Vail observed Victoria in quiet contemplation as she took the glass from his hand. Even though she tried to be strong, he could tell that she was rattled. No matter how well she covered her tears and put on a brave face, she couldn’t hide her fear pheromones from his sharp nose. He perched on the edge of the bed, listening to her raspy voice and cough with a frown. Had he been human, he would have brought her honey and lemon from the kitchen to soothe the ache in her throat, but as it was, he knew nothing of the common remedy. Instead, he rested his hand on her leg, offering her the comfort of his touch since he was unable to do anything else.

“That’s only one way to look at it,” he shrugged when she called herself a burden. “I think you’re the most interesting thing that’s ever happened to me.” There was no denying that his life had gotten harder since he had involved himself with her. However, he wouldn’t trade the challenges for the mundane existence he’d endured before their meeting. Although his father had been wrong about his feelings toward her, his assumption that the heir had been bored was spot on. It had taken until the moment she had looked at him with pity when he’d told her about himself weeks ago, but he finally realized that for over two hundred years, his life had lacked passion. His purpose had solely been self-preservation, feeding and hiding and repeating the process to survive. Now, he was stepping out of his comfort zone to invite Lady Crest in, and he liked it.

Victoria then proceeded to surprise him by defending the Hygrace who had tried to attack her. “I suppose so,” he mused, idly stroking her thigh over the blanket. Objectively, he understood that Caleb was struggling with the same lust for her blood that had plagued him not so long ago, but his possessiveness of her prevented him from being sympathetic. Just watching his cousin hover over her neck had irked him. He wanted her all to himself, so no other vampire—and, if he was honest, no other [i]man[/i]—could have her.

At her following poke about his disobedience, Vail smiled amusedly. “I didn’t, did I?” His eyes flicked up to meet hers. He had obeyed Peter’s orders all his life, but when it came to the woman sitting in front of him, thoughts of pleasing his father were pushed to the back of his mind. It was far more satisfying to put her first, the human who had won him over with both her blood and her affection.

Spurred by the realization, he got up from where he had been sitting and climbed over her lap to lay down on her other side, near the middle of the bed. “My father isn’t here right now,” he informed her, tugging a pillow behind his head with one hand and stretching his legs comfortably. “He went into the city to find a proper doctor for you.” He knew the clan leader would be furious if he caught him cozying up to Victoria, but now that she was ill, he didn’t want to stay away. After all, if the sepsis took her life, he would have regretted spending her final moments at arm’s length. Even if it vexed his father, he intended to make the most of the time he knew he still had with her.