Page 17 of Vacancy

“Exactly,” I snapped, thinking Thalia should’ve warned me about a possible surprise visit from her brother…and that he wasn’t so little. Or sweet. “Plus that’s a picture of her, hanging right there.That’swho I rented the room from. So is that your sister or not?”

When I pointed to the framed sixteen-by-twenty-inch portrait, Damien turned and sucked in a breath.

“Wha…?” He shook his head in disbelief as he slowly drifted toward it as if mesmerized. “What is this doing down here? It was locked in theattic.” Glancing at me, he lifted a condemning eyebrow.

I only shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess Thalia got it because I certainly didn’t drag it down here and hang it. I don’t even have a key to the attic.”

His brow only furrowed in confusion as he pointed. “And who the hell painted this wall?”

“Oh! Thalia and I did,” I said, only to flush and roll my eyes. “Well, mostly it was me. Er, all of it was me. But she oversaw everything.”

Damien shook his head. “This isn’t…” He sounded dazed as he returned his gaze to the freshly painted wall, or rather to the picture of Thalia hanging from it. “But how…?”

When he glanced over at me again, I frowned, not tracking. “Howwhat?”

Wincing as if it physically hurt him to speak, he pressed a hand to the base of his throat and inhaled shakily. Then he looked into my eyes as if seeking help. “Thalia… She…”

This urge to reach out and grab his arm to steady him overcame me, but I held back. “She…?” I asked softly.

“Sh-she’s gone.” He exhaled roughly and then winced. “She…left.”

“Oh.” Not sure how else to respond, I lifted my shoulders. “Well… I guess she’s back.”

That answer only seemed to crush him more, though. “So…she—is she here?” His gaze crawled restlessly toward the ceiling where her room was located directly above us. “Right now?”

“No, I…sorry.” I cringed apologetically. “You just missed her.”

“Yeah, I bet I did,” he muttered under his breath, only to focus on me again and blow out a long sigh. “When wasthis, anyway? When did you…meet her and rent the room? How long have you been staying here?”

“Let’s see.” I bit my bottom lip and took a moment to calculate in my head. “About a week now, I guess. Yeah. It was…last Wednesday, so wow, exactly a week ago today.”

“And you…?” He seemed like he wanted to add more to that question but he lost his concentration and had to frown around the room as if trying to make sense of what was happening. “You really saw her?” he murmured in awe. “You talked to her? And she—she’s…back?”

“Apparently,” I said slowly, only to lift my hands and wave them. “But I’m confused,” I confessed. “If she’s been out of town, and you’ve obviously been the one maintaining this place with the paint and stuff…” I motioned to the wall I’d painted, realizing he had to have been the one who’d bought all the supplies. “Then why didn’t shetellyou she was back or that she was going to rent out the room?”

He squinted briefly. “Iwas the one renting the room out,” he explained. “And the sign in the window…” When he glanced toward the window, only to see that the sign was gone, he hissed out a disgruntled sound and revised, “Thatwasin the window… It hadmynumber on it.” Turning back to me, he frowned in reprimand. “You were supposed to call the number and talk tome.”

“Oh,” I said in a small voice before wincing. Then I gave him the sweetest smile I could muster. “Well, crap. I’m sorry. I actuallyalmostcalled, but I could hear music playing from inside when I was walking by on Bridleway, so… I just went up to the door and knocked instead. But Thalia didn’t mention anything about needing your approval or… I don’t know. This is getting really weird. I mean… Why wouldn’t she tell you she was backorthat she’d rented out the room for you?”

He stared at me, frozen for a moment, before he gave a slight shake of the head. “I don’t know,” he admitted.

“Well…Youdon’t have a problem with me staying here, do you?”

God, please say no. Please say no. Because I seriously loved it here. I did not want to be kicked out.

Damien blinked at me as if I’d lost my mind. Then he huffed out an amused sound and shook his head as if he couldn’t believe any of this conversation was happening at all. “I guess youhavealready paid for a month’s worth of rent,” he admitted ruefully. “But…”

Lifting a hand to scratch the back of his head, he looked momentarily uncomfortable.

“I will be the perfect tenant, I swear.” Pressing my hands together, I sent him the biggest, most appealing begging eyes I’d ever produced. “Rent will never be a day late. I will clean and take care of everything. I won’t throw huge ragers, or even mini ragers, and I…” Wincing but desperate, I added, “I’ll even tack on another fifty dollars every month.”

Hoping he didn’t demand more—because I honestly wasn’t sure how much more I could afford—I bit my lip and kept entreating him with my expression until he huffed out a defeated sound and dropped his arm back to his side.

“I mean, I guess it’s fine,” he allowed. “I don’t have to find a new tenant myself this way, and…and… She obviously likes you enough to allow it, so… Yeah. It’s okay. You can stay, with no added rent.”

“Really? Oh my God!” I exhaled and gave him a grateful smile as I slapped my hands to my chest in relief. “Thank you. Thank yousomuch! Because there was no way in hell I was going to find anything else this nice. Or cheap. Or accessible to campus.”

He nodded before adding, “I’ll just… I’ll send you the lease agreement to sign and make it official, then, since I have a feeling you haven’t signed anything yet.”

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