Just as Vail was about to sink his teeth into Victoria’s neck, he felt a sharp wave of pain explode outward from his shoulder. He sucked in his breath, losing his grip on his victim as the shock of the impact snapped him out of his frenzy. A new instinct to flee reared up inside him, replacing his predatory urge as he became aware of the danger he was in. One of the Saints had found him, and judging by the burning sensation in his wounded shoulder, the hunter was shooting to kill.

Before he had a chance to react to the situation, his face contorted into a snarl as he felt another stinging pain in his leg. In his distraction, it seemed Victoria had taken the opportunity to attack him as well. He recoiled from her, suddenly realizing he had stepped into a trap. She must have lured him away from the tavern intentionally, and he had fallen for it without a second thought. He cursed himself silently. How foolish he had been to trust her. He should have known that a member of the Crest family would never have volunteered to let him feed on her without an ulterior motive. Instead, he had been too blinded by his desire to taste her blood to realize what he was walking into.

The wound in his shoulder smarted abruptly, and Vail winced, lifting his hand to press down on the open bullet hole. Outnumbered two to one and injured twice to boot, he knew he needed to get away, but the odds of outrunning a gun were slim. All the Saint had to do was pull the trigger and he was done for. Feeling cornered, he backed away from the hunter with his fangs still bared and his heart pounding in his chest. It was too late for him to save himself, but he could at least demonstrate that he wasn’t going down without a fight.

However, before the man had a chance to finish him off, Vail was surprised to hear Victoria cry out and shove his arm aside. He wavered, suddenly unsure what was going on. After she’d slashed his leg with her dagger, he’d thought she and the Saint were on the same side. Why didn’t she let the man kill him? He didn’t have time to ponder over it as she screamed at him to run.

Realizing she had given him the opportunity he needed, he spun on his heel and sprinted away from them both without looking back. It was hard for him to keep up his pace with the wounds he’d sustained, but he managed not to slow down until he’d turned enough corners that he felt certain he’d lost them.

Panting lightly from the adrenaline during his escape, Vail took a moment to inspect his injuries while he walked the rest of the way back to the Hygrace manor. The laceration from Victoria’s dagger wasn’t very deep, luckily. Though it stung, he was sure he would be able to tend to it properly on his own.

The bullet hole in his shoulder was another story though.

He disliked the idea of letting either of his parents know what had happened to him, since they were both paranoid enough as it was. Ever since the Wynters had attacked their family, Lord Peter and Lady Katherine seemed to think there was danger around every corner. Unfortunately, the silver bullet was still lodged in his flesh, and he was going to need someone else’s help to get it out. His mother and father were the only ones with the medicinal experience needed to do the job.

Vail sighed, his breath leaving him in a wisp of a cloud. He could already tell it was going to be a long night.

--

When he eventually made it back to the manor, Vail made a point to slip through the front door as quietly as he could. There were always vampires from other families seeking asylum with the Hygraces, and he didn’t want to cause them any panic by showing up in bloodstained clothing. Most of them were terrified enough of the Order, and he had no intention of frightening them more than they already were.

Painstakingly, he made his way up the stairs that led to the wing where his relatives lived and knocked on the door to his parents’ bedchamber. After a pause, he heard a muffled noise on the inside of the wooden panel, and his father appeared on the other side. Peter knitted his brow confusedly as his gaze landed on his son, “Vail? What do you need at this hour?”

In answer, the younger Hygrace removed his hand from his shoulder, revealing the bleeding wound underneath with a slight wince. “I need to get this treated.”

His father’s eyes widened at the sight. “You were shot?”

Vail shrugged his good shoulder, “I think the Order is getting better at doing its job. I didn’t get a single drop before that Saint fired his gun.”

“So you were shot [i]and[/i] you haven’t fed yet?” Peter shook his head. “This isn’t good, Vail. Not good at all.”

“I know,” he frowned, growing impatient as his wound pained him again. “We can talk about it later. Right now, I’d like it if you would get this damn bullet out of me so I can get some sleep.”

“Right,” his father blinked, seeming to have forgotten about the more pressing issue for a moment. He took a step back from the door, gesturing for the younger Hygrace to come inside. “I’ll take care of that for you now.”

“Thank you,” Vail said with some relief, following Peter into the bedchamber to get his injury treated.