Page 88 of The Donor’s Dilemma

Once the bones of the plan were down, they moved on to the other major issue. The missing donors. After a little persuading, Theo agreed to let Verity call her old paper. Trevor, more specifically. After his words of wisdom at her departure - Vincit Omnia Veritas, truth conquers all - she felt he was one of the few who might actually listen.

She was right.

Theo had presented her with the newspaper the moment she emerged from the spare room that evening. It wasn’t front page news, but it was there, Georgie’s radiant smile greeting her on page five.

It had been discussed at length, first with Theo, then with Trevor. No mention of vampires or the fact she was a donor, just the beloved daughter and sister, the honour student and passionate conservationist. Interviews from friends and family, photos of birthdays and from her university placement with the Rangers in the Wilds. A young woman with an incredible life. An incredible future.

It was passionate, heartbreaking and completely undeniable. There was no way the police could ignore it now.

Still, the tightening in Verity’s gut didn’t ease; it wouldn’t until Georgie was home. Until all of the lost donors were found and she knew it wouldn’t happen again. The system was broken, but Theo would fix it. He had to fix it.

Buzzing in her pocket pulled Verity from her thoughts. She looked down at her phone.

Cecilia.

Verity jumped up, ringing the bell to stop the bus as she rushed to the door and accepted the call.

“Hello?” she asked.

A pause before Cecilia answered. “Hi… Verity?”

“Yeah, hey, how are you?”

The bus turned a corner, splashing through puddles as it crawled towards the bus stop.

“I’m good. You rang yesterday?”

“Yeah, I did,” Verity said. “I just wanted to run something by you.”

“If this is about the article…”

They hadn’t spoken in months, not since Cecilia got her new job and needed to put the article behind her if she planned to keep it. It was a long shot asking her to help now, but desperate times and all that.

“No, it isn’t about that,” Verity said, as the bus finally stopped and she hopped off, ducking into the bus shelter to hide from the drizzle. After checking she was truly alone she went on. “You’re working for the Stonehaven Council now?”

Another pause before Cecilia confirmed with a drawn-out, “Yeesss…”

“Well, I saw some interesting documents yesterday. I was just wondering if you might know anything.”

Silence.

Verity wrapped her jacket around her, wind and stray raindrops nipping at her knees. She needed the right words, needed to find that thread of compassion that had led the other woman to help her before.

“I’m worried about the Vital Exchange, about donors. There’s…”

“Didn’t you learn the first time?” Cecilia asked. “You’re asking for trouble. You can’t write about…”

“I’m not writing anything,” she said. “I’m just trying to understand…”

“Well, don’t. You’re putting both of us in danger just by calling me. The less you know about Cliffhaven the better.”

“Cliffhaven?” Verity asked. What the fuck did she know about Cliffhaven?

“I need to go.”

“Wait, what do you…”

“Just stay out of it, Verity.”