If I Should Die

by Amy Plum

  As usual, there were no taxis in sight. “How about the Métro, Papy?” I asked him.

  “And risk a delay? No, thanks. It’s almost as fast by foot,” he responded. We resorted to speed-walking down the rue de Bac. The chilly March air and glowing lampposts lent the scene a false sense of security—as if all was right with the world—when in actuality we were on our way to a meeting that threatened to end with someone getting hurt. Or worse.

  My phone rang. I fished into my pocket for it, and saw it was Vincent. “Where are you going?” he asked. I spun to look behind me, but didn’t see anyone following. “I asked, where are you going—without revenant escort?”

  “Vincent, I’d rather not tell you.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?” he asked, sounding more angry than hurt. “Two bardia from Geneviève’s house are following you and your grandfather. They called me to check in—said you guys took off at top speed without even waiting for them.”

  “Well, if they’re following us, then they’ll keep us safe. Why are you calling me?”

  “Kate, what is going on?” Vincent asked, sounding alarmed.

  “Violette has . . . she has Mamie at . . . They’re at the Crillon. Papy and I . . . we’re going there.” I was trying to speak clearly, but our hurried pace mixed with panic about Mamie made my words come out all garbled.

  “Why didn’t you call me and tell me that? I would have come with you.”

  “No, Vincent! Don’t come. We don’t need you,” I said, choking back panic.

  There was a split second of palpable shock, and then: “Violette wanted me to come, didn’t she?”

  I didn’t respond.

  “Kate, you can’t go. At least tell me you’ll wait until I get there,” he said. I could hear he was moving quickly while holding the phone to his ear.

  “My grandfather and I will be there in about fifteen minutes. Tell Geneviève’s people to accompany us, but we don’t need you,” I said, trying to catch my breath. Papy walked with a fast gait on a regular day. Tonight I was practically jogging to keep up with him.

  “Ambrose, Charlotte, and I will meet you in the Crillon lobby,” he insisted, ignoring my request. “Don’t go up to the room without me.”

  I didn’t respond. I heard Vincent cursing on the other end as I hung up. Pocketing the phone, I sped up to match Papy’s pace. We had to get there before Vincent could join us. Violette’s plot to lure him to her by kidnapping his girlfriend’s grandmother was transparent. I wasn’t going to let her win the fight this time. Papy and I would find some way of saving Mamie without Vincent having to sacrifice himself again.

  Within ten minutes we were crossing the Pont de la Concorde and entering the grand square. Papy threw himself into the oncoming traffic, and I held on to his arm to minimize the chance of one of us getting hit. We made it intact to the entry of the museum-like building housing the Crillon Hotel, and slowed as we passed under the monumental stone entryway and through the glass doors.

  “Where do we go?” I asked as we glanced around the sumptuous lobby filled with giant flower arrangements and lined with marble columns. And then I spotted two men walking toward us from a far corner of the room. “Okay, here come the numa,” I said.

  “How do you know they’re numa?” Papy looked at me quizzically.

  “Can’t you see that black-and-white kind of fuzziness around them? Like an aura where all of the color has been sucked out of the air.”

  “No,” he said, peering at them and then back at me worriedly. I’ve been hanging around supernaturals too much, I thought, just as Vincent, Charlotte, and Ambrose strode through the door, suited up in their black leather battle gear. Papy’s eyes widened, but the hotel staff just glanced at them blithely as if they had seen it all before. Add the two similarly dressed numa, and it looked like a rock band was throwing a party in a hotel suite.

  Vincent made a beeline toward me. “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “Yes,” I said, glancing worriedly toward the advancing numa, “but I didn’t ask you to come.”

  Vincent ignored my protest. “Kate, don’t say anything about me not being the Champion. If Violette hasn’t figured it out, that’s the one card we can still play.”

  The numa shot the bardia lethal glares as they neared. “Please, follow us,” said the shorter of the two. I saw a flash of silver from underneath his long black coat.

  “Only you two,” said the second one, nodding to Vincent and me.

  “I am coming with them,” said Papy in a voice that indicated they would have to forcibly restrain him from following.

  “Ditto,” said Ambrose. Charlotte slid her hand down her waist to show the outline of the weapon hidden beneath her duster.

  The numas’ eyes flicked to each other and then toward the desk staff and back to us. “You can accompany us as far as the suite, but you’re not going in,” Shorty said finally.

  They turned and led us past an elevator bank to a stairway, insisting we go first. Our group climbed two flights of stairs, and emerged into a long corridor with scarlet silk lining the walls and gold sconces lighting the passage.

  At the end of the hall, a numa with salt-and-pepper hair, wearing an expensive suit and a silk cravat, stood outside a double door. It was Nicolas. He stiffened as he saw the size of our group. “She’ll only see the two,” he said, nodding imperiously toward Vincent and me.

  “We couldn’t make a scene in the lobby,” explained one of our escorts.

  “And we can’t all stand around here in the hall, now can we?” said Ambrose with a wicked smile. “Being a public place and all.”

  “You will guard them in the suite’s antechamber,” hissed Nicolas, giving the numa a look that promised trouble once he had them on their own.

  “So, Nicolas,” said Vincent as we followed him through the door. “Once Lucien’s right-hand man, now you’re playing second to an adolescent?”

  Nicolas stood aside to usher us into a small entryway-like room with chairs and coat and hat racks. He smiled sourly at Vincent. “In my world, being second involves much less responsibility. And risk. Why, just look at you—you’re once again in danger, saving an old lady, while Jean-Baptiste is safe and sound back ruling the castle.”

  Charlotte’s and Ambrose’s gaze shifted toward each other and then back to Nicolas. The numa didn’t know about JB’s departure. At least we had that going for us. Violette wanted Vincent because she still believed he was the Champion. But if she discovered he was also the new bardia leader, who knows how she would use that to her advantage?

  “Sit,” commanded Nicolas, gesturing toward the chairs. “Not you,” he said to Vincent and me. Opening a door that gave onto another long corridor, he gestured for us to pass through.

  “I will not stay out here while my wife is inside,” insisted Papy.

  “Oh yes, you will,” said one of the guards, shuffling off his coat to show a belt equipped with several knives and a sword in scabbard, superseded by a shoulder strap holding a gun. My grandfather frowned.

  “If all goes well, your wife will join you momentarily,” said Nicolas.

  “And my granddaughter?” Papy asked, raising his chin to show that he was not afraid.

  “I’ll be fine, Papy,” I urged. “Just don’t do anything to upset them.”

  Nicolas followed us closely through the door. I heard Papy’s protests cut off by a gruff command of “Sit down, old man!”

  And suddenly I was so furious I felt like going back and challenging that guard. My anger chased my fear away, at least temporarily. I spun to face Nicolas. “You won’t hurt my grandparents,” I said, telling not asking.

  “Besides serving as bait, they are of no use to us,” responded Nicolas as he prodded me to continue. “The door to your left,” he indicated.

  Vincent turned the knob and, instead of holding it open for me as he usually would, strode first into the room.

  “Ah, there you are.” I heard Violette’s little-girl voice before
my eyes found her, sitting with my grandmother at a table set for tea. In front of Mamie, a full cup of coffee and a plate of pastries sat untouched.

  “Kate!” she gasped when she spotted me, but though she was trembling, she didn’t make an effort to rise. I spotted her hands curled into fists beneath the table and could tell she was trying to control her shaking. The same indignation rose inside me seeing my strong grandmother reduced to the state of a panic-stricken hostage. I wanted to rush Violette and throttle her then and there, but restrained myself as I noticed there were other people in the room; two numa bodyguards stood against the wall directly behind us, their arms folded across their chests as they monitored the scene.

  Violette took a sip from her cup before lowering it to the saucer. “It’s so good to see you again, Kate,” she said, rising from the table. At her waist, a jeweled knife handle glittered atop its leather scabbard.

  “And you, Vincent. How surprised I was when my sentries told me you were all back in one piece again! I can only imagine you figured out the secret of re-embodiment, a method we scholars have been searching for for centuries. How clever of you.” She looked at him hungrily, as if she wanted to snatch the details straight out of his head.

  “It was the guérisseur, wasn’t it?” she said as she advanced. “He must have had the information. I can’t imagine Gaspard would have neglected to inform me of such an important discovery.”

  Vincent ignored her question. “Let the woman go, Violette.”

  I still couldn’t figure out why Mamie hadn’t moved an inch, until I saw that someone sat just behind her holding a sword to her back. It was a boy. He must have been thirteen. His longish, light brown hair swept down over his eyebrows, nearly hiding his dark brown eyes. The monochrome numa aura outlined his body. A young numa. This must be Violette’s new companion.

  She saw me staring at him. “Louis, you can let Madame Mercier go. Manners maketh man, as they say. And even though we are no longer officially ‘man,’ we still have our code to follow, don’t we, Vincent?”

  “You are still bardia in body,” Vincent said, “but in your mind you are already numa. Therefore you have no code and I have no faith in your words. Let me escort Kate and her grandparents safely away from the building and then I will return.”

  “Yes, please let my granddaughter and me leave,” pleaded Mamie, now standing.

  Violette’s civilized demeanor exploded, shattering into a million glass shards. “You will all do exactly as I say!” she screamed, her eyes narrowed. Everyone froze and stared at her. The bodyguards unfolded their arms and took a step in our direction before receiving a glare from Violette that stopped them in place.

  She pressed a hand to her chest, and closing her eyes, she sighed. Then, in a voice little louder than a whisper she said, “Nicolas, dear, escort Madame Mercier out.”

  Louis took my grandmother by the arm and walked her quickly past us, handing her off to Nicolas. He whisked her into the hallway, closing the door behind them. I caught a whiff of her gardenia perfume as she passed, and my chest clenched painfully as I wondered again if any of us would get out of this alive.

  “Now. Where were we?” said Violette, and turned to us. “Oh yes, Kate and Vincent. It is time for us to conclude some unfinished business.” She strode toward us, snakelike in her smooth predatory movements.

  “You,” she said, pointing at Vincent, “belong to me.” And for the first time I noticed something strange about her right hand. It looked disfigured. Unbalanced. A thread of panic ran its way down my spine as I saw what was wrong: Her little finger was gone. Where the knuckle would have joined it to her hand was an angry red scab with black stitches poking out of it. That was the flesh-and-bone sacrifice she had made to bind Vincent to her. Uselessly. I stared at the amputation and wanted to vomit.

  “I never belonged to you,” Vincent responded, each word dripping contempt. “You used Kate and her grandparents to get me here. Now you’ve got me, and unsurprisingly, you’ve got a fire”—he nodded toward the blaze burning in the stone hearth—“and apparently you figured out what you did wrong last time. So let Kate go and let’s get on with it.”

  Violette nodded to the bodyguards. They stepped forward and each took Vincent by an arm. He looked toward me, eyes pleading for my compliance, as he let them grab him without a struggle.

  Vincent was not going to sacrifice himself to save me. A red-hot poker of fury pierced my heart and propelled me as I lunged toward him. “Vincent. You can’t! Not again.” My head jerked forward as I felt strong hands grasp my arms from behind. I whipped around to see that the boy, Louis, was my captor. And he was stronger than he looked. His eyes flicked to mine, and barely moving his lips, he said in an almost inaudible voice, “I’m sorry.”

  His words confused me, but I turned quickly away as Violette stopped inches from Vincent. She held the knife under his chin while he stared defiantly into her eyes.

  “Take me instead of him,” I insisted.

  Lowering the knife and taking a step backward, she switched her gaze from him to me and laughed. “Now, tell me, Kate. Besides the pleasure it will give me to kill your boyfriend . . . again . . . before your eyes, why in the world would you imagine I’d want you?”

  I struggled against Louis’s grasp, and thinking quickly, I spat, “I could be your first human kill. Isn’t that how it works? You could be a numa like you want to be. Just don’t kill Vincent again. Let him go and take me instead.”

  “Well,” said Violette, an amused expression crossing her features as she glanced behind me to meet Louis’s eyes. “Now, isn’t that a charming gesture? One might even say a self-sacrificing offer. How benevolent of you, Kate.

  “You were right, Vincent,” she said, focusing her attention back on him. Her lips curved into a sick smile. “I did figure out what I did wrong last time.” Her eyes studied his face, and she tilted her head girlishly to one side. “I chose the wrong Champion.”

  And, lunging forward, she plunged the knife into my chest. Her movement was so fast that I didn’t know what had happened for a full second, until I looked down and saw it sticking out of my torso, still clenched in her tiny, porcelain-white fingers.

  Then, grabbing the hilt with both hands, she pulled the blade in a quick upward motion, and I only had time to look toward Vincent and see the terror in his eyes before a rushing sound erased his scream and the darkness drowned me.

  PART II

  THIRTY-SIX

  I’M SO THIRSTY. MY MOUTH FEELS FULL OF SAND, but my lips part and I realize it’s my swollen tongue that is choking me. I wrench my eyes open, but I am sightless. My lungs want to explode. And then my throat releases and I am gulping air, frantically inhaling it into my burning chest.

  A hand takes my chin and holds it roughly as liquid is poured into my mouth and spills over my lips. But I am able to swallow, and the presence keeps feeding me until my mouth closes and my head settles back. My consciousness ends there.

  I am cold, though I sense a fire close by. My body feels like it has been frozen solid and is now defrosting, sharp needles stabbing the entire surface of my skin. My muscles cramp painfully and I feel my arm jerk up to my chest, the joints in my fingers spasming, clenching my hand into a claw. I still can’t see, and my mouth is parched. I hear footsteps and the hand is back, feeding me water—I can taste now.

  Something brushes my lips and forces its way past my teeth. I bite down and taste the sweet juice of a fig and feel its pulpy texture fill my mouth. I swallow and take another bite, desperate to get the food inside my cramping belly. The fig is followed by walnuts. Three. I swallow them, and then immediately turn my head to the side and vomit them up, retching past the point of emptying my stomach. Retching and crying and shaking violently. The hand waits until I’m done, wipes my face, and starts over. Water. Fig. Three walnuts. This time I keep it down. The footsteps walk away and my mind shuts down once again.

  I hear water lapping close to my head. My eyes fly open. I am stari
ng at a wooden ceiling. I can see. I try to sit up, but something restrains me. I pull my head up far enough to see that I am bound to a bed by cords. I am dressed all in black . . . no, not black. Dark red—my fingertip brushes against my leg—and crusty. With horror, I realize that my clothes are saturated in my own dried blood.

  Feeling panic, I try to get my bearings. The wall next to me is painted metal. I swing my gaze across the sparsely furnished room and out a window across from me to see an expanse of water stretching to a riverbank.

  I’m on a boat. Tied to a bed.

  “Ah, she’s awake,” a voice says, and I crane my head to see Violette walk into the room. Behind her, Louis stoops to get through the low door.

  I recoil as they come into view. Something has happened to my vision. The colorless inch-wide aura I used to see around numa has disappeared and instead there are mistlike crimson haloes encircling their heads. Inside me, something new screams that numa are near. As if I didn’t already know. A nauseating fury overcomes me and I shudder and taste bile.

  They stand above my head, upside down, staring me in the face. Louis looks worried and Violette triumphant. “Welcome to the afterlife,” she says.

  I stop straining against the cords and gape at her. I try to speak, but my throat makes a croaking noise.

  “This is so fascinating!” she says, clasping her hands together. “I’ve never witnessed an animation before. It never actually interested me until now.”

  I don’t understand what Violette’s talking about for a minute, and then—suddenly and sickeningly—I do. She stabbed me, I remember. But did I die? No, I couldn’t have. Violette has kept me alive, suffering and on the brink of death, so she can continue to torture me.

  I struggle against my bonds, kicking and straining—uselessly, I know—but I am furious and the fight makes me feel better. I whip my head toward Violette and try to form words with my bone-dry mouth. “You . . . are . . . ,” I rasp.