The next three days went by as well as Vail could have hoped. Peter still believed he had gone out to hunt during his last meeting with Victoria. It was a normal enough excuse, so he didn’t have to suffer through any questioning outside of one inquiry about whether he had run into any Saints while he’d been out. It seemed the sudden rise in the Order’s numbers lately had the head of the Hygraces spooked. Vail didn’t share in his worries though. While other members of their family might have been more at risk, he was completely safe. As long as he had Victoria to use as his prey every third night, he wouldn’t have to face the hunters again for a long time.

He was more concerned about being caught by someone in the manor.

When the time came for him to leave for the next rendezvous, Vail was especially cautious. After his father had nearly caught him sneaking out, he had learned that he needed to be more careful while he was still in the mansion. So, he prepared for the trip as quickly and quietly as he could, trying to minimize the sound of his footsteps on the floorboards so no one would hear him getting ready to leave.

As soon as he was dressed against the cold, he stepped over to the door, poking his head out to check if anyone was still awake. The halls were silent, and he couldn’t see any lights on behind the other bedroom doors. It looked like the coast was clear.

Gingerly, Vail slipped out of his own room and closed the door behind him before he headed down the stairs. He’d put out all the lights, so his family would think he was sleeping if any of them woke up while he was gone. With any luck, they wouldn’t bother checking inside to make sure.

Once he made it out of the manor, he relaxed a little more. The stroll to and from the Crest estate had become familiar to him by now, and it wasn’t difficult to keep watch for members of the Order in the alleys he passed. He doubted anyone would confront him when he wasn’t threatening anyone too. In his experience, Saints only attacked when they caught a vampire in the middle of preying on another human. Since his feedings happened in secret now, they wouldn’t realize that he wasn’t just an ordinary man exploring the city’s night life.

As expected, he made it to the woods around the Crests’ summer house without any trouble. However, as he grew closer to the lodge he realized something was off. He couldn’t detect Victoria’s scent anywhere. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously, slowing to a stop a few yards from the door. It was already past midnight. She should have been here by now.

Suddenly, her words from the other night rang inside his head. At the time, he had assumed she had offered to let him out of their contract for his sake, but maybe she had been trying to break it for hers. He glanced back over his shoulder. Did she decide to run? It was quite a taxing pact they had formed, so he wouldn’t have been surprised if she was having second thoughts about continuing to uphold her end of the deal. Still, just because she was uncertain didn’t mean he was going to let her run away.

[i]If she wants to do this the hard way, we’ll do it the hard way,[/i] Vail thought scathingly. He would just have to teach her there was no escaping a vampire whom had made her his target. No matter how far she had gotten, he would easily track her down and drink her blood by force if he had to—though, if he was honest, he would have preferred to avoid taking such measures. Unfortunately, it was too late to avoid that conflict now.

Turning away from the house, he lifted his nose to the air as he made his way back into the city, determined to have his due taste of Victoria’s blood before the sun rose in the morning.