighed. “You have a point.”
—
She parked her car in the same parking garage where she had been yesterday. Looking around nervously, she saw that nothing had changed. The lamps were still half-broken, and the area was still deserted. Valerie sighed, guessing that most people who left their cars here were either shopping or working in nearby company buildings.
“That person followed me here yesterday,” she said, looking around with great reluctance, expecting something to jump at her suddenly. “But the woman who was taken disappeared in the park close by. Traces of her blood have been found.” Valerie was very uneasy now, but she wanted to uncover what had happened to those women and save them. If they could still be saved…
“The culprit followed you here, you say,” Maxwell repeated lowly, glancing around attentively, trying to spot anything out of the ordinary. He walked down several rows of cars, constantly looking around.
Valerie trailed after him, not knowing what he was searching for, but he had to have a plan in mind when he told her he wanted to come here to investigate. He suddenly stopped, and she almost ran into his back.
“What is it?”
He pointed at the ceiling, and she followed his gaze, spotting a CCTV camera. “If we can get our hands on the footage, we’re going to find out who followed you,” he said, smirking victoriously before he shot her a look. “How did you miss something so obvious? Seriously, you have your head in the clouds.”
“Excuse me? I was busy fearing for my life and didn’t have time to look around,” she grumbled, crossing her arms. This demon was insufferable.
“Give me your phone. I’ll call Nicholas Clarke,” he said, and she dialed the number, handing it to him. He leaned against a pillar, playing with one end of his chain while waiting for Thorne to pick up. “Hey, what took so long? You’re slow for a demon,” he grumbled when he finally received an answer.
“Yeah, yeah. Shut up, Nicholas Clarke,” he added after a pause. “I want you to do something for me.” Again, he paused to listen to the other demon’s answer, which seemed to annoy him, judging by the way his lips turned down.
“Huh? No, I’ve never heard of the word please. Sounds like a fucking disease to me,” he said.
Valerie snorted, nudging the demon. “Be more polite to him!” she whispered, but of course, he didn’t change his attitude.
“Listen, we’re having a problem here. The idiot human managed to get into trouble yesterday, and I want to find out what happened. I need the CCTV footage of the parking garage next to the park where the women disappeared. Can you get your hands on that?” he asked, and now he seemed pleased with the answer he received. He ended the call and returned the phone to Valerie, who was visibly curious about their conversation.
“He’ll look into it and send the footage later. In the meantime, I want to see that park you mentioned.”
She nodded and showed him the way. They strolled down the sidewalk, Maxwell receiving all kinds of looks, but they didn’t bother him; on the contrary.
He used the opportunity to glare at every human unfortunate enough to look at him for longer than three seconds. Valerie had to admit that she couldn’t blame the people for looking; he wasn’t exactly inconspicuous with his white hair and the braid, the bright blue eyes, and the chain over his face.
While his clothes were entirely black, those other details made him stand out. He was attractive looking, too, not that she’d ever admit it to him. His ego was big enough already.
When they finally entered the less crowded park area, they walked over the gravel path in silence, towards the lakeside. Nobody was around when they arrived, but she found a scrap of the crime scene tape that the police must have used when they secured evidence.
“Why is it always happening here, all of a sudden? What’s so special about this park?” Valerie mumbled, staring at the lake in thought.
“Maybe it’s just easier to make people disappear under the cover of the trees,” he answered, shoving his hands in his pockets. He walked over to the tree line, leaving the path and the lake behind.
Valerie wanted to follow him, not liking to be left alone in this eerie place, but nausea washed over her before she could take a single step. Her head was hurting all of a sudden. She touched her temples, grimacing.
“What’s going on?” she whispered, closing her eyes and hoping the unexplainable ache would soon pass.