As soon as Victoria assured him that she would be fine if he fed from her, Vail’s last thread of self-control frayed. Already holding her in his arms, he caved to his thirst for her blood right away and leaned in to sweep his tongue over her neck, priming her skin before he sank his fangs into her supple flesh. Knowing that there were Saints standing on the other side of the kitchen door, he kept the feed short so that there would be less of a chance for one of the hunters to walk in and catch him with his teeth in her throat. They despised his kind for preying on humans, and he didn’t need to remind them of that fact when he had come to help them fend off the Wynter clan. For the sake of forming a temporary alliance with the Order, he followed the Crest heiress’s advice and didn’t waste time to savor her blood.

The decision turned out to be a wise one when Gerald burst into the kitchen shortly after he licked the last drops from his lips. Turning toward the door, Vail watched the Saint carefully but held his ground as Gerald shouted at him to get out. The full effects of Victoria’s blood wouldn’t hit him until his body had a chance to process it, but he was still strong enough to fend the human off alone directly after his feed. His burnt hand didn’t sting anymore, and since he had drunk from her two nights prior, the nutrients he had ingested this time would only add to the strength he’d gained before. If Gerald tried to force him off the property, he was perfectly capable of fighting back as long as the rest of the hunters didn’t take his side and outnumber him.

He glanced at Victoria as she defended him and then back at Gerald when the Saint accepted the excuse without questioning. Technically, he [i]was[/i] engaged to Sylvia because Peter had finalized the arrangement with Lord Macey a few days ago, but there was no sense in bringing that up now. He had no intention of marrying the other vampire, and he didn’t want to distract the Saint from the reason why he had come to the Crest estate to begin with. So, remaining quiet, he merely nodded in response to the other man’s condescending orders. It would have been a waste of time and energy to argue that he wouldn’t “mess up” the Order’s plans to fight back against the vampire clan that was threatening to overthrow the Hygraces as the dominant family in England. He had just as much to lose in this war as they did.

Aside from that, he had no qualms with being assigned as Victoria’s guard. It was the most suitable position for him to take up, since he would have just been concerned about her well-being if he had been told to fight away from her side. He was well aware of how big a target she was to the Wynters, and since he had just bitten her, the scent of her blood permeated the building. The other vampires would come straight for her in a frenzy.

At Ray’s announcement that there were reinforcements arriving, Vail laced his fingers with Victoria’s and fell in step beside her to see who had come to offer the Order further aid. The closer they came to the front door, the more intrigued he became by the unexpected visitors. They smelled like vampires, but they weren’t vampires he had ever come across before. Curious to find out who they were, he didn’t notice Diana’s near attempt to berate him again and focused instead on catching a glimpse of the new figures outside through the window. He had met members of all the other families in England—and most of those in Scotland—at least once in his two centuries on earth, so the reinforcements must have come from another country.

Stepping onto the porch with Victoria, he watched with silent fascination as what looked like an entire foreign clan marched up to the building in a manner that reminded him of human military formations. They were certainly more impressive looking reinforcements than he had been when he had furtively approached the Saints by himself not long ago. He puzzled over why they would get involved in a feud that didn’t seem to have anything to do with them until Lady Diana rushed past him to speak with a man who appeared to be the clan’s patriarch. The conversation that ensued was equally interesting to the Hygrace heir, but he only had more questions when Jean-Claude said something about their [i]son[/i].

Vail glanced down at Victoria when she exclaimed in surprise before continuing to observe the interaction with unbridled intrigue. He was less impressed with the fact that Diana had had another child and more so with the fact that she’d birthed the child of a vampire. It explained how she had known that their two species could interbreed though, and why she had lied to her daughter about it two nights ago. As the half-breed turned toward them to look at Victoria, Vail’s eyes swept down and up his frame. He’d never seen a being that was neither fully human nor fully vampire before, but he didn’t have much time to take him in before he noticed his lover swoon beside him.

As her weight fell into him, he reacted quickly, catching her in his arms to keep her from falling to the floor. “Victoria,” he murmured her name, half in surprise due to her reaction and half in an attempt to ground her if she was feeling faint. He glanced up at the half-breed, who was now approaching his estranged sister, and then back down at the dizzy Lady Crest, hoping that she would collect herself or that one of the nearby Saints would fetch a chair for her to sit in so he wouldn’t have to hold her up while she met her half-brother for the very first time.