Vail studied Sylvia in quiet contemplation as she spoke to Victoria. A day after he’d led his family to the safehouse in Scotland, his short-time fiancée had appeared at the manor doorstep, apparently having tracked them down from England. At first, she’d wanted answers to questions such as what had happened between the Hygraces and the Wynters and why the reigning clan had fled the country in disgrace. With his relatives still licking their wounds in the summer house, Vail had been the one to make her privy to the battle they had lost at the Crest estate and the ambush Mikael had sprung on his family members in their own home. It was at that time that he’d also revealed to her the identity of the woman he’d fallen in love with.

Expectedly, Sylvia had been dumbfounded when she’d learned that he was smitten with a human, and she was even more so when he’d confessed that he had turned Victoria in a desperate attempt to save her from dying. After the initial shock, she had wanted to see the Crest heiress’s body. He’d obliged her, and she’d spoken admiringly about the comatose woman’s beauty. Of course, she had also poked fun at him for falling for a mortal, but he’d expected nothing less of his tongue-in-cheek friend. Before she had left to return to England, he’d mentioned to her the timeframe when Victoria would be due to awaken, which was probably why the other vampire had returned now. Even though they weren’t in love, Sylvia was obviously interested in finding out more about the woman he’d chosen to be with over her. She was competitive enough not to let it go without doing some digging first.

So, when Victoria announced that she wanted to hear the news as well, an amused smile pulled at Lady Macey’s painted lips. “That would certainly save me the responsibility of repeating what I’ve learned to everyone who wants to hear it,” she said approvingly, pleasantly surprised that the other woman was eager to get involved with the battling clans when she had only just woken up from her week-long slumber.

At her comment, though, Vail rolled his eyes. “Oh, don’t, Sylvie. We both know you would pass that responsibility off to me the minute I walked out the door with you.” Not wanting to be the only one still seated, he rose to his full height from the bed to stand beside Victoria. The Crest heiress seemed stable on her feet, so he didn’t bother reaching out to help her stay steady this time. If she stumbled, he had quick enough reflexes to catch her before she could fall anyway.

“[i]Vail[/i],” Sylvia pouted. “You’re going to ruin the stellar first impression I was trying to make on your lover.”

“I’m not going to help you sound more noble than you really are,” he objected dryly.

She sighed exaggeratedly and fixed her crystalline eyes on Victoria, “I ought to thank you. Before you came along, his father wanted [i]me[/i] to marry him. You’ve rescued me from a lifetime of putting up with rude comments like that.”

“You’ll learn to tune her out after a while,” Vail whispered to Victoria.

“I heard that, you arse,” Sylvia huffed indignantly and then strode up to the Crest heiress’s other side to link arms with her, flashing the other woman a bright smile. “I would be delighted to accompany you to visit the Hygraces, Victoria. It’s high time we got to know each other better anyway, since I’m sure I’ll be seeing quite a lot of you now that you’re one of us.”