Traveling on foot, Vail knew he was cutting the time a bit close as he headed back through the streets that led to the Hygrace manor. He walked at a brisk pace to attempt to make up some of the distance without drawing too much attention to himself. He wasn’t sure how long the Saints patrolled the city at night, but he didn’t let his guard down, just in case there were still one or two stalking about. Tired with the approach of dawn, the last thing he wanted to do was fend off an attack. So, he proceeded cautiously and made a point not to hurry in any manner that might make him look suspicious.

Fortunately, the return journey was uneventful, and he arrived home just as the sun began to peek over the eastern horizon. He slipped quietly past the front gates and then into the manor, stretching his jaw in a yawn. To his relief, the parlor was still dark, which meant he had made it before anyone else had woken up. Good. His father had known he was visiting with the Crest heiress tonight, so he would likely have questioned him about his late return. He didn’t want to lie to Peter any more than he already had. As close as he had become to Victoria in the past few weeks, there was a bond of kinship between himself and his family that had grown strong over the course of centuries. He found it difficult not to align with their wishes and seek their approval—which was why he could never confess to any of them what he had done with Lady Crest.

Never before had he felt so conflicted. His loyalties had always laid with the Hygraces. Even when his personal interests hadn’t lined up with Peter’s, they would discuss the issue and come to a compromise. This was the first time he was intentionally keeping his family in the dark, knowing he had crossed a line he should never have even come close to and then burying it in the shadows. There was no undoing that intimate moment at the inn though. He had slept with a human, joined his body with hers in a way that was forbidden among his kind. Yet he wouldn’t have taken it back, even if he could. The only guilt he felt was for his family’s sake. There was nothing about the night that he regretted aside from the consequences they might face because of his actions.

Carefully, Vail snuck up the staircase and crept back to his room, making sure to avoid the floorboards he knew would creak beneath his weight in the corridor. On the way, he saw the glow of a lantern flickering beneath his parents’ door, so he made sure to stay well clear of that. He just hoped they were only waking up now.

When he made it back to the safety of his bedroom, the first thing he did was undress and give himself a sponge bath. For the sake of covering his tracks, he didn’t want to risk Peter’s equally sharp nose catching a hint of the remnant of Victoria’s scent on his body. That and the few marks she had left on his shoulders and neck were the only evidence that remained of their passionate encounter. With any luck, his father would notice neither.

Finished cleaning himself as well as he could, Vail put on a set of nightclothes to cover up the scratches she had dug into his back and laid down in bed. After such a busy night, he was exhausted, but it took some time for him to fall asleep. His thoughts continued to wander back to that sultry moment at the inn when they had crossed the line from predator and prey to something more. The imagining excited him, but he also wondered with some worry about what was going to happen next. Where could a vampire and a human go as lovers? Even if their relationship didn’t extend past physical lust, it was surely going to be dangerous. He shuddered to think what might happen if someone else caught them. They would have to tread carefully if they were going to continue to keep their deviant meetings a secret.

This was the last thought on his mind as he finally gave in to his weariness and drifted off into a deep slumber.