Chapter 3-From Romania with Love
Paris, France
"So let me get this straight: We're going to a coutry where I'm a wanted fugitive because the Powers that Be don't like Canada?" a young man with curly brown hair asked the woman seated across from him.
"They're not the Powers that Be. They're the Old Court, the oldest of us all. But don't worry; Adam and Josef both promised protection and we'll be meeting up with Adam and his people in Paris. He said he's gotten you an immortal PI," the young woman explained as she took a sip of her coffee.
"And the Canada bit?"
"Apparently there's a rival faction of my people that have moved into Canada and the Elders aren't comfortable with us being there."
"So, the safety of the whole versus the safety of one-"
"-Two. Adam's sister is wanted for theft in LA, so you won't be the only one in trouble."
"Great. And the reason why no one decided that Mexico was a good place to go?"
"Too much sun. It would probably decimate the entire vampiric side of the Court."
"And we can't have it in Paris because-?"
"Because the last time a meeting was held in Paris, 300 Eternals, Vampires, and Lycans were killed in what is known as the Reign of Terror."
"Right. So, anything else I should know? Like, who else is going?"
"Just the rest of the court here and the Elders from a few of the other clans. We can't leave our homes unprotected. There are others who would jump at the chance to take over. Besides, Aidan, people don't want you dead, just in jail."
"And people want you-what is it, Vivian?" he asked as she stopped looking through the pile of mail she had on her lap. Wordlessly, she handed him the yellow envelope that had been addressed to both of them. Aidan looked at the postmark: Bucharest, Romania. He then looked to see who it was from, but there was no return address. Who could it be from? He handed the envelope back to her and watched as she carefully opened the once-sealed flap.
"It's from someone called Nikolai Barish," she said once she had read the enclosed letter.
"Never heard of him. What does he say?" Aidan asked as he realized that the letter she had handed him was written in a code that only the Loup-Garou could read. Sadly, the Elders had forbidden him from learning it, despite the fact that he was now engaged to the leader of the pack.
"It's a warning, telling us to stay away from the meeting."
"Does he happen to say why?"
"No, which means that there's probably a Wolfman on his tail."
Upon seeing the confused look on her lover's face, she explained: "Almost every person on this planet that is somehow connected to the supernatural world has what is called a Watcher. The Eternals have the Watcher Society, the Vampires have the Mediators, and we have Wolfmen. There are others, like the Cards that watch psychics. We call them different things, but they all have three things in common: They are mortal humans, they try to watch our every move, and they usually get killed in the process of interfering with our lives."
"So basically they're like professional stalkers and we need to watch our backs or else?"
"Pretty much. Now, come one. We need to go pack." With that, Vivian stood up and hurried off to their room. Nick wasted no time in running after her and soon the packing was forgotten for the moment.
Well, how was it?
