Seventeen

Vali

“We need to stay close to Romania.” I said as we picked up our bags to leave the chateaux we had stayed in for the period of the Summit.

“Romania?” Marcy asked, as if trying to confirm what I had said.

“Yes.”

“Why?” Jackson asked.

“I barely slept last night because I was busy thinking. Both Mircea and I have the same concern, that Traian will be at Bran Castle and have control over the vampires.” I said as we walked. We walked in silence until we were outside, each of us putting our bags into the carrier cases on the back of each of our motorbikes. Since most of what Jackson had chosen for me was sheer, they had gone into my packing cubes nicely and didn’t really take up too much space. The dresses also got spread between all three of our bags, since they didn’t need as many changes of clothes as I did.

“But why do we have to be close?” Marcy asked, her voice annoyed more than anything else. I looked at the few extra wolves we had brought with us, but had stayed in their rooms for the entire Summit, listening for any danger and being ready to run to protect me. There was only six of us in total, but it was enough for Marcy to be happy. I couldn’t say the same for my new plan.

“Because I don’t think Mircea can follow through with the start of his plan.” I said, putting my helmet onto the seat of my bike. “Not from any fault of his own, but because Traian likely has his own plan in the works, and in order for Mircea to keep some semblance of control he’ll need to play along.”

“We’ve given him an out, we don’t need to do anything else for him.” Marcy said, I shook my head.

“The prophecy, Marce.” I reminded her, she rolled her eyes. “Don’t give me that, we all knew that this was going to be it. The first female White Wolf and the Vampire Prince are meant to bring peace to the supernatural world. That’s me, and the only vampire prince available is Mircea even though he’s technically king now.”

“He won’t be a crowned king until his coronation. In technical terms he is still a prince.” Jackson said, I nodded and pointed at Jackson while still looking at Marcy.

“He’s our shot, so we need to do everything we can to protect him. There’s no werewolves in Romania, it’s too close to the vampires and therefore too dangerous. What’s the closest pack?” I asked, looking out over the other three we had with us as well.

“There’s a pack in Slovakia.” Archer, a young but strong wolf with soft, blonde curls, said.

“They’re pretty cut off though, they do partake in the census but we haven’t heard much else from them.” Jackson said.

“Is there any way to contact them or do we just rock up?” I asked.

“One of my born wolves is from that pack. I’ll give him a call.” Marcy said as she walked away, lifting her phone to her ear.

“She’s really not happy about this, is she?” I asked Jackson as he walked to stand next to me.

“No. But she’ll come around. You know she’s slow to trust, even though I think she already likes Mircea.”

“Likes him?”

“Not like that, Jesus. More like how a dog likes a toy.” He said, I laughed. That did make more sense. Marcy did enjoy playing with people where she could. “But if we’re going to be this close to Bran Castle, I’m guessing it means we trust Mircea. You’re sure he’s the one we’re meant to work with?”

“I’m sure, Jackson. You weren’t there when I went back last night, he looked so confused about all of this. I could smell the worry on him. But you known how good I am at telling when people lie, he wasn’t lying. He is keeping secrets, but so are we. It’s necessary for safety and survival, but I did make him promise to tell me the next time we run into each other.” I said.

“He made you that promise?” He asked. The bastard didn’t believe me.

“Yes, he did.”

“You two are very fucking odd, you know that right? You’re trusting each other far too quickly, and you aren’t fully considering his past. Yes, he hasn’t attended the last few Hunts, but the number he hasn’t gone to doesn’t even make a dent in the amount he has bloody well taken part in.” Jackson said. Fuck, he was right.

“Well, next time we see him I’ll make him explain that too.” I said, Jackson nodded.

“Next time we see him it won’t be under such calm circumstances. You’re going to need to manipulate him next time, or figure something else out to give us the upper hand until we know we can trust him for sure.”

“We can trust him, I’m certain.” I argued.

“Why are you certain though? What am I missing? Yes, he has been telling the truth, but until we know everything we can’t trust him like one of our own.” He argued back, and it was a good point.

“I have a feeling, Jackson. There’s no other way I can say it, no better explanation than I have this feeling… we can trust him. Which means we need to help him.” I said, seeing that Marcy was walking back to us so I picked up my helmet.

“Alright, but if this all goes to shit, I’m blaming you.” Jackson said before walking away. As if he would be the only one blaming me. There would be no one else to blame.

This was my decision.

“He said he’ll contact the alpha for us and get back to me afterwards. He also said that they respect nothing more than Selene’s Chosen so it’s pretty much set that we’ll be fine.” Marcy said as she walked back to the group, I nodded.

“Good, we better be on our way then. I’m sure Mircea and his people travelled through the night, so we’re already behind. Once we get to Slovakia we need to make a defence plan, once we have that sorted we can discuss a possible offence.” I said, sitting on my bike.

“Offence?” Marcy asked.

“Last night, during my conversation with Mircea, he informed me that the vampire numbers are smaller than ours. It’s why their so scared. If it ends up being necessary to storm Bran Castle I want a plan ready to go.” I said as I slipped on my helmet. For the first time in a while I saw an excited look slip onto Marcy’s face.

War strategy was her strong suit and it was rare that she got to use it.

I’m sure she was going to enjoy this.