Vail could see his breath on the cold air that night. It was unpleasant, but it was also sobering. The further he walked away from the Hygrace manor, the more he wondered what he was doing outside in the first place. No good could come of seeking out Victoria Crest. He [i]knew[/i] that, but he just couldn’t bring himself to turn his feet around. He was certain now that it had been a lie to say that he would just go for a stroll and return without doing anything rash. It had been his motivation from the start to find the Lady and secure another taste of her rich blood. No matter the consequences, he wanted to have it. He couldn’t get it out of his mind.

Running his tongue hungrily over his teeth, Vail followed the road that would carry him past the most popular taverns in the city. He remembered that he had come across Victoria this way the last time. With any luck, he would find her again, asking around about whatever she was trying to learn about her father. What would come after that was still up in the air though. She knew what he was, and it would look quite unusual if he suddenly appeared by her side after a week of silence. It wouldn’t take much for her to fathom why he’d sought her out either. Before he’d made her his prey, he had kept his distance from the Lady. Anyone would be able to put two and two together since he’d only started following her after she had become his meal.

Recalling his conversation with his father, Vail shook his head. A week ago, he had found it amusing that Peter would warn him against stalking the Crest heiress, but now, here he was, doing just that. Perhaps he should have heeded Lord Hygrace’s words more carefully. Although he hadn’t had much of a choice. The Lady’s blood was so enticing to him; he couldn’t have stayed away from her on that night if he’d tried. Any time her fair skin was broken with the slightest cut, he felt drunk with desire. It really had been only a matter of time before he’d given in to his impulses.

Now, he wanted to give in again.

He peered through the windows of the taverns he passed, hoping to catch the slightest sight or smell of Victoria. Unfortunately, she didn’t seem to be around. He slowed to a stop near the end of the street, clicking his tongue in disappointment. Perhaps she hadn’t left her family’s manor tonight? He [i]had[/i] chased after her on nothing more than a hunch. Just because he’d run into her at pubs before didn’t necessarily mean she was visiting them every single night. It wasn’t unlikely that she was asleep in her bed at that very moment, and he was wasting his time by searching for her in the streets.

Vail sighed, his breath clouding in front of his nose. If she wasn’t even outside, there was no reason to keep looking for her. However, just before he could give up, his eyes widened slightly as a familiar scent rode to him on a chill breeze. He smiled victoriously to himself. It seemed Lady Victoria was still wandering about after all.

With a trail to follow, he turned and made his way down a different road, keeping a lookout for movement in the shadows as he walked. He didn’t want to come across any Saints while he was on the hunt. Closing in on his prey, he just wanted to feed again and go home without any more trouble. It was especially dangerous for him to be out tonight. Not wanting Peter to know of his recklessness, he had snuck out of the manor without alerting anyone. If something went wrong, no one would know where he’d gone or that he’d even left. For his own safety, he couldn’t afford to let his guard down this time.

After following Victoria’s scent for a while, Vail finally spotted her up ahead. He licked his lips desirously and took a step toward her only to freeze in his tracks when he watched her enter an old building up ahead. It didn’t look like a tavern. Curious, he edged closer to the place, keeping just enough distance that he would be able to run if he needed to. It didn’t smell like a tavern either. The strongest odor was gunpowder, but there was also a subtler hint of metal that made him narrow his eyes. It seemed the Lady had been serious about her intention to learn more about her father’s life. There was silver inside that building.

Deciding it was too risky to get any closer, he crouched down in a nearby alleyway to watch the door she had disappeared through. She had to come back out sometime, and he could be patient enough to wait. After all, just because she went somewhere unappealing didn’t mean he was going to give up on his hunt. He’d come too far to let her slip through his fingers now.

Luckily, he didn’t have to stay put for very long.

After about ten or fifteen minutes, Vail saw the door open again and Victoria step outside with her arms full of boxes. He wrinkled his nose as the acrid scent of silver wafted to him through the air. It was obvious what she was carting, but it wasn’t enough to deter him from going after her.

Slowly, he rose from where he’d been hiding and followed the Lady down the street, only pausing once to glance over his shoulder and make sure no one else in or around the unmarked building had seen him pass by. The area seemed clear, so he hastened his pace, eager to catch up with her before she got too far ahead. His movements were silent with practiced precision that he had mastered over the course of two centuries’ experience of stalking prey, and he appeared at her side as if from thin air.

“That’s quite the load you’ve got there,” Vail mused, eyeing the boxes in her arms carefully. Though he was still planning to prey on her, he couldn’t help keeping some distance from her while she was holding onto so much silver. It was an instinct to stay away from the metal. He would just have to figure out a way to make her part from it before she reached her family’s manor.

His feral eyes flicked away from her burden as he met her gaze. He needed to keep her talking long enough that she would be relaxed by his pheromones. “What on Earth could you need all that silver for?”