As soon as Victoria opened her mouth, Vail was certain the basement was a trap. He took a step back toward the stairs, intending to leave before the Saint returned, but didn’t get any further before the cellar door slammed shut, locking him in. He cursed under his breath, pressing his back against the wall. The Saint’s plan confused him though. What was he going to do, fill the room with gas? Smoke, perhaps? The Crest heiress was still in here with him. No matter what the hunter did, he would hurt her too.

The Saint’s plan became more clear when the sound of footsteps thudded overhead.

Vail bristled as the hole in the ceiling opened and the shotgun nose poked through. He barely had time to react before the blast ensued, sending a silver bullet hurtling his way. Fortunately, since he had already been tensed to move, he managed to scramble out of the way of both shots without taking any injuries. It also helped that the size of the hole blocked off most of the hunter’s line of sight into the basement. His aim was poor.

As he backtracked to the staircase, Vail wondered if the man was mad. He’d never seen such a sloppy trap before. The Saint was relying almost entirely on luck to shoot his target, and he’d locked another human in the room with him. He could easily harm her in his attempt to kill the vampire he was after.

To his good fortune, the madman seemed to get distracted by Victoria’s shouting. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Vail bolted up the stairs and rammed the closed door with his shoulder. It groaned but didn’t break, and he recoiled, baring his fangs in a snarl as he clutched at his burnt skin. The Saint was insane, but it seemed he’d had enough sense to reinforce the trap with threads of silver.

With no time to let the metal deter him, he bent his knees and drove his shoulder into the door two more times. On the third attempt, the lock gave way, and he shot out of the cellar, running away from the house before the Saint could fire at him again.