Chapter Nine #2
He was right. If Verity still had a platform, this was exactly the kind of thing she’d be telling the world, but she couldn’t. Not anymore.
“And how would I make a statement?” She asked.
“I have no doubt you’d find a way, if you felt so inclined.” He smiled, giving her a knowing look and gods she clung onto it. Maybe she could still be forgiven.
“That… wasn’t all I saw though,” she said.
“No,” he sighed, “it wasn’t, was it?” He looked out of the window, into the darkness beyond, choosing words and collecting thoughts. “What do you know about drinking vampire blood?”
“Nothing really. That it’s bad?”
“Very bad. Worse than bad.”
“Georgie seemed okay.”
“For now, sure but…” His face was grim as he explained. “The truth is… for humans, drinking vampire blood can cure a great deal of ailments, wounds and sicknesses. Blood loss.”
“Blood loss?” Verity asked. She knew where this was going.
“Yes, you see. When we feed… we…” he fidgeted, running his fingers over the stitching on the steering wheel. “We’re always hungry Verity, always.”
“Right now?” She asked and he nodded. She rolled up her sleeve, “Do you want…”
“No,” he put his hand on hers, stopping her. “You can’t, what I take is just enough for your body to replace. Any more would make you sick.”
“But if you need more…”
“There is no more. We’re struggling for donors as it is. We drink enough to stave off starvation, but never enough to feel satisfied.”
Stave off starvation? That was his life? Always hungry, never sated.
“Unless the donor drinks your blood,” she added.
Theo nodded. “A couple of drops, and a donor could give pints in one sitting.”
“That… doesn’t seem so bad,” Verity said, waiting for the penny to drop.
“Apart from the fact that it’s highly addictive,” Theo said. “Doing it a couple of times, or rarely, isn’t necessarily bad, but it’s the greatest high you can ever achieve, and humans will do anything to find it again. To build on it and maintain it.”
Verity thought about the donors, about Georgie and Adam, loud and wild. So full of life. So… high.
“And if they do it too much?” she asked.
“For one thing, the effects lessen every time. It would still replace the lost blood, but the high is harder to achieve and… people fight harder for it. They get reckless and fall in with the wrong crowds.”
“And put themselves in danger,” Verity said.
“It never ends well.”
“And now I know about it.”
“Now you know.” He sighed. “Verity, this is already a problem. If this were all then we would still be sat here, making a plan to ensure everyone believes that you’re in, that you want to be there and you can be trusted. And we would most likely still do that by faking a relationship.”
Verity tried not to recoil at the idea of faking a relationship.
“But we have another issue.”
“Abraham?” she asked.
“We have to make this believable, Verity. We need to convince everyone.”
“Or what? He’ll take me?” she asked; the idea felt laughable until Theo spoke.
“Yes.”
“Theo… he can’t just…”
“He will do whatever he wants, will take whatever and whomever he wants, and Viv will let him. I’m trying to find out why he’s here, but if he sees even the slightest chink in our armour… he might take you.”
“No,” she murmured, chest tightening, lip shaking as fear gripped her. This couldn’t be happening. “Why me? Who is he?”
“I’m guessing you stood up to him. He has a thing for strong women.” She didn’t feel very strong. Her breaths turned thick in her throat, blood pounding in her ears. Why couldn’t she keep her mouth shut?
“What is he?” she asked, voice barely a whisper.
Theo was silent a moment, then his hand slipped over hers, squeezing gently. “I swear Verity, I’ll do everything in my power to keep you safe.”
“I’m sorry,” she sniffed. “I’m sorry, Theo, please…”
“I know, me too,” he said, stroking soothing fingers over the hands she had fisted in her skirt. “Let’s just promise to be honest with each other from now on.”
Verity nodded.
“Have you heard of a place called Salvation?”
She shook her head.
“You’ve heard of the witch who cursed a whole town?”
Verity nodded, everyone knew about that. About the woman who inspired such fear of witchcraft that Havenshire had laws named after her. The Monroe Accords deemed witchcraft as big a sin as drinking vampire blood.
“Well, that town is called Salvation and the people she cursed are the Blessed,” Theo explained.
“That was almost four hundred years ago,” Verity said. They learnt about the event in school, but only as the official start of the Unveiling: the day humans learned the truth about the other beings who walked the earth.
“And almost all of them still live. The curse backfired, what the witch turned them into was something similar to a vampire. Only faster, stronger, and near impossible to kill.”
“So, he’s even more dangerous than a vampire,” Verity said.
“The Blessed are extremely dangerous, they are wild and self-righteous. They haven’t been allowed inside Havenshire for decades, they cause too much trouble. I need to find out why they’re here now but if it’s for trade…”
His words trailed off, but Verity saw the truth written on his face. She looked down at his hand, still holding hers. “If he’s here to trade, Vivienne might have to give him me as part of the deal.”
He squeezed her hand again. “I won’t let her,” he swore.
Verity wasn’t sure if she believed him, wasn’t sure if he truly had the power to stop it. Vivienne was nice, but if one little human could help her secure a much needed trade deal…
“So, what do we do now?” she asked, needing to focus on a way forward. A plan.
“We make everyone believe that you’re mine. Wholly and completely.”
“How?” she asked.
“We make sure we spend plenty of time alone when you come to donate, longer than necessary, and visit between donations too. People need to think we can’t stay away from each other.
We’ll go back to the club, once a week should be fine, but,” his fingers skimmed over her hand, “it would help if we… if I feed at the club.”
“From me?” Verity asked.
“From you,” he confirmed and relief washed over her. Of course, from her, though she didn’t dare admit the way her stomach twisted for the brief moment she thought he might mean someone else. “And…” he started.
“There’s more?” she asked. Was this not enough for them to prove themselves?
“And it would help if you came to my apartment now and then.”
Verity blinked, staring out at the darkness.
It all made sense, would all be normal if they were…
an item, but that was an awful lot of time alone with him.
She enjoyed being with him, liked talking about their different lives, learning about each other.
It had come naturally, the ease of each other’s company.
“Okay,” she said. “You’re the one being put out to keep me safe. I really am sorry about this, Theo.”
He nodded. “What’s done is done. Just... just come to me next time, before you do something crazy.”
Verity rolled her eyes but nodded.
The drive home was quiet, but not as tense as the drive there. They had a plan now, a plan that, should Verity play her cards right, might actually be enjoyable.
She liked Theo, everyone knew it, but now she was starting to wonder if he liked her too. It never ends well he’d said, but Verity didn’t like the idea of someone else living her life. If it was going to end badly, then she should at least get to enjoy the ride.
He gave her his personal number before she got out of the car and made her promise to call him if she heard anything. She called him a drama queen and hopped out, feeling lighter than she had in days.
The second she walked through the door her mum called from the kitchen. “Whose is the nice car? That’s fancy.”
Verity floundered. Having to convince strangers one thing; but what about her family?
“A friend,” she answered, giving her mum a peck on the cheek.
“Oh, really,” she said, brows high and a smirk on her lips.
“What?” Verity asked, trying not to sound too defensive. She opened the fridge, searching for leftovers. Nerves had stolen her hunger before the meeting and now she was starving.
“So, it wasn’t Abe?” her mum teased.
Verity turned to her mother, fighting back a fresh wave of terror. She held her hands still, breathed deep, levelled her voice and asked, “Where did you hear that name?”
Debbie bit back a giggle, pointing to a bouquet of roses sat on the counter. Verity approached them, slowly, as if they might attack her should she move too fast.
“Such a handsome man he was, so polite. I told him you were at your meeting…”
“You told him?” Verity snapped.
“Well, he was so disappointed to miss you. Said he was leaving town and wanted to see you before he went.”
“He’s gone?” Verity asked, examining the flowers. A dozen red roses, huge perfect blooms, and a little card.
“He is love. But don’t worry…”
Verity pulled the little card from the flowers and opened it.
“… he said he’ll be back soon. And he can’t wait to see you.”
To the shining light of Ashhaven
I count the seconds until we meet again
Abe x