Page 123 of The Donor’s Dilemma

If anyone knew that, it was Jesse. If the term “toxic relationship” was in the dictionary, below it would be a picture of Jesse and Petra. When they weren’t fucking, they were at each other’s throats, and Theo didn’t know which from one day to the next. Judging by his brother’s face they were leaning towards the latter right now.

“Help is a strong word,” Jesse said. “But she’s vain, and like Theo said, Havenshire is supposed to be the safe place for humans. She prides herself on being better than everyone else. And she’s the only one I might be able to get here.”

“Tell me what you’re thinking,” Theo said to Verity as she stared into oblivion, deep in thought.

“That her vanity could be our only chance to fix this,” Verity said. “You can’t just tell her? She needs to come here?” she asked Jesse.

The steadying beat of her heart picked up at the idea of having to see Petra again, and Theo didn’t blame her. Hopefully he could keep Verity from having to see her, if Verity would allow it.

Her phone chirped on the counter, making her jump. Message after message started popping up on her phone now that it was on, all of the people who had noticed her absence. All the people who cared about her. Mum. Cecilia. Cora. Adam. Verity’s heart pitched as she swiped the phone and pocketed it, eyes avoiding Jesse’s. She didn’t trust him, didn’t want him to know of her loved ones. The realisation hurt more than Theo expected.

“Talking to Petra needs to be face to face,” Jesse went on, pretending he hadn’t noticed the slight. “She doesn’t like technology. And her and Viv go way back. I wouldn’t want to bet on her taking my word over her bestie so, we need to play it right.”

“We need evidence,” Theo said. “I’ll see if Stella can…”

A sharp knock stole his words as Theo and Verity turned to the door.

“Smarmy Smythe,” Jesse said, already texting on his phone as he walked away. “Gonna grab a shower.”

With a finger under her chin, Theo tipped Verity’s head back. It was impossible to read her, her weak body and troubled mind tainting the beat of her heart, her scent, the sparkle in her eyes. Even like this she had pieced it together when he had failed.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“No.”

Theo nodded. Of course she wasn’t okay. He pulled her into a hug, letting Smythe wait a minute. It was all his fault. Not only the decline of his city, but Verity being dragged into his mess. If he’d been doing his job properly, it never would have got this far. His city wouldn’t be on the verge of collapse.

But not yet. They had time to fix this. To save Ashhaven and then help the people of Cliffhaven too.

And with Verity at his side, Theo felt as though he could do anything.

Chapter Thirty-Five

“I need the burner,” Verity mumbled against Theo’s chest.

He squeezed her a little tighter, kissing the top of her head before releasing her and fishing the phone from his pocket.

“Friends checking up on you?” he asked, handing it to her without a second thought.

Verity nodded, waiting for him to call out the half-truth but he only offered her a tight smile before going to let Dr Smythe in.

Thank Phoenar he hadn’t asked about the messages in front of Jesse. She didn’t know what Cecilia had sent but what would she have told the brothers if they asked who she was? “Oh, that’s just Cecilia, Harris’s source who I scared off.” Now that Verity understood the situation better, she didn’t want to consider what Cecilia had risked to get those reports out. It was the Stonehaven article all over again with Cecilia finding a pattern she didn’t like and sneaking sensitive information out. Only this time she’d gone to the authorities instead of the papers. Verity felt a pang of guilt for ever doubting her.

“I’ll be with you in a moment, Miss Harper,” Dr Smythe said as he led Theo away to examine him and Verity nodded, pulling her phone out the second they were gone.

Cecilia

You need to get out of Ashhaven

She stared at her phone. Oh Gods, what if somebody had already seen the message? What if whoever was bugging her phone now knew that Cecilia had been the one leaking information? She had to tell her. Needed to warn her.

From the bathroom, Verity could hear water running as Jesse took a shower. From the bedroom, the sound of Theo and Dr Smythe talking. If she was going to call Cecilia, she needed to do it now.

Moving to the other side of the apartment, as far from the others as she could get, she keyed in the number and hit ‘call’. On the second ring a polite voice answered.

“Hello?”

“Cecilia?” Verity whispered, trying to convey her urgency while keeping her voice down.