Page 148 of Bitten By Desire
I walked over to the desk and stared down at the metal object. It almost looked like a knife, but I’d never seen anything like it before. I picked up the medal with the ribbon. “What is this?” I still had my camera in myhand, and I was so tempted to snap a photo. It felt like I was staring history in the face.
“It belonged to the general that killed me.”
“The general?”
“I was in the war.”
The war?I tried to think of what was going on in the 1700s. “What war?”
“The United States War of Independence.”
“You mean…the Revolutionary War?”
Callum nodded. “I was stabbed by this bayonet.” He pointed to the object on his desk that looked like a knife. “Right here.” He gestured to the top of his scar. “I was on a horse. And I…I fell backward.” He shook his head. “The scar ends halfway down my thigh.”
Jesus.I couldn’t even imagine falling off a horse. Let alone having a knife running down my thigh as I fell.
“He left me for dead.” Callum lowered his eyebrows, the memory haunting him. “I’d never felt pain like that. It was unbearable. And then…I woke up. And I wasn’t me anymore. End of story.”
That did not at all sound like the end of the story. There were a lot of missing pieces there. “How did you turn?”
“All I remember is pain. Like my veins were burning. I never truly died. That’s not how it works. You have to have complete control to change someone. You have to drain their blood until just a little is left. If you take all of it…the person dies.”
Complete control.Something I wasn’t sure Callum really had. If he agreed to change me, would he be able to stop sucking my blood in time? Was it possible?
It was like he knew where my mind had wandered. “I’m not changing you,” he said firmly. “I don’t want you to experience that pain.”
But part of that pain was from his actual wound. He’d been dying from an awful, bloody gash. And a vampire had been able to control himself around all that blood. “So there was a vampire lurking around the battle?” That made sense. There must have been so much blood.
“All I know is that I wasn’t dead yet. But the fire in my veins felt like death. Someone saved me. I have no idea why. And I have no idea who.”
“Maybe because the vampire didn’t need to kill anyone else. Because there was already death all around him. Or…maybe he had a heart of gold like yours.”
Callum shook his head.
“You do.”
“I changed into a vampire in a field of dead bodies, Emma. I never even got a chance to try and control myself. There was so much blood. I…I couldn’t…” his voice trailed off. “I was out of control. I followed the battles. Lurking in the shadows. I preyed on the dead. So much blood.” He ran his fingers through his hair.
“That doesn’t make you bad, Callum. It was good that you were feasting on dead bodies instead of living ones.”
“At first.” He looked down at the medal.
The medal that belonged to the general who had ended Callum’s mortal life.
“Don’t you want to know why I have this? And the bayonet?”
“I figured the bayonet was sticking out of your leg or something.”
Callum shook his head. “No. It took me a while to find him again. But when I did, I stole his rifle and stabbed him where he stabbed me. With his own bayonet. And I drank every ounce of his blood.”
“And then stole his honorary medal?”
Callum just stared at me.
“You’re waiting for me to call you a monster. And it’s not going to happen. I think that general deserved it. And I don’t think you should punish yourself for your past when you’re trying to be better now.” If I could forgive him for everything he’d done…he had to be able to forgive himself too, right?
“I’ve given you every reason not to love me.”
