Page 32 of Bitten By Desire (Crooked Point #1)

Tuesday

About halfway through the day I started to get nervous.

So we did shots.

And now the liquid courage was starting to wear off again.

I looked back down at my text from Callum. I’d lied and told him I didn’t feel well. He said he knew exactly how to make me feel better. I really wanted to know what he meant by that. But I’d replied and told him I just needed more sleep.

I hating lying to him. But I just had to keep reminding myself that he might be lying to me too. I had a lot of reasons to believe that he was a vampire.

Almost as many as I did to believe that Bennett was a vampire.

It was very possible that Zoey and I had lost our minds. Because we were more certain that one of them was a vampire than a serial killer. And in the back of my head I knew that made very little sense. No sense, really. And yet…I felt it in my bones.

“Are you all set?” Zoey asked.

“No.” I looked up from my phone. “This idea is crazy. I can’t stab Bennett with a wooden stake.”

“Do you need a glass of wine?”

“More alcohol is not going to give me the courage to hurt him. I can’t do it. ”

“You can. And you will. After you blow garlic powder in his face and shove a garlic clove between his fangs.”

“He’s never tried to hurt me before.”

“But have you seen the moon tonight? It’s practically full.” She pulled back the curtain and pointed to the moon.

I walked over and stared out the window. The moon was huge tonight. Last night with Callum the moonlight had seemed romantic. Tonight it seemed menacing.

She let the curtain fall back in place. “Bennett won’t be able to control himself. The moon will make him do all sorts of terrible vampire things.”

“Which is why I shouldn’t be alone with him!”

“You have your vampire hunting weapons.”

“Why don’t you do it instead?”

“Because you’ll be able to get him alone. Bennett doesn’t want to be alone with me. Which is infuriating.”

I stared at her. This wasn’t the first time she’d said something like that. “Zoey, do you like Bennett?”

She laughed. “No. I’m not looking for anything serious.”

“That doesn’t really answer my question.”

“He’s a vampire. And a liar. And a thief.”

Okay, I guess that did kind of answer the question. Sort of. No one in their right mind would date a vampire or a liar or a thief. But…I still liked Callum when I thought he was a lying vampire. And I still liked Bennett even though I thought he was one. God.

I shimmied my shoulders, trying to get rid of my nervous energy. “I’m going in. But just in case I don’t make it back…I love you, Zoey. Thank you for sticking by me through the last several years of my Callum obsession. And now all this vampire craziness.”

She smiled. “I love you too. But you’re going to make it out alive. All you have to do is blow.”

“I’m not going to give him a blowjob.”

“I was talking about the garlic powder. But I love your dirty little mind.”

This was crazy. And I was crazy. But I still left Zoey’s house and walked down Main Street.

There were still lights streaming between the lamp posts and pumpkins everywhere.

The spooky fall decor seemed so very appropriate for the secrets of this town.

I walked up the steps of the bank. I wondered if I’d run out here and die under the moonlight or if Bennett would take my life in one of his many vaults.

Stop it. I wasn’t going to die tonight. I had a fist full of garlic powder in one hand, a garlic clove in the other, and a wooden stake in my purse. I took a deep breath and somehow managed to open the door to the bank even though my hands were closed in fists.

This was a terrible idea. Just awful really. And I was finally sober enough to realize it. The only problem was that I was too late. Because Bennett and all his friends were standing in the bank staring right at me.

Well, except for Otto. I wondered why he was the only one missing. I hadn’t expected them to all be here. I didn’t have enough garlic powder. Or enough nerve.

“I’m glad you came,” Bennett said.

“Mhm.” My voice came out small and squeaky. Why had I let Zoey convince me to do this? I felt like my hands were full of contraband. I clenched my fists harder. And I realized it probably looked like I was about to punch one of them. Rather than subdue them with my garlic accessories.

Titan crossed his arms as he stared at me.

Oh God, did they suspect me?

The bank was eerily quiet.

They were probably waiting for me to step closer. But that seemed like a terrible idea. I cleared my throat. “So…um…I didn’t realize all of you guys would be here.”

“It’s not just my secret,” Bennett said. “We all have to be in agreement. And none of this can leave the bank. Do you understand?”

Did that mean I couldn’t leave the bank? Ever again? Because he was going to kill me? I swallowed hard, hating that I had started to tremble.

“I’m going to need to borrow your hand before I show you,” Bennett said.

“My…my hand?” Now my voice was trembling too. My hands were full of garlic products! Did he know? He had to know. He could probably smell an herb that was deadly to him. Or was garlic a spice? Or just a vegetable? Why didn’t I do more research?!

Huxley pulled a knife out of his back pocket.

What the hell? I took a step back.

He tossed it to Ace.

I took another step back.

“It’s not a big deal,” Ace said. “A little blood never killed anyone.”

Yeah, because it did the opposite for them. It fueled them! I took another step back.

Ace started to walk toward me but Bennett put his hand out to stop him. “You’re scaring her.” He grabbed the knife from him .

But instead of putting it down on the counter, Bennett started to walk toward me with it. He stopped right in front of me. “Give me your hand.” He put his hand out like he wanted to hold mine.

I couldn’t give him one of my hands. They were both full. And what the heck was he planning on doing to me? Cutting me and drinking my blood that way? Wasn’t he supposed to be biting me?

“Emma,” he said. His hand was still outstretched.

I wasn’t going to let him cut me. Couldn’t he cut one of his friends and show me his vampiric ways on one of them?

“I just need you to trust me,” he said.

I really didn’t want to kill him. Maybe he was a good vampire. That just ate rare burgers or something. But he wasn’t offering to eat a bloody burger. He wanted to suck my blood. And I couldn’t possibly trust him when that’s what he wanted.

And I didn’t have a choice. My hands were full of garlic products. If I opened my palm and let him cut me, he’d know I was planning on killing him. So…I just had to do it. With the element of surprise.

“What’s that?” I asked and looked up at the ceiling.

He looked up too.

And I opened my palm and blew the garlic powder right into his face.

He coughed and stepped backward. “Ow, fuck,” he said and rubbed his eyes. “What the hell was that?” He coughed again.

I didn’t respond. I just stepped away from him. I waited for his skin to start burning. Or for him to like…shrivel up or something. Or melt. I really should have done more research. But…nothing happened .

Titan started walking over to us.

I threw my garlic clove at him.

He caught it in his hand. And he didn’t even scream. He looked down at it and smiled. “Seriously, doll? Garlic?”

Why wasn’t it working?!

I pulled out my wooden spatula. “Stay back! I swear to God I’ll stab you in the heart.”

Huxley and Ace both laughed.

“Which one of us exactly are you planning on overpowering with a cooking utensil?” Huxley asked.

“It’s a wooden stake!”

He looked at the spatula and then back at me. “Is it though?”

No. It wasn’t. But I was stronger than I looked. Maybe not blunt-wood-through-flesh strong though. This plan was total shit!

Ace laughed. Probably at the horrified expression on my face.

Why weren’t they scared? I needed more garlic powder. I pulled out the value sized container from my purse, popped open the top, and waved it through the air. A very small amount came out of the small holes in the top.

Ace laughed again.

Damn it!

“Garlic and a wooden stake, huh?” Titan asked. He looked at Bennett. “She thinks we’re the vampires.”

Bennett just coughed in response.

“I don’t just think it. I know it.” I waved my spatula around and dumped more garlic powder on the floor. “And I’m not going to let you cut my hand and drain my blood. Over my dead body.” Why had I said that of all things? I didn’t want to give them any ideas. “So…so…stay back. Or else.”

“Or else what?” Titan asked. “You’ll chuck another garlic clove at me?”

No. I technically only had one of those. I backed up even more. And I screamed at the top of my lungs when I bumped into someone behind me.

I spun around to a completely naked Otto. He smiled at me.

I screamed again.

Otto looked around. “Oops, wrong secret.”

I put my hands out to block the view of his junk. Why was he naked? Did he secretly want to fuck me before he killed me?

“Otto, come on man,” Bennett said. “You knew what we were doing.” He coughed again. “Put your pants on.”

“Fine.” He sighed. “A man can dream.” He retreated into Titan’s office and came back out a few seconds later fully clothed. “So you think we’re the vampires instead of your little friend Theo? Or Callum? Or whatever he’s going by?” He plopped down on the counter. “That’s actually kind of funny.”

I opened my mouth and closed it again.

“We’re not vampires,” Bennett said. He’d finally stopped coughing. But he didn’t move to get closer to me. “That’s not our secret, Emma.”

“Clearly,” Ace said. “Or that garlic powder would have really fucked us up.” He smiled at me.

But I didn’t find any of this humorous. “Then why are you trying to cut my hand? ”

“The secret has to stay between us,” Otto said. “If it gets out…well…we’d probably be run out of town with torches and pitchforks or something.”

“Otto, enough,” Titan said.

I swallowed hard. Why else would they be run out of Crooked Point with torches and pitchforks? That really pointed to them being vampires…

Titan walked up to me.

I was completely frozen in place. I didn’t even throw any garlic powder at him.

He grabbed the bottle of garlic powder and the spatula out of my hands.

And now I die.

“Give me the knife,” Titan said.

Bennett walked over to Titan and handed him the knife.

“Bennett, please don’t do this.” I couldn’t help the tears welling in my eyes. “Please don’t…”

“We’re not going to hurt you, Emma,” Bennett said. “Well, it will sting for a second.” He grabbed my hand. Normally the warmth of his touch would have been soothing. But my whole body was shaking.

“Bennett…”

“It’s just a blood oath. So that you can’t share our secret.”

Wait, what?

“We all did it too.” He showed me his palm. There was a long, thin scar along his lifeline. “That’s why I can’t tell you the secret. I physically can’t. That’s why you asking me with the watch hurt me. It was tearing me apart. I can’t tell you the truth, even with magic. We just have to show you. ”

“So you’re going to cut my palm and then you can show me?”

Bennett nodded. “But you won’t be able to talk about it with anyone but us. And anyone else that knows. Callum for example. He knows. So I guess you’ll be able to talk about it with him.”

Callum knows? “Did he do this blood oath thing too?”

“No. He found us out.”

I feel like I should have asked for a few days to think this over. But I really just wanted to know. “You swear you’re not going to cut me and then drink my blood?”

“We’re not vampires. Callum is.”

I didn’t know whether to believe him or not. But…all my garlic weapons hadn’t done a single thing. “Is your secret similar to being a vampire? Like…something bad?”

“You have to do the blood oath first, Emma. Then I’ll show you.”

This was as bad of an idea as coming here in the first place. But there was this small piece of me that trusted Bennett. I didn’t think he’d hurt me. “Okay.”

Bennett kept my hand in his as Titan lowered the blade against my palm.

I whimpered as he sliced my skin. That hurt more than just a little.

I waited for one of them to pounce on me and kill me.

But neither of them did.

“Wrap your hand around the hilt,” Titan said and placed the knife in my hand .

I did what he said. And blue writing erupted on the golden blade.

If I blinked I would have missed it. But it was the first magic I had truly seen.

It was real. All of it was. I looked up at Bennett.

This probably meant Callum really was a vampire.

And whatever it was they were about to show me was bad. Really really bad. I gulped.

Titan lifted the knife out of my hand. “Okay. It’s done.” He tossed the knife across the room and somehow Huxley caught it by the handle instead of the blade.

Huxley wiped my blood off and then put it back in his pocket like none of this was at all strange.

Bennett put a tissue against my palm and closed it into a fist. “Are you alright?”

I felt a little light headed. But I just nodded.

Bennett dropped my hand. He turned to Titan. “I’m ready,” he said. He grabbed the pocket watch out of his front pocket and tossed it to Titan. And then Bennett pulled his shirt off.

What was happening?

Titan put the watch in his pocket, cracked his neck to the side, and stepped closer to Bennett. And then he punched Bennett square in the jaw.