Even after Peter had disappeared from the room, Vail watched the door with a leery expression. It was starting to seem like his father had expected him to relinquish his attachment to Victoria as soon as he was told the word “no.” If so, the leader of the clan was going to be horribly disappointed, because he wasn’t going to let her go until death claimed one of them. He was certain that Peter was starting to understand this. The only thing preventing him from killing her himself was her name. Since she was Lord Alexander’s daughter and therefore protected by the Saints, he couldn’t lay a finger on her. But the temptation to disregard those consequences was visible in his eyes, and it was enough to keep the Hygrace heir on his toes.

Caught up in his thoughts, Vail didn’t notice the silence that had fallen between him and Victoria until she broke it. He turned away from the door to look at her, startled by her sudden agreement with his father. Perhaps Peter’s strong pheromones had made her compliant or perhaps she had come to the conclusion on her own, but either way, he couldn’t accept the dark prophesies the clan leader had spat at them. Being with her would make his life more difficult, that much was true, but he was done taking the easy road. Additionally, there might have still been a way for them to make the journey a little less burdensome.

As Lady Crest leaned against his chest, Lord Hygrace slipped one arm around her back to hold her close. In the back of his head, he noted offhandedly how much more comfortable he had become with their gestures of affection. In the beginning, it had been difficult for him to work up the nerve to physically express his endearment to her, but now the touches they shared had become like second nature. He wanted to relieve her of the things that made her so upset.

“You’re not asking me to do anything,” he objected gently, leaning his cheek against her head. “This was just as much my decision as it was yours. It doesn’t matter what my father thinks, because I’m not going anywhere.” He fell quiet again, considering the proposal he wanted to bring up to her but hesitant to do so since he was unsure how she would take it. Even to him, it sounded outlandish and potentially detrimental. However, if he kept it to himself, there was no way of knowing if she would have agreed to go through with it. He took a steeling breath.

“And… there might be a way for our worlds to intertwine,” he started slowly, pulling back from Victoria just enough to meet her blue-eyed gaze. “I’ve heard stories from my uncle that when the first vampires came into existence, there were so few of them that they didn’t repopulate like we do now. Instead, they discovered that they could turn humans into their own by overpowering them with their pheromones and conducting some sort of ritual. I don’t know how it was done exactly, but I have to think the ability wasn’t just restricted to my ancestors.” He studied her face with a frown. “If it can still be done today… and if it’s something I could learn… would you be willing to go through with it, so that we could be together in the same world?”