Page 23 of The Donor’s Dilemma

“What the fuck are you doing here? Does Theo know?” Stella asked. A female vampire hovered a step behind her, looking rather uncomfortable as her eyes darted between the two women.

“Oh, I was just…” Just what? What the hells was her excuse?

Stella pulled her phone out, giving it a few taps before pulling up the details for “BOSS MAN”.

“Oh gods, Stella. Please don’t!” she begged, but Stella hit call and lifted the phone to her ear.

Verity heard a muffled male voice a second later and held her hands together in prayer while mouthing Please don’t tell him! Please!

“Hey,” Stella said, staring Verity straight in the eye. “I’m at SubRosa. Wanna guess who else is here?”

Silence.

“I shall take your silence as…”

“Good morning, Stella,” someone greeted behind them, and Verity turned to find Vivienne Green.

Verity was dead. She had to be, because somehow, she’d ended up in the lowest circle of hell.

“And Verity! How lovely to see you again. Is Theo coming?” Vivienne asked, voice sweet and eyes bright.

“I’m just talking to him,” Stella said, smiling and gesturing to her phone. “Viv’s here. Yeah, yeah. He’s running late. Should be here any minute,” she said before hanging up.

“Well then, why don’t you girls come in with me? I’d love to hear how everything is going, Verity,” Vivienne said, guiding the group towards the front of the queue.

This wasn’t the first time Verity had been caught snooping. It was never great, but normally she had the option to run. Not this time, though. Playing along was all she could do.

The bouncers didn’t say anything, nodding as the four of them walked in, and just like that, she was inside. With Vivienne. And Theo was coming. Fuck.

Humans and vampires milled in a foyer, many waving to Vivienne as they passed. Voices and footsteps echoed off the mirror walls as they approached the huge double doors that the room flowed towards.

The pulsing bass of the music beyond the room matched Verity’s racing heart and she concentrated on her footsteps, not used to wearing heels and not wanting to trip on the polished tiles.

Tiles, she thought. A design choice, or because they were easier to clean? It smelled clean. Not like bleach but…

No. That was not a calming thought.

Two women in low-cut black dresses opened the doors in perfect synchronicity and Verity entered a round hall, the domed ceiling covered in murals and carvings. Every inch of the vast space was adorned with gold and silk, all bathed in candlelight from the many chandeliers, hanging low over tables that circled a dance floor.

Vivienne guided them to a table, Stella’s friend making small talk with her as Stella slipped into the chair beside Verity. She leant over, cupping a hand around Verity’s ear before whispering, “He’s gonna kill you.”

Verity nodded with a grimace. “Well aware.”

Other vampires kept coming over to talk to Vivienne and Verity was grateful for the distraction. As worried as she was about Theo’s reaction, she was counting the seconds until he arrived.

“Verity!” called another voice and she turned to see Adam running over and grabbing her in a hug. “Thank the gods! We can talk properly now! First time? Where’s Theo? This is Bea!”

Adam wore a white shirt, the top buttons left open, showing off bites on his neck and chest. Verity tried not to stare. Bea, his beautiful client, waved happily to Verity before being called by someone else and dragging Adam away with her. He shouted something but the sound was swallowed by the dancing mass before her.

Lights flashed across the dance floor, red and gold and white. Laughter and cheering. The smell of whiskey and perfume. There were people everywhere, surrounding her, talking to her and Stella and Vivienne. Vampires she’d never met speaking over each other until she couldn’t tell one voice from another.

“You okay, love?” came a smooth male voice as a vampire took the free chair beside her. “Like a pack of dogs, fighting over scraps, aren’t they?”

“I’m scraps, am I?” she asked the handsome stranger, and he laughed.

No fangs, not a vampire. In fact, he had a rich tan on his skin, sun-kissed cheekbones, freckles that matched his red-brown hair, and Verity’s head tilted as she wondered why she assumed he wasn’t human. Perhaps it was the swagger, the total nonchalance as he leaned closer, paying no mind to the predators around them.

“I was talking about Viv,” he said. “Everywhere we go, everyone clambers over each other, desperate to impress her.”