Page 148 of The Donor’s Dilemma

Verity didn’t like the sound of that.

“You may leave Havenshire,” Petra said, one hand extended, palm up. “You and Theo, gone. Do whatever you like, far away from me.” Whatever kindness Verity might have briefly mistaken in the offer evaporated the instant Petra continued. “Or, you prove your loyalty to me, and go to Cliffhaven.”

A rock and a hard place if Verity had ever heard one.

Petra glanced toward the body of her friend. “I find myself short of someone competent to fix the situation there. Someone who already understands the issue at hand.”

It made a strange kind of sense, Verity realised, even if she hadn’t expected to be the one asked.

“Both of us?” she asked, voice hoarse. “Me and Theo, together?”

Petra nodded. “You’ve declared your love to the entire world now, have you not? It would hardly be fair of me to tear you apart.”

It wasn’t a reward, but it didn’t feel like a punishment either. Petra’s voice held no anger as she laid the choice out, just the plain shape of it. Take it or leave it.

It felt unfair to be the one answering for both of them when this would change Theo’s life as much as her own but she supposed most people would have asked Theo instead, disregarding what she wanted. Verity didn’t know if Petra gave her the choice out of respect, feminism or plain old curiosity. The reason didn’t matter, she knew what Theo would want, and it was the same thing she did. She knew how much he loved this city, cared for his citizens, and, deep down, how ready he was for something new.

They had found the truth of Cliffhaven together, and they would fix it together too.

She took her time answering. Petra didn’t rush her, simply watching the rise and fall of her chest, or perhaps her pulse. Verity couldn’t tell which, and would normally have been creeped out by her intense stare, but found she was too tired to care.

“We’ll go to Cliffhaven,” Verity said. “Me and Theo. We’ll fix it.”

“Marvellous,” Petra said, without smiling. She stood, raised one hand as if to pat Verity on the head, seemed to reconsider, and settled for an awkward tap on her shoulder instead, the way someone might pat a dog they weren’t quite sure how to handle, and walked out without another word.

Chapter Forty-Four

Getting into the car was far harder than Verity expected. She could hear the brass band serenading the festival-goers, completely unaware of the life-altering deal that had just been struck.

Soon, reports about Cliffhaven would spread. The people in the market square — singing, dancing, hunting for eggs and weaving flower crowns — would learn the depth of Cliffhaven's plight. But for now, they had joy, and that knowledge ached in Verity even as she shook, the shock of everything finally settling. The pain, the death, the decision.

Theo hadn’t questioned her when she told him she’d agreed to go to Cliffhaven. That it was now their responsibility to repair the wrongs. Petra had given her a choice, and Theo hadn’t even asked about the other option, trusting her to choose the right thing to do.

Under any other circumstances, Verity would have refused to be fragile. She would have refused to let him scoop her into his arms to carry but she didn’t know how much farther she could walk. Stella was waiting with the car, having fetched it the moment Petra left and Theo was allowed back in. She winced at the sight of Verity.

“Well,” she said. “At least you’re not dead.”

No, Verity thought. Death would hurt less than this.

Once Theo had folded her into the passenger seat, he climbed in after her and leaned across to clip her seatbelt. She noticed the blood on his collar again, the cut still open on his cheek.

“What happened to you?” she asked.

He raised an eyebrow, checked his reflection in the mirror as if he’d forgotten. “Nothing I couldn’t handle,” he said, and kissed her cheek, soft and gentle.

The ride home was the slowest he’d ever driven. He helped her into the building, telling the doorman he’d lost his keys, again. Verity realised, with a pang of sadness, that the place she’d only just begun to think of as home wouldn’t be her home for much longer. She’d barely had the chance to settle. There would be a new home, one they would make together. Though Verity had no idea what shape it would take considering their reason for going.

There would be time to think about what waited for them in Cliffhaven later. Right now, she needed rest.

Theo apparently disagreed with the rest part, at least at first.

He ran her a bath, settling her into the warm water and cleaning her carefully despite her insistence that she could manage. Slowly her body relaxed, shakes subsiding, warmth returning to her bones. He washed the graze on her cheek, his hands gentle over the ribs she was fairly sure were only bruised. She hoped, at least. He found painkillers from somewhere and held them out to her as he knelt by the tub.

“Would you like a drop of blood?” he asked.

Her eyes widened. “We shouldn’t.”

“I know. But it would help you heal. Just this once. Never again.”