Katherine Hygrace’s petition on Vail’s behalf had been better received by Peter than the heir had expected. His father still forbade him from seeing Victoria again, but he had repealed his ultimatum. Peter had realized that Erasmus, Reginald’s oldest surviving son, was too easily manipulated to be charged with the protection of their entire family. If they were going to outlast the Wynters attempts to dethrone them as the ruling clan in England, they would need an unshakeable patriarch who wouldn’t bow down to their enemies after the very first threat. As much as the current leader loathed to admit it, his insubordinate son was the better choice between the two potential candidates.

So, Vail’s right to his inheritance remained intact. Peter continued to deny that the Wynters were moving though. He insisted that as long as they continued to keep their heads down, the rival clan would have no reason to attack them; and even if they rose up, the Order would put them back in their place, and there would be no need for the Hygraces to get involved. His insistence was baffling to Vail. He didn’t understand why his father was so averse to the thought of warring with a group that was clearly a threat to their dynasty. The patriarchs that had come before Peter had established their family as the strongest in England by putting their enemies in their place and garnering allies by offering protection from the Saints. His father seemed to be afraid that even stepping out of line would mean the end of their powerful clan altogether.

Vail disagreed with Peter’s approach. Neutrality had worked for them when the Wynters had been pitted against the Order, but now that their sights might soon be set on the Hygraces, they could no longer bury their heads in the sand and pretend like nothing had changed. If the rival vampires were going to strike, he intended to do whatever he could to ensure his family’s victory.

Over the course of the next few days, he spent evening suppers with his cousins and went hunting in the city every other night to replenish his strength. The effects of regular humans’ blood felt dulled after he had been spoiled by the richness of Victoria’s, but it still did its job. He also encouraged his relatives to feed at least once if they hadn’t done so recently, so the rest of the clan would be in peak condition whenever the Wynters made their move.

The first part of his plan went well, but the second turned out to be more troublesome than he had anticipated. It seemed that word had gotten around that the clan heir had been romantically involved with a human, so the other Hygraces no longer took him seriously when he tried to convey the impending risk that their rivals might try to kill them all again. They scorned and teased him for “playing with his food” and said that they would do nothing until Peter gave the word to prepare for a fight, since he was their leader. As hard as he tried to persuade them otherwise, it seemed that the rest of the Hygraces wouldn’t listen to anyone but his father, and his father was too stubborn to accept the possibility that his century-old method was no longer effective.

Frustrated by the dead end to his work, Vail gave up on rallying the clan and busied himself by rifling through the tome he had found in the archive. He had intended to put it away the night after Victoria had left, but his curiosity had gotten the better of him. He read through the genealogies with painstaking detail, finding some familiar names from stories he had been told orally by both Peter and Reginald. It fascinated him to learn about his ancestors, and the records provided a welcomed distraction from his failed endeavor to prepare his clan for battle. It also kept him from thinking too often about Victoria, whom he was beginning to worry about now that days had gone by without even a whisper from her.

Since she had told him she loved him, he knew she wouldn’t have stopped meeting with him unless something had prevented her from doing so. With each day that passed, he grew more tempted to seek her out to make sure nothing had gone wrong. This time, the temptation was too strong to resist.

Setting the book down on the table, he got up to put on his coat.