Chapter Twenty-Six
Theo’s feral grin, the roaring pride and lust, as he wiped Verity’s lipstick from his knuckle was short-lived.
“We were starting to think you’d got lost,” Viv called as he entered the Green Room — the Blue Room’s bigger, greener counterpart with four curved couches in a circle — and settled in a space big enough to share with Verity.
Viv smiled but Theo didn’t trust it. Even before Viv got promoted above him, he hadn’t liked her, thought her a smarmy kiss-ass.
“Just needed to talk to Verity,” he said.
“Trouble in paradise?” Abe asked, accepting a drink from Viv.
“Oh, please,” Gerald, Lord Palmer, said. “He was getting handsy. He stinks of her.”
Theo shrugged. There was no denying it. Even now he could smell her, on his hands, his clothes. The lingering scent of her lust followed him and…
Oh fuck. They’d agreed Verity would stay over again today, after the club. He’d made up the spare room for her, but if she started pushing him again, she might not need the extra bed. Or any bed at all.
Conversations resumed around the room, a couple of new donors finding laps to sit on and talking to their clients, voices low. The green tones of the room gave the vampires a sickly glow as they began feeding, both from necks which Verity would be sure to remind him of later.
The two girls who had been sitting with Verity wandered in, gravitating towards Abe.
Verity was right, they were young. Too young.
The image of one of them leaning over and whispered something in Abe’s ear didn’t sit right with him.
Was this the age of the university students?
The ones he would encourage to donate? It didn’t look right. Didn’t feel right.
He met Abe’s eye, the Blessed leaning back in his chair to watch Theo.
Abe didn’t smile, not his usual cocky self.
He just watched. Weighed. For a brief moment he wondered if Abe could read his thoughts, he was watching so intensely.
Of course he couldn’t. It wasn’t as though Theo knew the Blessed well.
Phoenar only knew when Abe had visited Havenshire last, and Theo hadn’t been to Salvation since the early days, three centuries at least. But he knew him well enough to know something was wrong.
The two girls took their places beside Abe, and Viv handed them both a glass.
It wasn’t until the blonde one turned to Abe and he nodded, that they started drinking.
They answered to him rather than Vivienne?
They hadn’t been with him the last time they met.
Had he picked these girls up during his visit?
The thought made his jaw clench. What the fuck was Viv thinking allowing such a thing?
This was exactly why Verity needed protection.
The door opened and Verity and Sienna waltzed in, Verity’s makeup fixed but a blush still staining her cheeks. She slid into the seat beside him. He swung his arm around her, cradling her warm body as she shuffled into him, one hand on his knee, the other reaching for a drink.
“Enjoying yourself, Verity?” Abe asked, smirk back on his face.
“Oh, very much.”
Gerald snickered around a mouthful of neck, but Verity ignored him, raising her glass to Abe before sipping.
“Really? Because I hear a certain vampire is holding out on you,” Abe said, turning his gaze to Theo.
Verity’s heart started to race, sensing the unspoken threat that Theo didn’t understand. Conversations stilled, heads turning.
“I don’t know what you mean,” Verity said.
“You want your neck biting, but he won’t do it,” Abe said with a wicked grin before taking a sip of his whiskey.
Theo’s whole body tensed, the arm around Verity pulling her in close. How the fuck did Abe know that?
Gerald barked a laugh, pulling away from his donor. “What?” he exclaimed. “Why not? Give her what she wants. Come here, Verity, I’ll sort you out.” He grinned at her, holding his hand out as if she would actually go to him.
“I’m quite happy here, thank you… Sir.” Verity kept her voice sweet, trying to sound calm but it was no use. Everyone knew she was panicking.
“I think…” Theo started, but Abe cut in.
“No, no. I invited her, and I am rather hungry. Surely the honour should be mine,” Abe argued.
“No,” Theo growled through gritted teeth. “She is mine. You have…”
The words died on his tongue as he turned to the two girls. They both stared back at him, waiting to be damned. The blonde’s gaze held nothing but fury. The redhead, nothing but fear.
“I’m very gentle,” Abe promised, watching Verity. “Unless you’d rather, I wasn’t?”
She squirmed beside him. Verity watched the girls too, then turned to Viv who gave her an encouraging nod that made Theo want to punch her. When she looked up to Theo her look of determination told him she’d come to the same conclusion he had.
It was Verity or the girls.
This was his fault. Why did he ever think he’d be able to protect her?
Tucking a loose hair behind her ear, he leaned in and kissed her cheek.
“It’s up to you, angel, I can do it or he can.
It’s okay,” he whispered. There was no hiding it from anyone else, but he still needed her to know it was her choice.
Knowing Verity, if he tried to refuse on her behalf, she would be all the more likely to sacrifice herself to save the girls.
Her lips pinched as she tried to smile and shifted her body to stand up.
“How do you feed?” Sienna chirped from Harris’s side.
Every eye in the room, which had been waiting for Verity’s verdict, turned to Sienna. She smiled at Abe, flicking her hair over one shoulder and fluttering her eyelashes.
“Well,” Abe said, returned the smile with an arched brow. “Seeing as I don’t have the sharpest teeth, I need a little help.” He reached into a pocket and pulled out a slim, sheathed dagger, the whole weapon no more than six inches in length.
Verity’s hand tightened on Theo’s leg and he grabbed it, stopping her from moving.
“Can I see?” Sienna asked, standing up.
“No,” snapped Harris, but the woman edged closer.
“I just want to see.”
Abe nodded to the blonde girl who made a space beside him for Sienna to squeeze in, as she took the dagger.
Pushing the sheath free, she turned it in her hands, examining the etchings on the steel blade.
“It’s very pretty.” She held the blade up to the light, a look of awe on her face.
“And sharp?” she asked before pricking her finger and wincing dramatically.
“Here.” Abe took her hand in his and raised it to his mouth as Sienna bit her lip. “Better?” he asked.
“No,” Verity whispered. The word shook on her lips, and Theo turned to find her watching the scene before her with eyes welling.
Without thinking, Theo grabbed her by the waist and pulled her onto his lap, wrapping her in his embrace and turning her face away from the scene as Sienna asked Abe, “you’re hungry?”
“Theo,” Verity whispered, looking up, ready to argue but it was too late.
Sienna had made her choice.
Harris snapped her name, but Sienna wasn’t listening as she climbed onto Abe.
Their eyes devoured each other as Sienna moved in closer, pulled on the bow around her neck and offered herself to him.
From the angle she created Theo couldn’t see Abe’s face, but he heard him telling Sienna how beautiful she was, heard his kisses.
“My offer’s still there, Verity,” said Gerald, either ignoring the tension or just a fucking idiot. “Wouldn’t want you to miss out.”
Her fingers slid through Theo’s hair as Verity pulled him closer to her neck. Blinking the tears from her eyes she waited. Face blank. Breaths shallow.
Not like this. Theo would have caved. He knew it. She knew it. He would have taken her like this, would have loved it. Savoured every sip. With time and privacy to enjoy the hold such a feeding inspired. Verity would have adored it. But not like this.
Gerald still waited, as did Viv and Harris and everyone else. Copper scented the air as Abe cut Sienna and began drinking, but no one seemed to care about them anymore. They wanted to watch Theo. Wanted to see if he’d do it.
With a finger under her chin, he turned her face to his and kissed her cheek. He wanted to kiss her properly, but Abe was already stealing the intimacy of their first neck feed, he wouldn’t steal their first kiss too.
With a short trail of kisses, to the angle of her jaw, below her ear, her neck, he found a spot low, easy to hide. Her fingers tightened in his hair as he tested the spot, scraping his fangs in question. In answer Verity pulled him closer, tensing as she prepared for the pain.
For the first time, the taste of her blood was bitter on his tongue.
How could he enjoy the sweetness of blood without consent?
Because, even if Verity had asked for this, even if she had pulled him to her, pressed his lips to her flesh, this was not consent.
His stomach roiled. He felt dirty and embarrassed and he wished that everyone would just stop looking at him.
Other than a flinch when he bit, Verity didn’t react, only held him like her life depended on it. Held him as tightly as he held her.
The bite was swift and he pulled away for the briefest moment, just long enough for her blood to perfume the air and prove that the deed was done.
“See? How was that?” Gerald asked. Theo didn’t know if he was asking him or Verity, but they both ignored him. He started talking to Viv again, both laughing as if they hadn’t just pushed Verity and Sienna into feedings they didn’t want.
The second eyes left them, Theo started trying to heal her. It hadn’t been a minute and if he hurried maybe the scar wouldn’t be too bad. He hoped that was the case at least as he held her, pretending to feed while soothing the inflamed skin.
When he looked back up Sienna still sat with Abe, curled into him and playing with the buttons of his shirt as she asked about his trip. Harris stared into his empty glass, looking like he might club Abe with it at any moment. Everyone else chatted and laughed without a care in the world.
Everyone but the girls. They looked better, colour returning to their cheeks, less murderous and terrified, but still not happy.
“I didn’t mind, you know,” Verity murmured against him. She had wriggled into the crook of his arm, ear to his chest and staring at the door. “If Abe was hungry. Me and Sienna, we could have flipped a coin.”
Coin.
His head lolled back as he stared at the ceiling and thought.
They hadn’t been in the room for long, the others probably intent on staying for hours, drinking and eating and being their elitist, obnoxious selves. But Verity wanted out, so they were going. Now.
“Yeah, I don’t think so,” he said, willing coldness to his tone but keeping quiet.
A vampire would be able to hear a skipped heartbeat, hearing a whispered argument wouldn’t be a problem.
“You know, everything I do for you, a bit of gratitude wouldn’t go amiss.
” He squeezed her thigh, begging her to play along.
Wide-eyed, she looked up at him. “I am grateful.”
“Grateful enough to offer yourself up like that?”
“But he asked and I…”
“Come on, Theo,” said Abe, toying with the fabric of Sienna’s dress. “No harm done.”
Harris scoffed but didn’t say anything, swirling the empty glass.
Shaking his head, Theo stood, putting Verity on her feet and holding her arm as she stumbled. “We’re done for tonight.” He shot Abe a look of pure contempt before guiding Verity to the door.
“It was lovely seeing you again, sweet Verity,” Abe called. “Let me know if you need anything.”
“Fuck off, Abe,” Theo muttered, pushing Verity through the doorway, not bothering with goodbyes.
Verity slumped against the wall before the door even closed, hands covering her face.
Stepping forward, Theo gently pushed her hands down so she could see him tapping his lips, signalling to be quiet.
“I can’t believe you just said that,” he said, loud enough that he heard a couple of giggles from inside the room. Let them laugh.
Holding her nose up, Verity sniffed and wiped at her damp cheeks. “Well, I can’t believe you’re being such a dick,” she snapped.
The quizzical tilt of his head made her shrug. Even in a fake argument she’d call out his bullshit.
“Home. Now.”
Shaking his head he wrapped an arm around her and led her out.