Ana sat in her living area at the tiny secretary desk. She tried to make notes for the next sitting that would happen in a matter of a few hours. After the meeting, she needed to write a report to be sent to the emperor on what was going on there and she didn’t know how to phrase any of it. What caused the distraction, and her anxiety, was she had to call George in to investigate her office? She’d noticed more noises coming from the office when no one should be in there. Every time she entered, no one was there, and nothing appeared to be disturbed. This was distracting and annoying. Ana made a decision that she wouldn’t let it scare her. They’d still not spoken about the training session or the kiss. His disgruntled mood showed itself again and Ana felt sure it was all because she’d not called him at the first noise. Ana now waited for him to come in and lecture her for that as well. The look he threw her when he’d gone into the small office warned her that the co

This sitting looked like it would drag on, just like the other one. Ana could only sit there and wonder if this was going to be the rest of her life. “Good sir. I do object with your assumption that the Vampiric Empire would do any such thing. Why would we? Please enlighten us on why you think we would be that petty and ridiculous?” Annoyed didn’t describe her mood right now. Why some of these ambassadors thought it was permissible to throw question onto other factions’ motives with no explanation at all? Well, she’s never understand it, but they wouldn’t be allowed to do that with the Vampiric Empire. Ana wouldn’t allow it. It only became worse when the ambassador speaking avoided her request for clarification. “Please stop there. If you can’t answer my question, it means your reasoning has no grounding in fact or reality. It’s just prejudice. We aren’t here to play politics, sir. We are here to deal with politics. May I request t

George stalked through the wooded area beyond the gardens of the NARC facility. He’d just finished investigating where poor Mary was found. He’d only met her a handful of times in the last few days, but he was trying to decide whether she was involved in this or if she’d encountered a person or people involved in threatening Adriana. From the initial report, he would not go any further in speculating until he had more information about how she died. He couldn’t agree with the conclusion that she’d been killed onsite here. There wasn’t any evidence of her putting up a fight. Yes, her blood appeared to be missing, but vampires weren’t the only blood drinkers, and with this cast of suspects, their abilities could mimic a vampire attack as well. Whoever left her here did so with every intention of her being found after it was too late to save her or for her to say anything. That part told George the killer or killers were connected to the threat made ag

“George, I just found out that when the council stops sitting and takes a break, we can’t stay here. That means we need a place that we can go.” Adriana and George walked through the gardens again. This time, there was no running or training. This was where they spoke of things without Maximus being close at hand. Maximus disliked any form of exercise or training. He was a nobleman, and he would have others to protect him. Then he didn’t see the point of wandering aimlessly about without a destination. “Lovely. I gather we’ll need to find a location to reside in sooner rather than later. How would you like to go about this then? Do you trust Maximus to find a safe location, after all, this should be his job to find options for you.” George listened to Adriana speak and mentally took notes on what she wanted this location to have. He already knew what security the location needed to have. That was something he knew well. What he also knew about her n

Franco sat in the throne’s anteroom as he waited for the court to empty of people. He’d spent hours hearing the senseless prattle of so many, including that of his mate. No one gave him the truth about anything. It was all one selfish spin after another. There wasn’t a day that went by that he didn’t regret his actions. Taking on everything back then sounded like such a grand idea. It fulled his thirst for living and gave him a purpose. Sadly, he’d lacked the insight he had now. Franco couldn’t trust anyone anymore. He couldn’t even allow his daughter, his true daughter, to reside in the palace and the court with him. There was no trusting anyone, and he knew others plotted against him. So he did what few would do. He found the most capable stranger to do what he couldn’t. Now as he sat there and read the latest report from Atwood. He definitely took his job seriously. Franco sincerely hoped so after he’d poured o