Page 22 of The Donor’s Dilemma

She stood. “I hope you enjoy the rest of your birthday.”

“And I hope you enjoy your date,” he said with a smile.

She rolled her eyes at him, opening the door.

“And thank you, Verity. I really do love my gift.”

For a moment she had forgotten all about the present on his desk.

“You’re welcome,” she answered. “See you Monday.”

She waved before closing the door behind her. Stella was already gone, thankfully. Stella had a way of seeing straight through her. Theo might be able to sniff out a lie, but Stella would know she was up to no good on sight.

So, Verity straightened her dress and headed downstairs to find a taxi. She might not have a hot date, but she still had a club to get to.

Chapter Seven

Verity almost felt bad about how simple it had been to find the club, slipping the FindMe coin into Adam’s breast pocket – no one ever used their breast pocket – was too easy. After that, she took note of where he went at the end of the night for a couple of weeks and found the pattern.

It was painfully obvious. He visited somewhere most days, arriving near dawn and staying for hours. A quick search online and she found it.

SubRosa.

The building was on street views, but it didn’t have a website. No social media, no reviews, no contact information. It felt weird. Wrong.

Alarm bells rung the moment she heard about this club, but over the last month the feeling had only grown. Especially when she saw bite marks on Adam’s neck. There might not have been any proof of broken rules before, but neck biting was strictly prohibited. What sickened her even more, was when David pulled Adam’s collar up to hide it.

It never sat right with Verity that the support group was run by a vampire. She wondered whether, in a case of wrongdoing, the group leader would take the donor’s side or the vampires’.

David answered that question with one flick of Adam’s collar. Verity hadn’t felt particularly comfortable discussing donation with the group before that, but she sure as shit wasn’t sharing after.

She wanted to know what was going on. Needed to know. The only thing she actually felt bad about was Theo.

True, she definitely wasn’t invited, and she never told him she had a date. He assumed and she hadn’t corrected him. Well, she had corrected him, but he didn’t believe her, so she went along with it.

Since the first time she brought up the club, she hadn’t mentioned it again. His stance was clear. He wouldn’t bend, and neither would she.

So, she took a taxi to the club on the edge of town as the sun began to rise. The driver knew what was up as he drove round the back and under the building, stopping by a queue of people waiting to get in.

One last deep breath. She could do this.

Hopping out in the underground car park, she surveyed her surroundings while walking to the end of the line. The queue wasn’t long, but it wasn’t moving either. And it was loud, with most club-goers clearly having had pre-drinks.

A few vampires waited but more humans, all with visible bite marks, and not just on wrists and necks. Two girls waited in front of her, mid-twenties at most, talking and giggling. One wore a backless jumpsuit sporting bite marks running down her spine like a ladder of pink snowflakes. The other’s skirt was shorter than Verity’s, showing off bites on her thighs. Inside and out.

Looking behind her, she saw scarred bites on everyone, and some did not look well healed.

Verity’s hands tightened on her bag. What the fuck was this? Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. What if someone tried to bite her? She hadn’t even considered that. What if they did bite her? What would she say to Theo?

No one noticed when she took a shaky breath and stepped out of the line. She had seen it now. She could do some more research and come back another night. She’d learnt enough for today.

Walking down the line, heading for the edge of the car park, she pulled her phone out and was about to call a taxi when she heard someone call, “Verity?”

Her heart stopped. It actually stopped dead. She wasn’t breathing. Oh gods, how had she fucked up this bad?

“Verity!” snapped a female voice she knew too well, and she turned to find Stella storming toward her.

“Oh, hey,” Verity tried, but the look on Stella’s face wasn’t a friendly one.