Vail nodded, “Please be sure to tell us if you come across anything at all.” He was mildly concerned about James’ and Sylvia’s safety while they ran espionage for the Hygraces and the Moncouriers, but it was inarguably the best solution for everyone involved. His old friend knew the area well and could travel about without raising suspicion, and James was youthful and eager to help her. The two of them would make a capable pair both to find Ray and Gerald—assuming the humans were still alive—and to learn a little more about what the Wynters were doing in London. Any information that they could gain at all would be helpful to everyone in their efforts to stop the rival clan from starting a war that could quite possibly ruin relations between humans and vampires for a millennia.

Francois’s suggestion of joining Diana’s family for dinner appealed to Vail even more strongly. He turned to the leader of the Moncourier clan with an idle nod when the elder vampire queried about whether the rest of them had fed recently enough to keep their composure around their human hosts. It had been a week since he’d last drank any blood, but he was still getting by on the enormous dose he’d had when he’d drained Victoria. He had a mild craving for the excess iron in her blood specifically, something that no longer existed now that she’d been turned, but he wasn’t yet hungry for the flow in a regular mortal. He felt sure that he could last at least a few more days before he really felt the urge to go hunting.

The rest of the Hygraces were in good condition as well. Katherine had been making sure that all of her nieces and nephews satisfied their bloodlust regularly out of courtesy for the people that were risking their own lives by harboring them. The Crests were the Hygrace clan’s only hope for refuge until they could return to England, so it would have been problematic if any of the vampires attacked even a servant on the estate. Out of all of them, Peter was the only one who was too unstable to even be near a human. Surviving on the blood of captured rabbits and other small woodland creatures that were brought to him regularly, it was likely that he would snap at the faintest whiff of mortal blood.

So, when Francois extended his invitation to the married leaders, Katherine smiled politely and shook her head, “Thank you, but I will stay here with Peter.”

Since they were remaining behind, Vail bade his parents farewell and took Victoria by the hand again as they went with the rest of the group back to the manor to eat. “Are you feeling hungry at all?” he asked her curiously, watching as Sylvia smiled brightly at James when he offered her his arm. Even though they ate regular food too, hunger pangs were, to vampires, a sign that they needed to feed on blood, and he wasn’t sure how long it would take before the Crest heiress would need to hunt for the first time. If she was developing an appetite, it would be best for them to keep some distance from her human relatives at dinner.