Chapter Thirteen
The police Day-Commissioner droned on, and on, and on. And it was not helping Theo’s headache. Though the sweaty-faced human had been part of the force for over a decade, he had only been promoted to Day-Commissioner six months ago and was struggling to settle into the role.
Among his list of unsolved crimes were a spate of muggings, a hit and run, constant vandalism and now three break-ins. It was a fight to maintain eye contact, to resist massaging his temples and demanding to know what the fuck he was doing with his time.
“We believe that the break-ins are connected and we have…”
“Why?”
Theo’s phone buzzed on his desk.
“Sir?” Talbot’s glowing face intensified and Theo wondered if he was about to cry. How had he been given such an important job if he couldn’t give his weekly report without near breakdown? Maybe he just didn’t like vampires.
“Why do you think the break-ins are connected? You said nothing was taken from the first two.”
“Err, no, sir. We err… we think they were looking for… err…”
Buzz. Buzz.
Pink eyes darted between the vampire and the phone, but Theo ignored it.
“Talbot, these things happen. What’s important is that you’re working on fixing it.”
The human nodded. “They stole silver, sir.”
Well, fuck. That sure got his attention.
“From where?” Theo asked.
“The Holmes family.”
“How much?”
“A necklace and two bracelets.”
Theo nodded. “And you have leads?”
“We think so, sir.”
“You don’t think, Talbot. Yes or no?” Theo snapped. It wasn’t a dangerous amount of silver, but he was no fool. When humans hated vampires enough, they could get awfully creative.
“Yes… sir. We have leads.”
Buzz. For fuck’s sake!
“Good, have a word with Stella. I want to see you again Monday.”
“Monday, sir?”
Phoenar save him; he had a queue of people waiting to see him, a festival to organise and a budget that would not satisfy either.
“Yes, Talbot. You’ve just told me there is unregistered silver on my streets. I want it finding before someone gets hurt,” Theo said, standing to usher the man out.
“Err, yes, sir. I’ll talk to Stella.”
When he opened the door five heads turned to him, eager to be called next. He couldn’t even remember half of their names. “Just a moment, Stella,” he said, heading back in and grabbing his phone.
Elliot. Jesse. Verity.
His finger tapped on Verity instantly. She never texted him first. The last message was her insisting she was alright that evening when he’d pestered. Sleep had all but eluded him and if she’d slept, it was in blissful ignorance.
Verity
Can I come a bit earlier today?
She didn’t need to come at all. He’d taken more than enough at the club, so much he’d felt her pulse dip.
Too much. But he couldn’t help himself, she never looked at him while he fed and the way she curled in, watched every draw, eyes rolling and lashes fluttering.
Gods, she was perfect. It had been hard to stop but holding her after was almost as sweet.
No. Fucking stop it.
You don't need to come if you're busy.
Three dots appeared. Disappeared. Appeared.
But I want to see you
He ran a hand through his hair. She wants to see me…
On the ride home that morning he’d made it crystal clear where they stood with each other and she seemed to understand. Was this resistance? Or did she need to talk? Had something happened? What if Petra had done something? Or Abe?
The heart that no longer needed to beat raced, as every terrible thing that could happen to his Verity flashed through his mind.
Come whenever you want.
If something were truly wrong, she’d call, like she had after the flowers.
Next was Elliot.
Elliot
We had so much fun last night. Marcy's
desperate to see Birth of a God next
week and desperate to see Verity again
too. Two birds, one stone?
Then a second message.
I meant it, she's too good for you
If there were one good thing to come from all this, other than spending time with Verity, it was having his friend back.
Theatre with the girls sounds great.
Finally, his brother.
Jesse
Call me
Theo checked the time then hit call. He was almost an hour behind already. An extra five minutes would make no difference at this point.
“Hey, you got a minute?” Jesse asked.
“No, but tell me anyway.”
“So, Abe’s negotiating a trade deal. With the Cliffhaven port officially cut off, Salvation are offering their port to connect to the east.”
But that made no sense. All the reports said that the Hesperian Flu couldn’t be passed by goods. As long as vampires, who couldn’t catch the illness, transported goods and decontamination measures were taken there was no reason to cut off the port.
“What’s wrong with the Cliffhaven ports?”
“The humans keep burning them. They’re trying to take the coast.”
“What? Why would they do that? How would they do that? They’re fucking humans!”
“Yeah, well, they’re causing shit. Salvation are offering their ports and transfer of goods through the Wilds.”
Fuck. That would have been the hard part. If they’re offering safe transportation for the hundreds of miles from Salvation it might be a hard deal to work around.
“How’s your human?” Jesse asked.
“Okay, I guess. She met Petra this morning at the club.”
“Fuck. And she’s okay? Petra wasn’t... Petra?”
“Lucky escape. You know why she’s here?”
“Not a clue, mate. I’ll ask around.”
Agitated voices came from outside, Stella, and… as if his night could get worse, Harris burst through the door.
“I need to talk to you. Now,” he demanded.
“Join the queue,” Theo tried, but he knew he wouldn’t. “I’ll call you back,” he told his brother and hung up.
Harris threw a stack of reports on the desk. “Twenty-eight,” he said. “We’re twenty-eight donors away from disaster.”
Falling into his chair Theo put his head in his hand, words muffled as he asked, “Where are you getting your numbers?”
They had been playing this game for months and Theo was losing his mind.
Every other day Harris stormed in with one “disaster” or another, claiming there weren’t enough donors, they’re leaving or disappearing and not being replaced.
Theo asked for figures, for proof, and Harris plucked numbers out of thin air.
Every database for the Exchange was right there on his computer, and even a cursory glance said Harris was full of shit.
“Independent research,” Harris said.
“Independent? What does that even mean? The Vital Exchange…”
“The Exchanges figures are wrong…”
“How?” Theo shouted, leaning over the reports. “How is the Exchange wrong, you run the fucking Exchange! How can the database say one thing, and you have some random reports that say something totally different? Make it make sense!”
“We need to remove the seventy-year-old age cap…”
“No, that’s for the human’s own safety…”
“Then let them donate younger, sixteen instead of twenty-one…”
“Are you insane?” He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You want to take blood from children? Get the fuck out. I haven’t got time for this.”
“Eighteen then…” he started, but Theo grabbed him by the arm, forcing Harris towards the door. “Read the reports, Chapel.”
“Tell me where you got them.”
“I can’t.”
“Then I can’t act on them.”
Theo opened the door and shoved Harris out, a little harder than necessary. Six faces watched as Theo loomed over him and even the vampires patiently waiting had the good sense to look nervous.
“You just remember that you didn’t listen to me. You’re a fucking disgrace,” Harris spat, straightening his jacket and storming off.
Theo walked back in and slammed the door, resting his head on the cool wood. Deep breaths, deep…
“Sir?” Stella’s voice interrupted from the intercom. “Mr Wilson has been waiting a while…”
He ran shaking hands through his hair, over his face and neck.
Deep breaths. In through the nose. Out through the mouth.
Moving around his desk, Theo scooped up Harris’s reports and dumped them in his bottom drawer.
Deep breaths.
He rolled his neck, trying to clear his throbbing head.
“Send him in.”