Stunned, I froze mid-step. “What do you mean, ‘too late for us’?” I asked, feeling like I had been punched in the gut.
Kate, in a few minutes my body will no longer exist. From now on, the only thing I can do for you is try to keep you safe. A human and a revenant—that was a difficult enough challenge. But a human and a ghost? Mon amour, I would never wish that for . . .
And that was it. Those were the last words Vincent spoke to me before he was gone, leaving me alone on a riverbank with nothing but the whistling of the winter wind.
TWO
AS I RAN, IT SEEMED THAT THE RIVER WAS RISING up above its banks and invisible waves were lapping at my ankles. Within seconds I felt as if I were moving underwater, battling a powerful current as I fought to propel myself toward La Maison.
Finally I was typing in the digicode and flying through the gate. My stomach twisted with nausea as I threw the door open and looked wildly around.
Gaspard and Arthur were coming down the staircase peering at the pages of a large book held between them. They stopped when they saw me. Shoving the book at Arthur, the older revenant rushed down the steps and took me by the shoulders. “What is it, Kate?” he asked.
“Vincent,” I gasped, fighting to catch my breath. “He came to me. But now he’s gone.”
“Gone where?” he urged.
“Burned,” I blurted. “He awoke, came to me volant, and said Violette was about to burn him. And then his voice just disappeared.”
Gaspard looped my arm through his, grasping my hand securely. “Get everyone together,” he commanded. Arthur was off like a shot, calling together the few dozen Parisian kindred who had gathered at La Maison to wait for news of Vincent’s whereabouts.
Gaspard led me through the sitting room and into the great hall. “Your hands are like ice, my dear,” he said, seating me in front of the crackling fire and draping a woolen throw around my shoulders.
Even with the radiant heat and warm blanket, I couldn’t stop shaking. The flames made me think of another blaze that was burning a few hours south of us. Flames that had taken Vincent away from me—permanently.
I heard footsteps rushing up behind me and found myself enveloped in a couple hundred pounds of muscle. “Katie-Lou, are you okay?” Ambrose asked, his voice harsh with protectiveness. Leaning away, he searched my face. I shook my head numbly and he wrapped me back in his arms.
I stayed mummified against him for the next few minutes while everyone assembled. Jean-Baptiste perched on a wooden stool before the fire, Gaspard stood by his side, and Arthur positioned himself in front of me on the rug. The rest of the revenants fanned out around us, all eyes focused on me. They fell silent as I cleared my throat to keep my voice from trembling.
I told them that Nicolas had followed me to the Pont des Arts to deliver Violette’s message: She had taken Vincent’s body to her castle in the Loire and would destroy it when she “saw fit.” And he had informed me of the reason the numa trusted Violette in the first place: She had convinced their chief, Lucien, that she held the secret to capturing the Champion’s power and promised to use it against the bardia.
After giving them the message Vincent asked me to relay, I concluded: “And that was all. His voice just cut off like that, in the middle of talking.” Let them believe his message to his kindred were his last words, I thought. His true last words were too personal—not to mention painful—to share.
There was a second of horrified silence before the room erupted. Ambrose dropped me from his bear hug, rose to his feet, and added his voice to the others. “Well, what are we waiting for, people? Let’s go storm the castle!”
Jean-Baptiste shook his head gravely, raising his voice to be heard above the crowd. “It’s too late.” His voice quieted the noisy crowd as effectively as a spoon against a wineglass. “Vincent will be ashes by the time we arrive, his spirit bound to Violette.”
“What does that even mean, being bound?” Ambrose asked, nestling back next to me. As usual, everyone turned to Gaspard for an explanation.
Now that the commotion had died down, he was back to his tic-y nervous self. He fidgeted with his shirt collar and raised a trembling finger,