Chapter Four
Verity stopped by the Exchange after her appointment with Theo and asked about the support group. The receptionist was confused as to why Verity hadn’t been invited. According to her, the group meetings were a requirement for full-time donors for at least the first six months.
“To smooth out any teething problems,” the woman explained.
“No pun intended,” Verity said with a wink, but the woman just stared at her, looking vacant.
Perhaps the pun really wasn’t intended.
As it turned out, the groups ran most nights, but Saturday worked well for Verity seeing as she donated on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Following her first two donations, Verity felt fine. She took the supplements and followed the donation day calorie and fluid guidelines, but she was still worried about being fed upon so often. It would be a comfort to talk to other donors.
So, she wrote herself a list of questions, some basic, some complex, some safe, some more risqué. The risqué ones were the most important, but maybe if she hid them among questions about fading scars and the long-term effects of full-time donation, people might not notice.
Who was she kidding? “Is it normal to get wet every time your client bites you?” was definitely going to turn some heads. She had to do something though, it had to stop before someone else noticed.
She walked to the Exchange, the list burning a hole in her pocket, wondering what the other donors would be like. No doubt many would be doing it because it was an honour or some nonsense, but there must be plenty who just needed the money like she did.
Two men sat on a bench outside the Exchange, conveniently taking the one between streetlights. They were wearing hoodies and caps and doing a shitty job of looking inconspicuous. Verity could feel their eyes on her as she approached the stairs of the building when one of them spat.
“Slag!”
“Excuse me?” Verity demanded, whirling on the wannabe bad guys.
“You heard me,” one of the men said, going to stand up, but his friend shot an arm out, stopping him.
“Yeah, I heard you. I was wondering if you had the balls to say it to my face. How very tough of you, shouting at lone women in the street.” She cocked a hip and gave them both a slow look up and down. “Your mums must be so proud. I’d say girlfriends but…” Her nose crinkled in disgust.
The loose cannon of the pair did stand up then, stepping towards her, fists clenched at his sides. Verity’s hand tightened around her phone in her pocket, ready to punch him if need be. By the looks of his bulbous nose, she wouldn’t be the first.
“At least my Mrs ain’t a whoring vamp lover!”
“Hey, calm down mate.”
“Don’t you tell me to calm down you fucking whore!”
“Kane, stop it.” His friend butted in, pulling at Kane’s arm. He was a few inches taller than Kane, and a fair bit skinnier. “She’s trying to wind you up.”
“You know, if your Mrs can put up with you, maybe she should apply. What’s two little pricks, when she already deals with a massive one at home.”
Kane bared his teeth, his ruddy face turning a shade redder under the lamp light. Bushy eyebrows and heavy stubble, crow’s feet and thin lips, five foot eleven, stocky build. She’d seen enough.
“Well, Kane. I do have a meeting to get to, so I’ll have to love you and leave you.” She blew him a kiss and climbed the remaining stairs.
“Dirty vamp fucker!” Kane shouted, as tall and skinny shushed him.
A man blocked the doorway as Verity marched for the entrance. Vampire. He stared past Verity at the men on the street, eyes black as night. Similar to the predatory gaze she saw on Theo’s face, only this stare promised something far darker than just a bite.
His eye flicked to Verity before returning to the street. “Are those men giving you trouble, Miss Harper?” he asked, voice smooth as the veil.
Miss Harper? She tried to remember if she’d met this guy before and came up short.
She turned to see the bickering pair scurrying away.
“Nothing I can’t handle.”
“Best not to antagonise them,” he said, stepping aside for Verity to enter.
He walked her to the opulent main hall, the one her induction had been held in. The space looked even grander now that the medical screens had been removed.
An intricate painting depicting the birth of Phoenar, the first vampire, adorned the high vaulted ceiling, lit by crystal chandeliers.
The ceiling, along with the dark wood panelling and golden sconces, stood as a reminder that she was in a different world to the one she had grown up in.
One of money and privilege and extravagance.
Theo’s world.
About twenty people milled about, and as Verity scanned the room, she found a familiar smiling face.
“Verity!” Adam called, rushing forward and grabbing her in a hug.
A little of the tightness in her chest eased at knowing she wasn’t alone. She’d messaged him about the support group last night, wondering if his invitation had been missed too, but he hadn’t replied.
“How’s it going? You donated again yesterday, right?” he asked, dragging her over to a group gathered by a table of refreshments.
“Yeah. It’s good…” she started as Adam pushed her forward, as if showing off a new toy.
“Everyone, this is Verity. We did induction together,” he declared, and started rattling off names that she immediately forgot.
Georgie, Sienna, Preston…
The group stopped talking, a few frowning at each other before giving Verity a not so subtle once over.
It struck Verity that, of all the donors in the room, these were the youngest, the prettiest. Gods, there was seriously a cool group?
Verity couldn’t be doing with that crap, she’d thought high school politics was over.
“Who’s your client, Verity?” asked a gorgeous brunette, Sienna, maybe, with a venomous smile. Mid-twenties, button nose and legs longer than a super model.
“Theo Chapel,” Verity said, holding her cold stare.
“Lord Mayor Theodor Chapel?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.
“That’s the one.”
“Half an hour late for their first appointment, wasn’t he?” Adam exclaimed.
Verity couldn’t be sure if he was trying to break the apparent tension, or if he was truly oblivious to the way the brunette’s gaze hollowed out as she watched the newcomer.
Before Verity could reply, Maybe-Sienna smirked and shook her head.
The group immediately disbanded, needing no more instruction before wandering off, sniggering to each other in hushed tones.
“Come on, Adam,” she said, walking away, fully expecting her pup would follow.
To Adam’s credit, he looked as shocked as she felt, turning between Verity and the cool kids who were taking seats in the large circle of chairs.
“Go, it’s fine,” Verity said.
“No, I…” Adam started, as the group watched, waiting for him to join them.
“Go,” Verity said again with a tight smile. “We can catch up later.”
Adam nodded, mouthing an apology before running off to take the chair next to the Queen-Bee.
Verity didn’t care; she wasn’t there to make friends and hadn’t expected to see Adam. Although with a clique like that in the room, her list of questions suddenly seemed a lot shorter. Not in all the hells was she going to ask about getting turned on in front of them.
Verity found herself a cup of tea and took a seat as the vampire from the stairs called for everyone to sit.
“Welcome everyone, and a special welcome to our new donors this evening. For those who don’t know me, I’m David and as you can see, we have a special guest visiting tonight,” he gestured to a tall blonde vampire wearing a white trouser suit and a killer smile.
“This is Vivienne Green. She’s visiting from Highhaven and wanted to meet some donors while she’s in town. ”
Vivienne smiled. “It is always so very important to me to meet the people who keep our great county working. We would be nothing without our donors.”
She glanced around the circle as she spoke, the sincerity of her words making Verity wonder if Vivienne was the vampire equivalent of the honourable donor. Maybe for her first meeting she should just listen.
“Why don’t we meet our newbies?” David said, turning to Verity.
Fucking wonderful.
The whole group turned as one to look at her. Waiting.
“Er, hi. I’m Verity,” she said, with an awkward wave. She wasn’t a shy person, but the weight of the room pressed down on her.
“How long have you been donating and who’s your client?” David asked when she didn’t go on.
“Wednesday was my first donation, and my client is Theodor Chapel.”
“What?” A middle-aged man a few seats around exclaimed.
“Let Verity talk please, Mike,” David said.
“Let her talk? She stole my client!”
“You can’t steal a client, Mike. You don’t own them.”
“Eight years!” Mike stood, almost knocking over his chair. “Eight years of my life and I’m cast out for her.”
He stared down his nose at her like she was shit on his shoe.
“It isn’t my fault,” Verity snapped, crossing her arms. It really wasn’t, but that didn’t stop her gut twisting. Eight years and Theo swapped him out like it was nothing? “Maybe he got sick of your bad attitude. I just took the client I was given.”
“Okay.” David stood, approaching Mike like he was a rabid animal. “Let’s all take a breath.
Mike snorted. “Oh, piss off Dave.” He marched for the door. “I don’t have to put up with this!”
The woman he had been sitting next to jumped out of her seat and dashed after him as David followed, calling on them both to wait.
The donors turned their gaze back to Verity and she wished she could vanish. The Queen-Bee smirked and a couple of her posse whispered and giggled.
“How did you find your first donation?” Vivienne asked, and the room stilled, waiting for her answer.
Fuck. Verity had forgotten about the “guest” and she really hoped David hadn’t been trying to impress her.
“It was fine,” she said. “Not as bad as I was expecting.”
The vampire smiled. “And Lord Chapel was professional?”
“Of course,” Verity said with a frown. Why would she even ask that?
“Good, that’s good,” Vivienne mused. “I understand how… intimidating it can be. The comfort and safeguarding of donors really are our number one priority.”
Although Verity doubted the vampire could really understand how it felt, she did appreciate the sentiment.
“Apologies everyone,” David declared, re-entering the room, Mike and the woman gone. “Where were we? Mr Chen?”
All eyes moved over to Adam as he started talking, apart from Vivienne who Verity caught watching her. They shared a smile and Verity wondered what exactly her job was. David hadn’t said but she must be some higher up at the Exchange to be sitting in on donor meetings.
Verity fidgeted with the list in her pocket. Her questions would have to wait another week, or forever.
At least Adam had made some friends, even if they shunned Verity. Vivienne and the rest of the circle nodded along as he spoke about how his vampire, Bea, was so much kinder than he’d expected.
“Yesterday at the club...” Adam started when the Queen-Bee gave him a not so subtle kick.
The circle shifted, eyes darting between David and Vivienne, whose perfect smile faltered for a split second before she caught herself.
“That’s great,” David interrupted, turning to another new donor. “Miss Perry.”
Yeah, subtle as a sledgehammer. Had something happen yesterday at this club? Something they didn’t want Vivienne to know about?
Once the new donors finished introducing themselves David declared they should go around the circle and everyone say something they wished they'd known as a new donor. Every answer felt far too safe and Verity decided that they were definitely on their best behaviour for the visitor.
The meeting lasted almost two hours and felt like one of those team-building events that made Verity want to doze off.
So much for her list of questions. Since the cool kids were still giving her the side-eye and everyone who had sat near Mike was staring downright daggers at her, Verity didn’t fancy drawing any more attention to herself.
When the meeting finally came to an end Adam wandered over and gave her another hug.
“Sorry about earlier,” he said. “They all get a bit protective over their vampires. Politics or something, I dunno.”
“Adam! Rides here!” Someone shouted and he ran off, promising to call later.
Maybe she could see if there was another group she could go to. One where she might actually be able to make some friends and everyone didn’t hate her on sight.
Was this the article again? Had their clients told them to steer clear of her?
She descended the steps outside in time to see the cool kids going their separate ways, most of them getting into fancy cars. Adam gleefully hopped into a sleek sports car, the kind that cost more than her parents’ house, before it sped off.
Everyone hates her and she has to get the bus like the rest of the peasants.
She wasn’t sure that could have gone much worse.