Page 26 of Bitten By Desire (Crooked Point #1)

Monday

Zoey stared at Bennett. “Really? You’re serious? Theo Gold is a vampire?” Even though she was asking questions, she looked like she believed every word out of his mouth.

I wanted to make a snide remark about her not believing me when I told her. But I was much more concerned about the fact that I was actually right. It wasn’t possible. It just…wasn’t. “I…that can’t…”

“I wouldn’t have believed it either,” Bennett said. “But haven’t you seen him staring at your neck?”

Yes. Several times. And Theo hadn’t just stared. He’d given me the biggest hickey ever. I nodded my head.

“And he had his hands on you in the maze. Didn’t his skin feel cold?”

“Yeah.” Every time he touched me I shivered. And there was a chill in the air even when I was just near him.

“And you know he’s lying about who he is.” He gestured to the sweatshirt I’d stolen from Theo’s house.

Definitely.

“He also looks exactly the same as he did ten years ago, right?”

“Mhm,” Zoey said. “And as much as I believe in a good workout, it doesn’t prevent wrinkles. The only real conclusion is that he’s immortal. ”

Really? The only conclusion? I was really irritated with her. I’d brought up all these valid points before. But if I was being honest, I hadn’t wanted to believe it either. I wanted to be wrong. About all of it.

“And whose doors don’t have security alarms, but the garage windows do? I think we both know what was in those big freezers in his garage.”

“Dead bodies?” Zoey whispered.

“No.” Bennett shook his head. “Blood. Lots of blood.”

Okay…but where did he get so much blood? I was pretty sure huge freezers filled with blood meant lots of dead bodies too. But I couldn’t ask because the waiter walked up to our table balancing a tray in his hand.

He dropped off our burgers. “Anything else I can get you?”

I shook my head. I could barely even look at my burger. The ketchup dribbling down the side suddenly didn’t seem appetizing at all. I felt like I was going to be sick.

The waiter wandered off as Zoey took a huge bite. Apparently her appetite was fine.

She cleared her throat. “So Theo killed those people in the hay maze?”

“Obviously,” I said.

“That’s so messed up. I can’t believe you made me break into his house, Emma. We could have been killed.”

Bennett shook his head. “No. Theo didn’t do that.”

Wait, what?

“Vampires suck your blood. They don’t rip people’s hands off. Fangs didn’t do that. Theo probably wandered into the maze because he smelled blood though. And that’s when he ran into Emma.”

I swallowed hard.

“You’re lucky I found you when I did,” Bennett said. “Vampires get a little unhinged whenever they smell blood. Without a doubt, he would have killed you if I hadn’t shown up.”

I believed him. Theo had looked like he wanted to hurt me. I remembered the way his eyes had fallen to my neck. “I tried to warn you.” His words echoed in my head.

Zoey finished chewing her bite. “So there’s a vampire and a murderer loose in this town? God, what is happening to the world?”

“Not necessarily,” Bennett said. “If vampires exist…maybe something else exists that we all thought was made up.” His eyes searched mine.

“Even more monsters?” I shuddered. “I hope not. It’s probably just a serial killer.” I didn’t want to even think about the possibility of more monsters living among us.

Bennett pushed his burger aside. Apparently I wasn’t the only one who had lost my appetite. “Yeah,” he said. “Probably.”

The serial killer didn’t seem like a problem right now.

I was much more concerned about Theo and that voicemail we’d left him.

And the fact that Zoey had let him walk into her house.

“So…what are we going to do? He’s expecting me to show up to work tomorrow.

I don’t want to get my blood sucked.” But that was partially a lie.

Because God, I loved Theo’s lips on my skin.

I shook away the thought. I was pretty sure I needed to go to therapy .

“You’re going to quit,” Bennett said.

I stared at him. And I couldn’t quite explain it…but I had this feeling in my gut. That he was lying. I just didn’t know what exactly he was lying about.

“But if she quits she has to leave town next week.” Zoey turned to me. “This sucks. I don’t want you to leave. I can’t live alone now. Freaking vampires exist.”

Or…do they? I stared at Bennett. It almost seemed like he just wanted me to be scared of Theo. Like he was just trying to get me to stay away from him. Everything he said made sense. I’d already thought about it all before. I’d even dreamed about Theo biting my neck.

But what if this was just some kind of trick to get me to stay far away from Theo? I knew it was crazy, but I’d been in love with the man for ten years. And he’d never once hurt me. He’d even told me he wouldn’t. So…did I really need to be that scared of him?

I took a deep breath. “I need proof.”

“What?” Zoey stared at me. “Bennett just told you all the proof.”

“Which is all the same stuff I told you the other day.” I needed more. I turned back to Bennett. “Can I borrow that pen? And poke him myself?”

“I really don’t think that’s a good idea,” Bennett said.

“I can’t let this go until I see it for myself.

Please.” Bennett said that Theo was a liar.

Theo said that Bennett was. And I just needed to get to the bottom of everything.

“And I want to see this artifact. The one that Theo is trying to steal.” I needed to get in those vaults.

Theo said that Bennett wouldn’t show me.

And I couldn’t trust Bennett until he let me in .

“Oh, I’d love to see it too,” Zoey said. She pushed her empty plate aside.

Bennett sighed. “Okay. Let’s head back to the bank.” He pulled out some cash and left it on the table. We all made our way back out onto Main Street.

Zoey stepped between Bennett and I. “Speaking of the bank.” She looked up at him. “I know I already asked you about Otto and Titan. But what’s the deal with Huxley and Ace? Are they single?”

“Yes,” Bennett said. “But they’re looking for something serious too.”

Zoey sighed. “Since when are all the hot guys looking to settle down instead of hook up?”

I had no idea how she was thinking about hooking up with anyone right now. Theo was out there, probably plotting our murder. And there was a serial killer loose. Or maybe worse.

Bennett pulled out a key and unlocked the front doors to the bank. We’d been running around town so long, I hadn’t realized the bank would be closed.

It was just the three of us. Bennett’s friends were all gone for the day. Our feet echoed in the empty building as we followed Bennett behind the counter. He went to the second vault.

“What’s in that one?” I asked and nodded to the one we’d passed.

“Like I said earlier, most of them are filled with safety deposit boxes.” He typed in a code and spun the wheel on the vault. It made a mechanical whooshing noise and the heavy metal door sprung forward.

Bennett pulled it the rest of the way open.

Oh my God. I stepped in. It looked like we were standing in a museum. There were lots of gold items with similar etchings as Titan’s pen. But it wasn’t just stuff like that. There were gems, items woven out of fabric, creepy masks, and some primitive weapons lining the walls.

“These all have magical powers?” I reached out to touch one of the masks.

Bennett grabbed my hand. “Don’t touch anything.”

“Why?” I turned my attention away from the mask and stared at a rolled-up carpet.

“We don’t know what all of them do.”

“Wait, is that a magic carpet? Does it actually fly?” I pulled out my camera to take a photo.

“No photos either.” Bennett put his hand over the lens of my camera.

I had a million questions about all the artifacts in the vault. About what kind of magic all these items possessed. I turned my attention back to some of the golden items with etchings similar to Titan’s pen. “What are those symbols?”

“They look kind of like hieroglyphics,” Zoey said. She reached out to touch a ring, but Bennett caught her hand to stop her.

It didn’t seem like Bennett was going to tell us anything. He’d let us see them, but that was about it. I wanted to see the powers he was talking about. “Which artifact is Theo after?”

“This,” Bennett said. I turned to see him holding a pocket watch in his hand. The back of it looked like some kind of coin. But it was curved, perfectly molded to the watch front.

“What does it do? ”

“If you’re holding it, you can lightly influence people. But if you get them to look at it as you swing it back and forth, it’s more powerful.”

“So it controls people’s minds?” Zoey asked.

“Pretty much. It’s how Theo used to get unsuspecting victims. And how he was able to stay in one place for a while without being caught. He bent cops’ minds. Or anyone else who caught him in the act.”

I would have been worried that Theo had used it on me ten years ago.

That maybe that’s why I’d stripped for him and let him take photos.

But that was the night Bennett and his friends stole the pocket watch back.

Theo seduced me all by himself. And he did it again last night during my interview.

I pressed my lips together. I didn’t want to say any of that out loud.

I stared at some of the other pieces. Artifacts were expensive. How had they afforded so many pieces? “Are the other vaults filled with stuff like this too?”

“No, the rest are safety deposit boxes.”

I knew he kept saying that. But every time he did, I believed him a little less.

This was one vault. Maybe one other vault was filled with safety deposit boxes.

And the rest were filled with…what? But it didn’t seem like he was willing to tell me the truth.

Or show me anything else. “You said you don’t date liars.

” Theo’s voice wouldn’t get out of my head.

I took a deep breath. I had an idea. “So where is the pen?”

“In Titan’s office.”

“Okay. Can you go get it for me?”

“Yeah, let’s go grab it.”

Let’s. That was the whole problem. I didn’t want to just touch Theo with it. I wanted to touch Bennett. Titan hadn’t put a finger on the pen. He’d made me pick it up and put it back. And I was worried there was a reason.

I took one last look at all the artifacts and then reluctantly followed Bennett and Zoey out of the vault.

Bennett sealed it shut. I couldn’t believe he didn’t show me anything but the pocket watch.

And didn’t let me take a single picture.

I wished I’d asked about more of the artifacts.

But I’d missed out on my chance. We walked over to Titan’s office.

“There it is,” Bennett said. But he didn’t reach for it.

I stayed still too. I just stared at him.

Zoey didn’t know what I was trying to do, so she grabbed the pen.

Damn it, Zoey. But actually I was a little relieved that she was able to hold it. This town was crazy. And I was glad that she hadn’t been swept up into it.

I took the pen from her and stared at Bennett.

“So here’s the plan,” he said. “When you go to work tomorrow, text me where you’re meeting Theo right away. And I’ll make sure I’m nearby so I can help you if you need it.”

I nodded. “Okay.”

“Good.”

I just kept staring at him.

“What?” he asked.

“I’m going to need you to touch it.”

“Touch what?”

I held out the pen.

He laughed.

But I kept a straight face .

“You’re serious? I’m not the bad guy here, Emma. Theo is.”

“Then touch it.”

He sighed. But then he reached out and grabbed the pen.

And…nothing happened.

“Do you trust me now?” he asked and handed it back. I thought he’d be pissed at me. But he just smiled. I guess his friend had made me touch it earlier today. So we were even.

“Yeah. I do.” And I did. I didn’t know why he wouldn’t show me the rest of the vaults. Or explain any of the other artifacts. But I did trust him. Bennett wasn’t the bad guy here. Theo was. I think. I’d find out tomorrow. I just hoped I’d make it out alive.