Vail was learning quickly that it was difficult to fight with half of his focus on someone other than his opponent. It was like he had one arm tied behind his back. Although his desire to protect Victoria from danger fueled him more than his desire to keep himself safe, his head was filled with distracting thoughts such as keeping track of her wellbeing and wondering how on earth they were going to fend off so many Wynters at one time, especially when every single one of the other vampires seemed to have ingested some of her blood.

On an average day, he had determined that he was strong enough to hold his ground against up to three of his kind at once, but this was like trying to gain leverage on an uphill slope. He peeled his lips back in a frustrated snarl as the Wynter he’d attacked continued to dance out of the way of his every lunge and swing. He felt like he was moving in slow motion. Even compared to other vampires, he had quick reflexes. The Hygrace family was endowed with above average genes that had allowed them to rise up as the most powerful clan in England in the first place. However, he had no such advantage against this Wynter. The way the other immortal dodged his strikes so effortlessly made it seem like the Hygrace heir was no better than a child.

As his opponent began to taunt him, Vail attempted to ignore the comments. He knew the other vampire was just trying to throw him off even more than he already was by risking glances at Victoria to make sure she was still unharmed. Despite his best efforts though, he crumbled when the Wynter said that some of his family had put up a good fight. The remark made him falter, and he eyed him cagily, unsure if it had been a lie. He’d been too absorbed with the fight to pay any attention to the other man’s heartbeat, but he didn’t want to believe it. He hadn’t left his clan until that very morning, and everything had been peaceful until the moment he’d walked out the door.

[i]It’s a bluff,[/i] he assured himself, refusing to give the Wynter the satisfaction of any petty retorts as he pounced again with his fangs bared hostilely. [i]The Wynters have been focused on the Order. They haven’t had time to attack my family.[/i] With his confidence bolstered by his own reasoning, he fell on the Wynter with renewed fury, doing his best to hold him off while the Moncouriers and the Saints fought the rest of the enemy clan.

Over the cacophony of fighting, he heard Victoria’s brother shout at her to get to safety. There was a lapse in the Wynter’s forces, and he saw the Crest heiress run for the manor in the corner of his eye. In the same moment, he threw a blow at his opponent’s head to keep his attention fixed on him, then swore as he missed again. The other vampire was too fast.

As the Wynter took chase, Vail’s right hand flew to his belt. He already knew that he wouldn’t be able to catch up, so instead, he drew his ace: his revolver. Taking the weapon in both hands, he aimed the barrel at the other vampire’s head and fired at, immediately following the shot by sprinting after him in case the trick didn’t work. With better eyesight than any human could hope to achieve and decades of practice behind him, he was an impeccable shot. The bullets he used weren’t made of silver though. They wouldn’t break any vampire’s skin, but they still hit hard enough to knock the wind out of one or even be jarring enough to cause one to stumble and fall. In this case, he had been hoping for the latter.

“Victoria, behind you!” he called out a warning as he raced to catch up to her. She was the one with the silver weapons, so if the bullet had successfully thrown the Wynter off balance, she could take the opportunity to kill him while he was down. If not, she wouldn’t be able to outrun him, so she needed to brace herself. Either way, he found it necessary to alert her to his presence, so she wouldn’t be taken by surprise before he was able to get close enough to protect her.