Finding Fire

Chapter 25

Five nights later, Anna had hardly seen Nicolas at all. She'd spent about every waking moment with Evie and had only seen him at a glance down a hallway or through a window.

Evie said one of the best things about the multiple floors and wings of the palace was that if she wanted, she could always avoid someone she didn't want to see. Anna wondered then just how much Evie knew about her relationship with Nicolas.

The nights she and Evie had spent together were amazing. Evie lived such a fascinating life, with a beautiful home and a husband who loved her beyond words. It lifted Anna's spirits whenever she saw how happy the two of them were together.

Aleksander and Nicolas hadn't seemed to have any trouble lately, though it wasn't as though Anna would be around to see any big fights.

News of Nicolas's homecoming had spread fast, and every day, more guests would arrive. The party was on the next night, and there was still a lot to get done. She'd been kept busy helping Evie plan where to put everyone.

It was amazing to learn about all the powerful vampires of the palace and High Council. The High Council was a board of vampires who ruled along with the king. The court consisted of ten powerful vampires at any given time, though the selection process for the court was a bit murky. The seats were not given up easily because vampires never retired, and they didn't like to step down from power. They had all been alive for so long that there was an intricate and complex history that had to be learned.

So many of them had had relations with each other, Evie and Anna had to be creative with the sleeping arrangements. Because Anna was with Evie during the entirety of the night, she was also with her when she greeted all the guests as they arrived throughout the week.

Evie and Aleksander hadn't come up with a good reason for having a human guest who wasn't under compulsion, so they didn't explain her presence to anyone, and no one was rude enough to ask the king or queen directly.

As a result, Anna might have been the most popular person in the whole palace. Every second she had away from Evie, someone else would pop out of the woodwork to introduce themselves, even if she'd already met them.

Anna had tried to take the chance to listen carefully to everyone's voice, hoping for one that sounded like the Mr. X she'd talked to. So far there had been no luck.

As she learned more and more about the history and politics of the individual vampires, she tried to decide who would have the most motive. Everyone was a suspect, because power and wealth was motive for everyone.

She'd also tried to picture which of the people she'd been introduced to seemed capable of killing the king, who she'd grown to like. Anna was really hesitant about Marcus. He was one of the men who had tried to get her to leave him alone with Nicolas in the dungeon.

He could seem so charming when he wanted. She would watch him mingle with other vampires, acting as though he was their best friend, but she would also see his face when he turned away from whomever he'd been talking to. The charm would drop like a mask to the floor, and all that would be there was a cold and emotionless face.

Anna had asked Evie why Marcus might have come to Nicolas on that second night. After asking Aleksander, Evie had told her Marcus had been one of the first people to join the movement to overthrow Kirill and Nicolas, though no one ever knew quite why he felt so strongly about it.

There were not too many guards around for Anna to get a read on. Aleksander had carried on with his plan to pretend they were out of the country. He told his men to go to a small town thirty miles south of here and come back on the night of the party. He hadn't told them why they were going or that there was a party on the night they were coming back.