Page 73 of Bitten By Desire
I opened another box. And another. There were more weird clothes. And newspaper articles from a long time ago. There was even a box full of all sorts of weird old phones. Not just old rotary phones either. One had separate parts to talk through and listen through. It looked ancient. There was a box filled with just a bunch of old tin cans. He wasn’t just a vampire, he was a hoarder. I took pictures of all of it, even if I wasn’t exactly sure what I was taking pictures of. I opened another box. There was a Wildcats sweatshirt lying on top. Son of a bitch! I knew it!
“Zoey!” I called. “He’s Callum Walsh! I have proof now!” I knew it. I freaking knew it! Once a snake, always a snake, Callum freaking Walsh!
I tucked the Wildcats sweatshirt under my arm to show Zoey. A picture wasn’t enough. I needed the actual thing. Because for just a little bit there, I was worried I might have actually lost it. But I wasn’t crazy. Theo Gold was just messing with my head.
I took a deep breath as I opened another dusty old box. My phone buzzed but I ignored it. I’d call Bennettand apologize later. I’d let Theo get in my head. But Bennett wasn’t the bad guy here. Theo was. Or Callum. Or Sir William Evans.
Ten years I’d wasted on him. Ten years dreaming of a one-night stand. When I should have been celebrating not getting my blood sucked. I was lucky that I wasn’t stuffed in one of these boxes. He seemed to keep everything. And I bet one of these boxes was full of his victims’ possessions. Or maybe several boxes. I shuddered at the thought.
There was nothing up here that actually pointed to the fact that he was a vampire. But it was the only rational conclusion I could draw. “I expected you to scream. Not moan my name.” That’s what he’d said to me that night ten years ago. That’s why he looked at my neck in the maze. That’s why he kept trying to get me to stay away from Bennett. Because he knew Bennett would protect me.
I looked around at all the boxes I hadn’t explored yet. I knew I was running out of time, but I didn’t see anything that could be hiding the old portraits. But this sweatshirt was enough proof. And I didn’t want to be up here when Theo got back. I needed to do some research about garlic and wooden stakes. And couldn’t a vampire not come into Zoey’s house unless invited in? We’d go home and be safe.
I walked back toward the ladder, but stopped when I saw a cloth covering something in the far corner. I ignored my buzzing phone and walked over to the cloth. I lifted the corner and smiled. The golden eyes of Sir William Evans were staring back at me. I lifted my camera and took a photo. I checked the display to make sureI’d actually taken the photo this time. And it was there as clear as day. Finally.
I’d been haunted by this photo for ten years. Or more accurately, haunted by its absence from my camera’s memory card. But now I had it. And I knew without a doubt who this portrait was of.
“He’s definitely Callum Walsh!” I called down to Zoey. “I found the portrait from his mansion! The Wildcats memorabilia plus the portraits? We’ve got Theo just where we want him.” And the contacts case. Zoey didn’t think that was enough proof, but all of these breadcrumbs combined? Theo Gold was Callum Walsh. I’d never been so certain of something in my entire life.
I stared at the portrait. It was a shame that he was the devil. Because he really was beautiful. My phone buzzed again, but I ignored it. For just a moment I stood there staring at the portrait. His golden eyes were completely captivating. And haunting.
A hand covered my mouth, and I was pulled backward.
Chapter 22
Monday
I tried to scream but the hand muffled any noise I was trying to make.
“Help!” I yelled, but it came out unintelligible. I threw one of my elbows backward and hit a hard stomach. “Let me go!” I tried to yell. Tears streamed down my cheeks as he wrapped his arm around my torso, pinning me to him.
“Shh,” a deep voice whispered in my ear.
I tried to throw my elbow back again. But I couldn’t move. So I stepped on his foot instead.
“Ow. Would you stop?”
I tried to scream for Zoey.
“Emma, you need to be quiet. It’s just me. Bennett.” He eased his hand on my mouth so I could turn to look at him.
I was just about to scream again when his words and his face in the darkness finally registered in my head.Bennett?!I threw my arms around him.Thank God.I’d thought it was Theo.
He held me against his chest. “Theo’s home,” he whispered. “And we need to find a way out of here or he’s going to kill both of us.”
I stared at the opening in the floor. Theo was going to find us. And then he was going to suck my blood. Slowly. The way he’d sucked on my neck ten years ago.Maybe he’d handcuff me to his bed as he did it. So I couldn’t run away.
My heart started racing even faster. “Wait, is Zoey okay? I left her down there…”
“She went out the back door right before Theo walked in the front door. She’s going to try to get him to leave so we can sneak out. We just have to wait for her text.”
“But he’s going to see the ladder. We have to pull it up…”
“Zoey will be at the front door to talk to him any second. There’s no way out of here unless we go back down that ladder. We’re three stories up. Why didn’t you answer any of my texts or calls, Emma?”
“Because I was mad at you.”
“You can’t just go off with him by yourself. And breaking into his house? What were you thinking? I told you he was dangerous.”
