Victoria felt Vail’s eyes shift away from her when she hoped the Saints were okay. It seemed he was the pessimist right now and her the optimist. She knew by that shift in his actions that it was bad news and she felt her heart drop a little. What had everyone gone through while she was asleep? She felt guilty for not being there for anyone. But it could not be helped since she was dying and had to be turned.

As Vail came to join her on the seat she smiled weakly at him, he appeared weary in his mental state rather than physical. His eye no longer shined as brightly when she looked into them. His heart was heavy with burden, she could see that and she squeezed his hand softly in return when he stroked hers with his thumb. As soon as he mentioned that her estate wasn’t the only one attacked, she knew it meant his. She knew the Hygrace and the Wynters were enemies in the past.

He searched her eyes for a way to cope with telling her what happened. Reliving it in one’s mind was cruel enough without having to openly recite it. Speaking of atrocities somehow made it seem more real…it dragged up those raw emotions having to go through the pain all over again. Her bright eyes widened even more to seem even brighter but she was in shock. A small gasp escaped her lips as he revealed more than half his clan was murdered. She felt her hands squeezing his all the more, showing that she was there for him in this difficult time. It was still heart wrenching to hear of his family’s tragedy. “Oh no…I am so sorry. If they weren’t after me in the first place, they’d never have attacked your family.” She felt guilty like it was her fault to begin with. 

Thank god some of them managed to escape Mikael. The fact Vail escaped unscathed going up against him was nothing short of a miracle. As he leaned forward, she leaned a little more toward him in return. “They’re here?” She wondered why they came with them here. She couldn’t imagine his father wanting them to go with the Crests and Moncouriers. She furrowed her eyebrows as he stated his father was now permanently crippled. Could vampires even be permanently crippled? As Vail frowned, Victoria cupped his cheek gently and caressed his perfect skin, she still couldn’t believe he didn’t feel as cold. His father did not sound himself at all. It was all left to him and his mother.“How is Katherine doing?”She asked as he brushed her lock of hair behind her ear and leaned in to put her forehead against him. She couldn’t imagine his mother was fairing that well with such a heavy burden on her now. “And more importantly..how are [i]you[/i] feeling my love?” She asked and nuzzled her nose against his affectionately. “It cannot be easy seeing your father this way.”