“It’s only one small facet of a relationship, but I suppose you could say that,” Vail shrugged when Victoria asked him about vampire partnerships. “It just happens when you spend a lot of time around someone. Family clans have distinguishing scents and so do intimate couples because of their proximity to one another. I’m sure you’ll start to notice it as you adjust to your new senses.” As a vampire who had lived for over two centuries, he tended to process such details quickly and subconsciously. He didn’t have to wrack his brain to figure out which clan another vampire belonged to or focus hard to figure out which couples were married to each other. The information came to him instinctively, so he didn’t know how long it would take for Lady Crest, as a turned fledgling, to pick up the ability. He assumed she would have to learn how to use her other senses, since he knew humans relied predominantly on their eyesight, and there was no telling how much time that would take.

When they arrived at the summer house and conversed with his mother, Vail appreciated that Victoria didn’t speak out against Katherine for her unnecessary comments. He was well aware that his newly-immortal lover could defend herself—he’d been on the receiving end of her sharp tongue before—but the matriarch of the Hygraces wasn’t thinking clearly. Ever since their clan had been displaced, it had been apparent to him that his mother was suffering just as much as the rest of his family. To lose their home and sense of security was draining even to the leaders, and the fact that not all of them had made it out alive certainly didn’t help either. Katherine had never approved of his love for Victoria, but he suspected she was aiming her grief at the Crest heiress as a misguided outlet.

Softly, he traced his thumb over the back of Victoria’s hand in wordless gratitude as she told his father that she wanted vengeance for what had been done to them. Once again, he was glad that she was standing by his side. After everything the Wynters had done, he was going to need her support as he stepped in to fill his father’s shoes as the acting patriarch of the Hygraces. Katherine wasn’t quite as enthusiastic though. His mother studied the former human quietly for a moment, seeming to decide silently what she thought of her bold assertions before she voiced her opinions out loud.

“Of course I’ll let you,” Vail met Victoria’s gaze as he assured her of her importance to him. However, the moment wasn’t as tender as it could have been as Peter interrupted with a scoff.

“None of that matters,” Lord Hygrace grumbled. “There is nothing any of us can do to stop the Wynters. They’ve already won, so we might as well accept our fate.”

Vail sighed wearily. His father’s morale had reached an all-time low since Mikael had attacked. Every time the subject of the rival clan came up in conversation, the older vampire fell into the same disheartening speeches about how they were doomed to be subjected to the Wynters’ new world order. At first, Vail had tried to encourage him to have hope, but after a while, he’d given up on changing Peter’s mind. It seemed like a fruitless endeavor when the clan leader was so determined to surrender.

“I’m not done fighting until I have nothing left to give,” the Hygrace heir said stubbornly, glancing over his shoulder to beckon Sylvia to come closer. “Lady Macey is here with new word of the Wynters and what they’ve been doing in London since we left. Her family is prepared to help us stop them as well. Between them, the Moncouriers and the Order, we have more than enough support to push back against their tyranny. We only need to gather as much information as we can to determine the best time and place to strike.”

Katherine, who hadn’t lost her spirits like her husband, brightened faintly at that. “What do you have for us, Lady Macey?” she asked, turning to the other female vampire.

“Not as much as I’d like, admittedly, but you may find it useful regardless,” Sylvia confessed with a half-smile. However, instead of launching into her report, she first glanced at Victoria. “Lady Crest had the idea of calling a meeting to inform everyone at once, and I think it’s a fine plan. We need as many heads working together on this as we can get. Would you like someone to fetch your brother?”