Page 87 of Bitten By Desire
“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.
Chapter 26
Monday
I couldn’t sleep. I just stared at the ceiling, counting the seconds until morning. How was it possible that I believed my own account and Bennett’s, and I still wasn’t scared of Theo? I should have been terrified. I should have booked the first flight out of Crooked Point.
Instead I was staring at the ceiling. Thinking about how gentle Theo’s touch was. How intoxicating.
My phone buzzed.
I grabbed it and saw a text from Theo staring back at me. I immediately sat up and read his words: “Did you enjoy searching my whole house?”
My heart started racing. He knew? How did he know? I quickly texted back. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Do you really think I didn’t know that you and your friends were here?”
Honestly that was exactly what I thought. And I had no idea how to respond to that. Did he have security cameras? Or was he just able to tell? Maybe that was a vampire thing…
My phone buzzed again. “Did you find what you were looking for?”
I looked down at his sweatshirt that I still had on. I didn’t know why I was wearing it. But I felt…safe in it. Comforted somehow. I took a deep breath and cringed. No, I knew why I was still wearing it. Because it smelled like him. God, what was wrong with me?
I stared at his last text. It didn’t seem like there was any reason to deny it. He knew. He probably even knew what I’d taken. “Yes. I found what I was looking for.”
“Then I’m sure Bennett filled your head with lies all afternoon. If you want the truth, I’m waiting outside.”
It felt like my heart was pounding against my ribcage. He was outside Zoey’s house? I climbed off my bed and pushed the curtains to the side. Theo was standing in her front yard staring up at my window.
He looked back down at his phone and texted: “Or I’ll come in.”
I let the curtains fall back in place. I couldn’t let him come in and hurt Zoey. We had a whole plan for tomorrow. A safe plan. Why was he here right now? I debated texting Bennett, but it was the middle of the night. Surely Theo would just leave.
But when I peered out the window again, he was still standing there.
He smiled from the lawn as my phone buzzed again. “You have one minute before I come in, Emma.”
Shit.One minute? That didn’t leave me time to do anything. All I knew was that I couldn’t let him in. I tied up my sneakers and was just about to run out of the room when I remembered the golden pen. I grabbed it and stuffed it into the front pocket of the sweatshirt. I didn’t bother to tiptoe. I was kind of hoping Zoey would wake up and call Bennett for help.
Theo was still standing in the middle of the lawn when I closed the door behind me. He looked even more perfect in the moonlight. And I wondered if it wasbecause this was the time of night he was supposed to be most alluring.
For a second we just stared at each other. It was impossible to look away. And not just because his features were even more striking in the dead of night. But because he’d ditched the colored contact lenses. His eyes were golden again.
The wind blew, sending leaves fluttering to the ground. I folded my arms across my chest. “Can’t this wait until morning?” It probably couldn’t. I hadn’t had time to check my phone, but tomorrow might be sunny. Maybe there wouldn’t be a cloud in the sky. And Theo would be locked in his house.
“No. It can’t.” His eyes scanned down my body. “That looks better on you than it did on me.”
Probably because I hadn’t had time to put on any pants. I was wearing his baggy sweatshirt and nothing else. But then his words finally registered in my head. “So you admit it? This is your sweatshirt?”
