Page 145 of The Donor’s Dilemma

She had called it sport? Verity gasped at the sick implication and Petra’s gaze snapped back to her.

“I don’t...” Vivienne had barely spoken before the ancient vampire raised a hand to silence her.

“Sport?” Petra asked, flat. She blinked, the first crack in her composure, unsure what to make of Theo’s statement.

It took Verity a second to realise the question was for her. “I didn’t hear her use that word specifically,” she said. “But I know that the documents we gave you are real. Someone...” she turned to look directly at Vivienne, “has been hiding donor disappearances. Falsifying donor records. Funding the protests that led to the attack that nearly killed Theo.”

Vivienne snorted. “And you think I would do such a thing?”

“Well, I know your donor was planting evidence.” Verity smiled.

She held Vivienne’s eye through every word. The vampire gave nothing away. Just watched.

“I know,” Verity went on, “that the trade envoy from Salvation was taken to Cliffhaven and shown around as if it were something to be proud of. And because of that, Abraham will no longer give us a trade deal.”

Vivienne smiled, cold and thin. “No, I think you’ll find Abe rather liked Cliffhaven. He even brought a couple of souvenirs home with him.”

“A little young for his taste, he told me. But he couldn’t leave them in a hellhole nobody cared enough to fix.”

“You told me it was under control,” Petra snapped, turning on Vivienne. “You said it was almost finished.”

“It will be. These things take time. You remember how long it took to set up the original system...”

“I remember a great many things,” Petra said. “Including you telling me it would take a couple of months. It has been a year.”

Theo’s grip on Verity’s hand tightened as they all felt the crack widening.

“We are working to fix...” Vivienne started.

“I was there last month,” Jesse chimed in. “Nothing’s getting fixed.”

“Don’t.” Petra rounded on him.

“I was there,” Jesse said again, faster now, getting the words out before she could silence him entirely. “It’s carnage. Humans are being attacked in the streets and nothing’s being done to help them.”

Petra’s lip curled. “I said ‘don’t’.” There was enough venom in it to make Verity wince on Jesse’s behalf. For all his swagger, all the winking bravado, he shrank visibly under her glare, the tiny woman he’d summoned at their request.

“That reminds me of something else,” Petra said, turning, finger raised at Theo. “You. You are the one who told me human-vampire relations should not be encouraged.”

Theo said nothing.

“And yet here you are parading your human around. Encouraging others to do the same.” Her gaze flicked to Verity. “Do not think I failed to hear of your little telephone call to Elliot Wysall, asking him to bring along any cross-species couples he knew of. You drag me to your wretched little city so I can watch everyone wandering about pretending to be equal,” she spat the word, “and then your brother goes and publishes an article about you.” She looked at Verity. “About what a cute couple you make.”

Verity’s eyes cut to Jesse, who gave her an apologetic shrug.

The article outing them, that had been Jesse’s idea. Apparently, she wasn’t the only one who failed to consult the group before acting.

She shook her head, suppressing a smile. He probably should have considered that other papers would run their own versions. But it was done now, and with everything that followed, she couldn’t say she’d have done it differently. Even if calling themselves a cute couple would have felt a little much coming from her. A public declaration, normalising what they were to each other, she failed to see the harm in it.

Petra scoffed. “Well?”

Verity shook her head. “I didn’t write that.”

“So, you simply wrote me these?” Petra gestured at the two articles she held.

Verity nodded.

Petra read the headlines aloud. “Roses Damn Cliffhaven. Or, Roses Save Cliffhaven.” She looked up. “And what, exactly, am I meant to do with two articles that explain the same failures either way?”