When Victoria answered his question by saying that she had been looking for weapons, Vail sighed to himself. He understood as well as he could why she was so determined to avenge her father’s death, but he wished she wouldn’t be so reckless about it. The task of killing Lord Spencer seemed nearly impossible after everything she had told him about the Order’s involvement in the affair. If she wanted to pull it off, she was going to have to carefully plan out every detail of the murder. Right now, it seemed like she was just gunning for the first opportunity to aim a pistol at him.

As she stood up rather shakily, he was quick to rise as well, keeping an eye on her in case she needed help getting about. Fortunately, she seemed like she was able to move without collapsing, so he merely followed her with his eyes as she hobbled to the crossbow in the corner of the room. He noticed that she seemed more unsteady on her feet than he would have expected for someone who had just been exposed to the cold. He narrowed his eyes contemplatively. Perhaps there was something else that was wrong with her, something that would have caused her to fall outside the lodge in the first place.

As she murmured the words “not safe,” his suspicion only increased. Her father’s death had been tragic for her, but it was in the past. She had to be talking about something else. He took a step after her, intending to question her further, but halted when she opened the box of silver bullets. Involuntarily, he curled his lip at the putrid smell and recoiled further from the metal.

When the box was closed again, he relaxed enough to focus on what Victoria was saying. He frowned as she brought up Spencer’s name, claiming that the Wynter had found out about them. He couldn’t help but wonder how the other vampire had discovered their secret. All the bite marks he left on her body were easily concealed beneath clothes. Perhaps Spencer had caught his scent on her? He hoped that was the only evidence he’d found. The thought of another man getting as close to her as he had made him bristle.

“Slow down,” Vail instructed calmly, stepping over to kneel by her side and resting his hand on her back. He hoped that if he didn’t lose his temper, she would calm down enough to relax too. “What happened?” he asked, attempting to meet her gaze in the low light. “Tell me what’s going on.”