Page 120 of The Donor’s Dilemma

“Don’t come sneaking around then,” Theo snapped, rubbing his chest but relaxing his hold on Verity.

“Sneaking?” The stranger laughed, blue eyes crinkling in a way that felt familiar as he leant against the counter, perfectly at home. “I was hardly quiet. It’s not my fault you two were dead to the world.”

Theo huffed, rolling his eyes before introducing him. “Verity, this is my brother, Jesse.”

“I’ve heard a lot about you, Verity,” Jesse said with a wink, and she tried not to blush.

Jesse was not what she had expected. Not that she’d given Theo’s brother a great deal of thought. All she knew was that he worked beyond the wall a lot, was good at finding out sensitive information, and Abe thought he was dangerous. Considering the first two points, Verity was inclined to believe Abe was right.

“Don’t worry,” he went on, talking behind his hand in a stage whisper as if to hide it from Theo, “he never tells anyone about me. He thinks I’m trouble.”

“You are trouble,” Theo said before pulling his brother into a hug. “But I think we could do with a bit of trouble on our side.”

Chapter Thirty-Four

Ever the helpful brother, Jesse insisted on cooking, making scrambled eggs for his “favourite patients,” and setting out Verity’s pills for her while she found something less revealing to wear. Theo would have been happy for her to wear her sleepwear all night, especially when she’d swayed her hips towards the bedroom door, giving him the most delicious view of her arse beneath the tiny shorts, but not with his brother present. Though not the most territorial vampire, Theo couldn’t promise he wouldn’t punch his brother if he caught him looking. Even if it was an accident.

The fact that Jesse already knew what pills Verity needed, and that Smythe was due in an hour, seeing as they’d slept the whole night away, didn’t surprise Theo in the slightest. Jesse always had been a nosy fucker.

Verity was unusually quiet while they ate, listening to the brothers catch up while her heart thrummed a little faster than normal. He didn’t know if it was thanks to her medical state, unease around Jesse or a bit of both. Her quick attempt at a smile when he took her hand while Jesse cleaned up told him all he needed to know about Verity’s thoughts on Jesse. Maybe it had been a fool’s hope that the two of them might get along, especially when Theo didn’t always see eye to eye with Jesse himself.

Once the eating and cleaning and pill taking were done, Jesse joined them at the island with a fake smile to match Verity’s. Whatever he was about to say, they weren’t going to like it.

“So…” Jesse strung out the word, making the most of every second before a hard conversation. “Cliffhaven.”

Theo raised his brow, waiting for his brother to go on.

“Information’s been lacking, but after I heard about the docks I thought I’d drop by. Assess it for myself.”

“And..?” Theo asked, spurring his brother on. “You said the Exchange collapsed?”

Jesse’s eyes flicked to Verity in question and Theo nodded. Anything that he learnt Verity would squeeze from him anyway, she might as well hear it from the horse’s mouth.

“Yeah,” Jesse said, without elaborating.

Rolling his neck, Theo tried not to snap. He was too tired and stressed to drag the information out of him and was about to tell Jesse as much when Verity chirped up.

“There’s no flu?” she asked.

“No,” Jesse replied.

“The whole quarantine, it’s been because the Exchange ran out of donors?”

“Yes.”

“Are the humans being fed?”

Jesse pulled a face, averting his eyes before replying. “Yes?” he made the word sound like a question.

“Is there order?” Verity went on without missing a beat.

“Sometimes.”

“Police?”

Jesse hummed. “Enforcers, not police.”

“Vampires?”