Page 130 of Bitten By Desire
Nothing serious?All of this was serious! “Bennett…that was the scariest thing I’ve ever witnessed. And I’ve found a severed human hand in a creepy Halloween maze. And almost had my blood drained by a vampire.”
“But there’s nothing to be scared of. Like I said…we have it under control. Mainly because of the watch.”
I shook my head. “It didn’t look like the watch helped very much. You swatted it right out of Titan’s hand.”
“It works. Trust me.”
“Then why did I find a severed hand in that hay maze? You said it wasn’t Callum. Because you knew who it was. It was one of you, wasn’t it?”
“Emma…”
“Just tell me the truth.”
His Adam’s apple rose and fell. “Yes. It was our fault.”
I was glad he didn’t tell me who it was. I didn’t think I could ever look at whoever did it again. “Bennett, if the pocket watch actually worked to control you guys, that never would have happened.”
“It would have prevented it. But…I had the watch that night. And I was with you.”
I swear my heart stopped beating.Oh my God.“It’smyfault?”
“No.” He grabbed my hand again and squeezed it. “Not at all. This is why I didn’t tell you sooner. I didn’t want you to put any blame on yourself.”
“How can I not blame myself? Two people are dead!”
He winced. “It was an accident.”
“Accidents are like…sky diving. Or going too fast on a motorcycle. Not walking through a family-friendly hay maze and getting mauled by a werecat.”
“He didn’t mean to.”
I was glad Bennett hadn’t done it. But I couldn’t get over this. I knew Callum had killed people too. But he’d changed. He was trying to be better. The hay maze massacre just happened this weekend. “Why didn’t the pen burn you?”
“Because I wasn’t in my cat form. It would have burned me if I was. But I don’t do anything bad in my human form.” He pointed to his chest. “You know me, Emma. I’m a good guy.”
Was he? Because he basically just confessed that he did bad things as a cat. The pen didn’t burn Callum at all. Not anymore, at least. Because he was doing his best. The pen would still burn Bennett whenever he transformed.
“I can’t do this,” I said.
“What do you mean?”
I set the candlestick down. “I can’t be with you.”
“I have it under control. I swear to you. The watch…”
“Didn’t help!”
He took a deep breath. “It does. It helps more than you can possibly know. A few years ago, if I’d transformed in front of you I would have killed you. But that didn’t happen.”
None of that was reassuring to me.
“We wouldn’t let anything happen to you,” he said.
“But what about when it’s just the two of us alone? Your friends can’t help then.” I shook my head. “None of that matters.” I took a deep breath. “I’m in love with Callum.”
He raised his eyebrows at me. “I’m sorry…what?”
“I love him.”
