Vail listened to Sylvia’s report in thoughtful silence. He wasn’t the least bit surprised that the Wynters were taking advantage of their recent victory. In the two centuries that he’d lived on the Earth, he’d seen them make grabs for power like this multiple times. This was just the most successful the rival clan had ever been in putting together an army to move forward with their plans to overthrow the human race. He frowned concernedly. If they didn’t fight back soon to stop the Wynters, his former fiancée’s prediction about the bloodshed that would follow was going to come true. The other vampires were about to incite a war that was bigger than they could imagine, the aftershocks of which had the potential to reverberate for generations.

Mulling over the news quietly, he was torn from his thoughts when Victoria suddenly asked about the Order. He blinked and glanced at the others as well. Not used to being on the same side as the Saints, he hadn’t thought much of them since the battle at the Crest manor. In the time that had passed, he’d been caught up in everything that had happened to his family and to Victoria. Evacuating the rest of the Hygraces to safety and waiting for her to wake up had consumed all his thoughts. To him, though, it seemed like there wasn’t much hope that Ray or Gerald had survived. Most likely, they had been casualties of the fighting, either slain or drained of their blood by the Wynters.

So, when she declared that she was going to go back to London to search for them, Vail tensed. She had just awoken as a vampire that same day, so the thought of sending her back into the city that the most violent clan in England had just occupied was worrisome to him. Especially when it sounded like she wanted to go back without him. “I appreciate your bravely, Victoria, but I think it would be best to wait for now,” he said tentatively, turning to meet her gaze. “Or at least send someone else until you’ve recovered further. You still haven’t adjusted to not being a human anymore, so it will be dangerous for you to venture off before you’ve settled more comfortably into your new life… including both your strengths and your weaknesses.”