Sixteen

Mircea

Perhaps I could just play it mysterious. A good leader keeps their cards close. And I needed a way to show I wanted to continue working with her. Something that kept my cards close but implied future interaction. Easy.

“Maybe I’ll tell you next time we run into each other.” I said, wanting to keep my personal secret to myself for now. There was the simple fact that I didn’t know how she was going to react if I told her, and that was enough to keep me from saying a word.

“Is that a promise?” She asked, a smirk on her face.

“You know vampires can’t break promises…” I trailed off, the smirk turned into a full smile. “Fine, I promise.” I responded, she let out a slow breath.

“Good, now there was a reason that I came back, and it wasn’t to just absolutely grill you.”

“What was it then?” I asked.

“We don’t have a way to contact each other, I thought that we should have each other’s phone numbers.” She said, the smile still on her face. “And on the walk here I realised that you may need an escape plan from Bran Castle if needed so I thought I should give you something for that as well, which is why I needed to grill you.” She added.

“Okay?”

“By this point, I’m sure we’re both concerned that Traian will get to Bran Castle before you and keep control. Which puts you in a position of danger. So, you will need an escape plan, one that is easy to follow and quick to instigate.” She said, pulling out a red scarf from behind her back and handing it to me.

“A magical scarf?” I asked, she shook her head.

“Nothing magical about it, but I can it back if you don’t want it…” She trailed off, so I immediately pulled the scarf closer to my body. “That’s what I thought. That’s a scarf that I’ve had for years, it’s soaked in my scent. I would recommend you rub that on your escape clothing, so if you need to find me then you can be directed to my location. But, it will also be handy if you want to leave Bran Castle in shambles.” She said, a mischievous glint shot through her eyes.

“How would it help with that?”

“That is the scent of the White Wolf, now I obviously don’t know exactly how you hold wolves but I’m going to assume that you hold at least some of them there since you Hunt in the forest around it. You free the wolves, show them that scarf, let them catch my scent off of it and off of you, because you will rub it in your clothes, they will go berserk. They may not believe that I gave it to you though, so tell them that Selene’s Chosen gave it to you.” She said, and I didn’t know what to say. She wasn’t sure whether she could trust me but had given me a way to escape Bran Castle if needed, and a vital piece of information that would make me gain the trust of the wolves being held there?

“Selene’s Chosen?” I asked.

“The White Wolf gains white hair because they are chosen by the moon goddess, Selene. She blesses us and gives us extra power to keep the wolves safe. And before you ask, I will not tell you what that power is.” She said, still withholding information. I guess I couldn’t blame her, this was probably more than she should be giving me.

“Why are you helping me?” I asked her, realising this was a full reversal of how this conversation had started.

“My agenda doesn’t matter as it only hurts those who have harmed my kind or are unwilling to repent. And you wouldn’t understand anyway.” She said, her tone playful as she pulled her hair out of the mid-height ponytail it had been pulled into all night. She was fully relaxed around me. I wasn’t sure if that thought excited or terrified me.

“How do you know I won’t understand if you won’t tell me?” I said, smiling as I spoke. When was the last time I had bantered with someone in this way? Not including Nari, I wasn’t sure if I really had a memory of this.

“Give me your phone, so that way, we can run into each other again and I promise I’ll tell you after you tell me your agenda.” She said, so I pulled my phone out of my pocket and handed it to her. She plugged in her phone number, sent a message to herself so she had my number, and then gave it back to me. “You need to be careful, Mircea. If Traian is there, decide straight away if you’re going to run or if you’re going to continue the game. And if at any point you get even an inkling that you’re in danger, don’t think twice about running. I’ll tell my people that you are an ally, and that if you are on the run from vampires then you are to be protected like one of our own.” She said before turning to walk away.

“Vali…” I said, my voice a little desperate considering everything. She stopped moving and turned back towards me, invested in what I was going to say next. “You didn’t have to help me, or do any of this, so thank you. It’s nice to not feel like I’m alone for once.” I said.

“Feeling is mutual, I thought I was going to have to fight against everyone here. You didn’t need to support or help me, but you did. It’s nice to have someone I can almost trust.” She said before turning to walk away. I didn’t stop her this time, I instead looked down at my still unlocked phone screen to see her contact name.

The Big Bad Wolf.

I looked up to make a comment before she left but I froze as she entered the well lit hallway and her silhouette showed through her sheer dress. Her hair being down made me freeze, because it hadn’t been loose since the initial meeting. It reached her lower back, the curls far too familiar to me.

Her silhouette matched my dreams exactly.

“Shit.” I whispered as she turned into the hallway and disappeared from view.

“Is everything okay, my King?” Mun Kang-Dae asked as he walked into the room, his eyes lingering in the hallway on Vali before he finally looked at me.

I nodded, doing my best not to give too much away.

Right now the only person I could trust was Vali. I didn’t know if Kang-Dae had helped release my father or not, and we had never talked after the initial Summit meeting like we had planned to. I still didn’t know where he stood in the grand scheme of things, so I couldn’t trust him. Not until I was sure.

“I’m fine, just thought I should inform the White Wolf of my father’s escape. Generate a rapport.” I said, he nodded.

“A good plan. We may need her help in the near future.”

I looked into his eyes, listened to his heartbeat. His words were truth.

Which made me all the more confused.