Page 99 of The Donor’s Dilemma

The first thing she’d done upon waking up that evening was message Adam, checking he was okay and asking if he had Sienna’s number. No reply.

Then she’d messaged Cecilia, asking to talk again and mentioning that she’d met some girls from Cliffhaven, for she was all but certain that was where Abe had found the two girls. After throwing herself under the bus, Sienna had asked about the places Abe had visited. While Theo pretended to feed, desperately trying to heal her neck, Verity had listened. Abe didn’t mention Cliffhaven, despite telling Verity he’d been there, but he also didn’t mention another coastal town. So where else could Chloe and Mabel have come from when Mabel so loved the sea? Of course it wasn’t a guarantee, but Abe kept talking about saving Verity, maybe he was saving the girls too.

She had no proof, she knew that, but she also knew something was wrong, that there were dots to connect but couldn’t figure out how.

Unsurprisingly, Cecilia hadn’t replied either.

An anxious knot settled in her stomach as she looked at Theo’s name on the screen. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to talk to him, in fact she didn’t particularly want to leave his apartment that evening. He’d been quiet on the drive home from SubRosa, distant when wishing her sweet dreams at the door of the spare room and kissing her cheek. The insane idea of going to him had plagued her mind. Slipping into his room and sleeping in his arms, but if he’d wanted that he wouldn’t have sent her to the spare room. So, she let it be.

What happened had been her fault, from sneaking into SubRosa that first time to asking to be bitten when he’d told her no. Would Sienna have even been in there if Vivienne didn't think them friends? But Theo didn’t see it that way. The possessive, protective idiot was beating himself up for what had happened to her, when, other than Sienna, all she cared about was what happened to him.

He hadn’t wanted it.

He’d been forced into performing. Putting on a show for the sake of protecting both her and Vivienne’s Blessed trade deal. His agency had been stolen just as much as hers, but Theo didn’t see it that way.

It broke her heart a little when Theo politely dismissed her that evening. She’d emerged from the spare room ready to talk about what happened, and Theo immediately grabbed his keys to take her home, saying he was drowning in paperwork. It wasn’t a lie. Earlier in the week he had mentioned multiple times that he needed to catch up over the weekend, but work was the last thing on her mind.

He apologised frequently on the drive to her parents' house, refusing to see himself as a victim. It was infuriating but Verity understood that he needed space to sort through the events of the night.

Before leaving she offered to do the write-up for the university seeing as, with ten nights to go, the Ostara festival was pretty much taken care of. Obviously, he resisted, but Verity pointed out that it might look better coming from a human and he conceded to allowing her to draft an introduction.

The phone buzzed again. Well, he couldn’t be too down in the dumps if he was continuing with his usual level of pestering. With a deep breath she opened the messages.

How's your evening? I can take care

of the proposal. You should be resting.

Let me know you're okay?

Gods damn the person who gave that man a phone. What did he do before he could pester a partner with texts? Carrier pigeon? Messager on horseback? Surely, he was too impatient to wait for a letter.

Working on it now. How are you doing?

By working on it she meant staring at her laptop screen, wondering where to start. Unable to focus.

How long had it been since she’d written? For most of her life she had written every day without fail. Not always anything long or important, but something. If she wasn’t writing her own articles, she’d often clip interesting or unusual stories from other papers and write about them. Parts of the story that intrigued her, or elements of the writer’s style she enjoyed. Once upon a time she would have done that with the Cliffhaven articles Theo had. In fact…

She flicked through her phone, closing the messages and opening the photos. When Theo left the room she’d taken a few snaps of the articles, unwilling to forget about them. Maybe they held a clue as to why the girls were with Abe, why the end of the quarantine was nowhere in sight, and what it all had to do with the Vital Exchange. They were connected and there was no doubt in Verity’s mind, Cecilia knew how.

I'm fine. Do you need anything?

“Knock knock.” The door creaked open as her mum poked her head in. “Cuppa tea?” Debbie asked, holding out a steaming mug.

“Thanks.” Verity resisted the urge to tug her collar up as she took the drink.

“How’s Adam?” her mum asked.

“I wish you pair wouldn’t gossip about me,” Verity said. No doubt she’d got the name from Cora. There hadn’t been anyone else who needed lying to.

“Well, maybe if you told me about your boyfriend I wouldn’t need to go fishing,” Debbie said, with folded arms and a mischievous smirk.

It didn’t feel right deceiving her mum, but what was she supposed to say? His name isn’t really Adam, it’s Theo, Theodor Chapel. You know, my client, the six hundred year old vampire Lord who runs the city? Yeah, that would go down like a lead balloon.

Searching for something to say, she remembered the blank document in front of her and realised her mother might be useful.

“Actually, we’re working on something together at the minute, for the Exchange.”

“Oh?” Her mum edged further into the room, leaning on the door frame. “Working together isn’t easy on a relationship. Especially one that’s so new.”