Gunshots rang in the dark, only adding celerity to Vail’s feet. He couldn’t risk glancing over his shoulder out of concern that he might lose speed or even trip if he didn’t stay focused on escaping. He had run from Saints plenty of times in the past, especially before the late head of the Crest household had made his deal with his clan, but the task was made difficult when he had to make sure Victoria made it out safely as well. She wasn’t too heavy for him to carry, but it was harder to stay balanced with her added weight making him top-heavy.

 The one benefit of carrying her was that it seemed to have discouraged the hunters from firing anymore shots at him. He could see the gate up ahead when he heard her weak voice pleading with him to leave her behind. He didn’t bother sparing his breath to reply. After he’d found out what Spencer had been doing while he was away, the Order would have to kill him before he would hand her over to them again. He wasn’t sure where they could go—his family’s manor was a last resort—but he was determined to figure it out along the way to make sure the Wynter couldn’t hurt her anymore, even if it meant taking a bullet or two to succeed.

Escaping into the darkened city, he kept as close of a watch as he could on the surrounding shadows. It was late, but not so late that there wouldn’t be other Saints around who could see him running off with the heiress of the Crest estate. It would have been easier to slip into an alleyway and set her down so they could walk without drawing attention to themselves, but he could tell by her uncontrollable shivering that she was in no condition to carry herself the rest of the distance to whatever safe haven they could find.

Considering the options, Vail hissed a curse under his breath as it became clear that no public space would be able to give them the protection they needed. The taverns and brothels and underground markets were always crawling with hunters, and it would not take much effort for the Order to track them down at an inn. Even if they found one that would take them in, they would be trapped until Victoria had recovered enough to keep moving somewhere less temporary. There was no telling how long that would take, so as much as he disliked the idea, it seemed he was going to have to throw caution to the wind and bring her back to the only building that could offer them more than a semblance of shelter: The Hygrace manor.

Nearby, the vampire heard a man shout something he wasn’t paying close enough attention to catch. The Saints who hadn’t already been stationed in her family’s home were starting to catch on that something was amiss that night. Luckily though, the Hygrace estate wasn’t too far away from the Crest’s. He finally allowed himself to slow his pace when he reached the gate, jaw slack with quick breaths as he recovered from the effort of toting a full grown woman over a distance at nothing less than a sprint.

As he slipped through the barrier onto private property, he looked over his shoulder to see that his idea seemed to be working. The hunters who had pursued him this far wavered in the street on the other side. Their frustration was evident on their faces, as they couldn’t even lift their weapons to shoot at him without risking Victoria’s safety. He tilted his chin up at them in silent triumph and turned to bring her inside before she should freeze to death in the cold.