Free Love Reborn (A Dead Beautiful Novel) by Yvonne Woon Page B

night seemed to unfold in its wake. One by one, a wave of figures emerged from the darkness, each wearing a long gray overcoat and a gray suit. The only flashes of color among them were their crimson scarves, tucked into the lapels of their coats. They walked quickly, each carrying what looked like a long staff. I could only catch glimpses of their faces. A hooked chin; an old sunken cheek; a bit of gray beard; a pair of lips, thin and elegant; a wisp of long white hair.
    “Who are they?” I asked, watching still more of them seep from the darkest corners of the street.
    “The Court of Monitors,” Theo whispered beside me. “Their gray coats and suits are meant to help them blend into a crowd, though I’d recognize them anywhere.”
    The Court of Monitors was the supreme power in the Monitoring world. They made all of the decisions—which Undead to follow, which to bury, which to watch over, which to try in the court of the land. It was made up of two factions—the elders of the High Court, and the junior Monitors of the Lower Court. The elders had the final say on all matters regarding Monitoring. They deemed who was worthy of a Spade and who wasn’t. Every Monitor wanted to become them; to sit on the High Court; to have their power and talent. Except for me.
    They were here now to find Dante. My grandfather had been hunting him for a year and a half, ever since the headmistress at Gottfried Academy was killed by an Undead. My grandfather had blamed Dante, though I knew the truth—Dante had tried to save her life that night, and had saved mine as well.
    The elders of the High Court surrounded the hotel across from us, blending in with the night until it looked like no one was there. All I could see was a bit of light reflecting off the metal bottoms of their staffs, which I realized were Spades. Two of them stepped inside, the gray tails of their coats disappearing into the lobby. They marched past the front desk without explaining themselves and began to search the premises.
    Dante’s hollow presence beside me struck a sudden worry in my heart. The High Court of Monitors were the best, wisest, and most senior Monitors—which meant that it was only a matter of time before they sensed Dante’s existence, and realized they had chosen the wrong hotel.
    “There are so many of them,” Anya said, her hair dangling over my shoulder as she watched the hotel across the way light up. “There’s no way we can get past them if they find us.”
    “How did they find us?” I said.
    All of our eyes drifted to Theo.
    He backed away, holding up his hands. “Don’t look at me. I didn’t tell anyone,” he said, reading our thoughts. “Maybe they found their way to my grandfather’s tavern and forced it out of him. Or maybe your grandfather went to the airport and got our flight information out of one of the attendants. You are still a minor. There are plenty of ways to find people; believe me, I know.”
    Despite myself, I believed him.
    “Besides,” Theo continued, “I chose this part of the city for a reason.” He motioned to a cross jutting out between two buildings. “There’s a cemetery on the other side of that church. The Paris Catacombs are below us. And all those boarded-up triple-deckers? Well, who knows what kind of filth is rotting in there.”
    Anya grimaced, but I couldn’t help but feel relieved. In the hotel across the street, the lights in the upstairs windows flipped on one by one, the stiff shadows of the Monitors stalking past the shades.
    “This neighborhood is a place that Monitors who work in Paris often find themselves searching,” Theo said. “Especially that hotel, mostly because of its unsavory clientele and the... baggage ...they leave behind.”
    Human baggage, he meant.
    “You used to Monitor in Paris?” Anya asked.
    “How else did you think I knew the owner?” he asked. “He owes me a lot of favors for helping that place keep a low profile. Anyway, they won’t be sensing you