The look on Peter’s face made it clear that he would not relent this time. Vail held his gaze for a moment longer before he gave up and climbed down from the bed after Victoria to get dressed. She had wrapped herself in the bedsheet, so he stood nude as he gathered his clothes from the floor. There were other, clean outfits in his wardrobe that he could have put on instead, but knowing that Lady Crest would be returning to her family in a matter of minutes, he couldn’t bring himself to cross even the full length of a room.

Additionally, when he bent down to pick up the discarded garments, he caught sight of the tome that had fallen during the night. He and Victoria had decided the transformation ritual was too dangerous to attempt, but he didn’t want Peter to know they had been investigating it at all, so he subtly pushed the book beneath the bed skirt with his foot. It would remain hidden there until he found time to replace it in the archive later that night.

As he finished buttoning his shirt, he glanced sideways at the Crest heiress when she declared to Peter that Lord Alabaster had killed her father. It was the same thing she had said to him the night he’d found her half frozen outside her summer house. The clan leader seemed unconvinced though, or perhaps didn’t care enough to express anything other than cool disinterest in response to the reveal. “He is already downstairs,” Peter said without empathy. Her question went ignored as well.

Vail found the news of Gerald’s appearance off-putting, but there was nothing he could do to send the man away. Peter’s word trumped his as the patriarch of the Hygrace family, and demanding that Alabaster be removed from the property before Victoria left would only result in the woman being forcibly dragged out of the manor by his father. With no good options left, he settled for walking closely by her side as they headed down to her human escorts in the foyer.

Upon seeing the two Saints in his family’s home, the vampire heir tilted his chin up untrustingly. Ray and Gerald had each attacked him before, and even though Victoria had grown fond of the former, they were both still enemies in his eyes. His father seemed to see them the same way too, as the men had been left in the watchful company of three of his cousins until Peter had returned from the upper floor. He had lived long enough to know how dangerous it was to invite members of the Order under his roof.

At Alabaster’s insinuation that Victoria might have been harmed in the care of the Hygraces, Vail narrowed his eyes. It was hypocritical of him to say such a thing after he had allowed Lord Spencer to feed on her until she had knocked on death’s door. The only ones who had caused her any harm, aside from the puncture of his own fangs, were the Wynters and the Order themselves. However, knowing how tense relations were between the Hygraces and the Saints lately, he held his tongue.

“It is our code to care for those who need us,” Peter stated plainly when thanked. “I only hope Lady Crest never finds herself in need again.” His way of saying he wanted her out of their lives.

Vail followed Victoria and her entourage with his eyes as they began to take their leave. He would have liked to arrange a time for them to meet again, but such was impossible in their current company, and she needed to finish recovering from the affliction her fiancé had caused. For now, he would just have to hope that she would regain her strength quickly and find a way to contact him when she was well enough to sneak out of the Crest manor.

With a heavy sigh, he turned his head to go back to his bedroom when her whispery voice reached his ears. He froze in his tracks, sure that his heart had just skipped a beat at the words that rolled quietly off her tongue. Ever since the day he’d met her, he had been tentative and careful, attempting to navigate his feelings for Victoria with refined logic. There had been moments when he had looked at her that he’d been overcome with a warmth that he couldn’t quite describe, but in three simple words, she had just expressed it perfectly. He loved her too. He loved her with every ounce of his being, despite everything that stood in their way and everyone who thought they were mad. He wanted to be with her, make her happy, even die for her if he must.

He loved her, and now, as the heavy oak doors closed firmly between them, he couldn’t say it back.