Chapter Seven #2
She bristled when Abraham laughed, clutching his chest. “You wound me, sweet Verity. No, not owned. More… protected. They give us blood and we take care of them, but we always need more.”
“So, you’re a vampire?” she asked, and Abraham offered his hand to her.
“What do you think?”
Every instinct in her body screamed to stop.
To stop talking to this guy and sit still until the first chance to run.
But there was something intriguing about him, something she couldn’t quite get her head around, and that had always been Verity’s biggest problem.
When curiosity and self-preservation clashed, curiosity always won. Every single time.
She examined the hand, not knowing what he wanted her to do, until he took her hand and shuffled even closer. He curled her fingers until he held two then pressed them against his neck. He had a pulse.
“I don’t understand,” she said.
Those eyes bore into her, cool breath ghosting across her hand, when suddenly the steady thrum beneath her fingers just… stopped. Verity frowned, pressing slightly harder and moving her fingers, searching for a heartbeat.
Abraham’s grin turned wicked and he was about to say something when Verity’s chair was pulled out, taking her with it. She flailed, grabbing the seat and looking up to find Theo.
“Morning Abe,” Theo said stiffly, finding another chair and squishing it between Verity and Abraham.
Her thigh pressed against him as he threw an arm around her, pulling her into his side.
The movement sent her off balance forcing her to grab his knee to stay upright.
His other hand immediately landed on top of it, stopping her from pulling it back.
“Holy shit, Theo Chapel! How long’s it been? Couple of centuries at least?” Abraham said, looking between Theo and Verity. “I didn’t realise she was yours.”
“Would it have made a difference?” Theo asked, letting go of her hand to reach for a drink. He still hadn’t looked at her, but Verity kept her hand on his knee anyway.
The not-human-not-vampire chuckled. “Probably not.”
“Didn’t realise they were letting you guys in again,” Theo said, sipping Verity’s wine.
“Verity,” called Vivienne. “Why don’t you go dancing with your friends?”
She glanced over at the dance floor, at Adam and the cool kids, then at Vivienne who offered her a sympathetic smile. As much as she hated being told what to do, and didn’t particularly want to dance, she was grateful to be excused.
Theo stood and pulled her chair out, offering a hand for her to stand. He looked at her then, and Verity wished he hadn’t.
He was livid.
The smiles she had enjoyed only an hour ago were nowhere to be seen, replaced with the hard line of his mouth and a nose scrunched in disgust. Her heart sank.
She went to leave but he grabbed her hand, their fingers lacing, as he tucked her hair behind her ear. His lips brushed her ear as he leant in, almost making her knees buckle as an inferno raged within her.
“Touch no one,” he said, just loud enough to hear over the music. “If anyone touches you, you call me. No second chances.”
“Theo,” she started.
“Not now, Verity. You stay where I can see you, no accepting drinks, no touching. You wanna survive tonight, you belong to me. No exceptions, no excuses. Understand?”
She nodded, her cheeks burning. Then he was gone, back to the table, leaving her lost without him beside her.
“Verity!” Adam called, grabbing her hand and pulling her into the fold.
She looked over her shoulder. No touching. Was that just vampires or anyone? Theo watched but looked no more murderous than before so she guessed he meant vampires, and whatever the fuck Abraham was.
Verity wasn’t a fan of dancing, she felt too old, but it was better than sitting at that table. She took it as an opportunity to scope the room, and, gods, had the scene before her changed.
Everywhere she looked humans and vampires were together, dancing and kissing and feeding. She had never even heard of a human-vampire relationship, yet she counted at least eight at a glance. She had also never seen another vampire feed before, yet there were even more doing that.
On the edge of the dance floor a young woman sat on a vampire’s lap, teeth in her neck and hand up her skirt. Whatever he was doing she seemed unfazed as she scrolled through her phone.
Similar scenes played out everywhere, even on the dance floor. Couples grinding and biting. Every now and then a cry of pain or ecstasy lifted above the music, mingled with talking and laughter.
“Verity?”
Sienna appeared, and to Verity’s shock, hugged her.
“It’s so great to finally see you here.” She smiled and Verity could have sworn it was genuine.
Wait. If Sienna was Queen-Bee because Harris outranked the others, did that mean that Verity was about to take her crown? She nearly laughed at the idea. Sienna could keep it!
The group danced together, Verity keeping her distance while the others clung to one another. Theo watched throughout, never taking his eyes off her, while the table talked around him. She offered him a tight smile, but he wouldn’t return it.
Before long Bea appeared, pulling Adam’s arms around her and whispering in his ear before nipping his neck.
Another donor, Georgie, was accompanied by her vampire.
Verity tried not to stare. Such things were private, but when the vampire lifted his own wrist to his mouth and bit, she froze.
He sucked, filling his mouth with blood before the wound quickly healed, then turned to Georgie.
He smiled, blood coating his teeth, and kissed her, lifting her into his arms as he did.
For the hundredth time that day, Verity thought her heart might cease beating. Human-vampire relations were taboo. Neck biting was against donor regulations. But drinking a vampire’s blood? To call it illegal was an understatement. Verity wasn’t sure there was a greater sin.
She watched, waiting for him to release Georgie, waiting to see if she was okay, when an arm wrapped around her.
“Home time.” Theo’s voice left no room for argument, and Verity wasn’t inclined to.
He took her hand, leading her out, across the dance floor, between the tables and out the door.
“Theo,” she tried, as he dragged her across the car park, but he wasn’t stopping.
He walked up to a blacked out four-by-four, opened the passenger door and helped her in before closing it behind her. When he climbed in and started the engine she tried again, but he continued to ignore her.
They pulled out of the car park to find the sun high. Verity had never been in a car designed for vampires before and marvelled at the luxury, as well as the anti-sunlight tint. The seat was comfier than her bed and smelt of leather and pine.
The guilt coiling in her gut was making her queasy.
“I’m sorry, Theo. Please say something.”
“You lied to me,” was all he said.
“I… didn’t,” Verity said, but she barely believed it herself.
“No?” He pulled the car over and turned on her. “So, you didn’t tell me you wouldn’t go there?”
“Well, I… I said I wouldn’t accept an invitation, and I wasn’t invited.”
“Seriously? So, I need to watch what I say around you in case you twist it? And so much for the date, huh?”
“I never said I had a date.”
“No, you just let me believe you did like a fucking idiot.”
“No…”
“Oh, I bet you had a right laugh, stupid fucking Theo. I’ll just flirt with him, so he won’t…”
“No!”
“Is that why you got me a present? Butter me up before you go and do the single, most reckless thing you possibly could!”
Verity’s lip trembled as she looked away, sniffing.
“I’m sorry,” she murmured, and she prayed he believed her.
Theo put his head in his hands.
“If you had any idea what you’ve just done,” he said, before shaking his head and putting the car in gear.
“Theo?”
“I need to see what I can do about this,” he said, heading for her parents house.
“What do you mean? The others go all the time.”
“Not the same, Verity.”
“Why?”
“Not now.”
“Theo?”
He pulled up to the house.
“We’ll talk Monday,” he said.
“Why not now?” she asked and Theo scowled at her.
“Are you not listening? You have just put yourself in one hell of a dangerous position. I don’t think I can fix this, but if I’m gonna try, I need to do it now.”
“Is there anything I can do?” she asked.
“Just act normal, and don’t do anything else stupid,” he said. “And don’t fucking lie to me again.”
“I won’t,” she swore.
“Be quick with the door,” he muttered as she went to get out.
“I’m sorry,” she said again.
“Yeah, me too.”
She opened the door just wide enough to squeeze out and slammed it, trying to block the sunlight from getting in. The windows were black from the outside, but he waited until she opened the front door before leaving.
Well, that couldn’t have gone much worse.