Page 124 of The Donor’s Dilemma

“Verity?”

“Yes, I think my phone’s bugged.”

A beat of silence before she spoke. “What do you mean you think your phone is bugged?” Her words came slow.

“We’ve been looking into Cliffhaven. We know what’s happening there. We know that it’s going to happen here. Theo and I…”

“What do you mean you’ve been looking into Cliffhaven?” Cecilia snapped. “I told you to stay away from it.”

“Why sneak those reports out if you didn’t want them acting on?” Verity asked.

Cecilia was silent.

“I know it was you.”

“Please don’t write about this,” Cecilia said. “It won’t…”

“I’m not writing about it,” Verity said. “I’m working with the mayor, we’re trying to get to the bottom of it, but I need to understand exactly what you know.”

She paused again before speaking. “I know that the exchange ran out of donors. It must be the illness. People aren’t healthy enough…”

“There is no illness; it’s just an excuse.” Did she seriously not know that? How could she have given Harris all of that information but still thought the flu was real? “Those articles: where did they come from?” she asked.

“They were in the Exchange archive. They’re the only reason I started looking at Cliffhaven,” Cecilia said, voice shaking. “There was no reason for them to be there. I…” She sniffed between words, and Verity realised she must be crying. “I just knew they were wrong.”

“Thank Phoenar you did,” Verity murmured. “I’m just... these are really dangerous people. We’re trying to fix it, but you might need to be careful for a while.”

“Fix it?” Cecilia laughed, though there was no humour in it. “How can you possibly fix this? If the vampires don’t want the Exchange anymore. If that’s what’s happening…”

“Well, I’ve got vampires on my side as well,” Verity said. “Trust me, I’ll take care of it. You take care of yourself.”

Voices grew louder from the bedroom as Theo walked out.

“I have to go,” Verity told her. “I’ll speak to you when I can. Just look after yourself… and use this number if you need me.”

She hung up before Cecilia could answer, knowing that if she said anything incriminating Theo would hear every word.

Guilt gnawed at her for keeping it from him. If it were just him, she would have told him about the source already, but it was his brother she didn’t know whether she could trust. There was something about him, something wrong. He was nice and cheerful and polite. As helpful as she’d expect any brother of Theo’s to be. He’d insisted on making breakfast, insisted on cleaning up, did everything with a smile and a wink.

It was when he winked for the tenth time that she realised what was unsettling her so much. His eyes. They were a blue so bright it verged on unnatural. How much blood must he have drunk for them to be so vivid? Who had he fed on? Was that what Theo’s would look like if he were full? Verity didn’t want to know. What she did know, was that she didn’t want Jesse finding out about Cecilia.

Abe’s words rang through her head. You meet Jesse then tell me I’m wrong. What would a vampire who the Blessed called dangerous do if he knew who the source was? Would he have warned her like she had? Would he have fed her to the lions, or found a way to shut her up before she could tell Vivienne what they knew? It wasn’t worth the risk.

“You okay, Angel?” Theo asked when she didn’t move, and she nodded.

“Yeah, just a few people to catch up with. Everyone’s worried, I’ve been quiet for a few days.”

“I’m sure they are. After your check-up, we’ll have to work out what to tell them, so they don’t fret.” He nodded towards the waiting doctor and Verity took the hint, shuffling into the bedroom.

“Miss Harper,” Dr Smythe greeted.

“You do know my name’s Verity, don’t you?” she said, sitting on the bed and trying to act normal.

“I like to be professional,” he told her, fitting the blood pressure cuff and reading over his notes.

“How’s Lois?” she asked.

Dr Smythe glanced up at her beneath his lashes. “She’s well.” Before continuing with his work.