I Should Die

superpower, is kind of incredible for a numa to have done. The color of his aura must mean that he’s like the numa I saw in the painting. Is it possible for some numa to change their destiny? To change sides? Vincent told me it wasn’t, but what if he was wrong? Violette crossed over to the other side—what’s to prevent a numa from doing the same?
    “Nicolas!” calls Vincent, and the numa spin and draw their swords.
    “Please don’t tell me you all were just popping by for some late-night shopping,” says the older numa drily, though he is unable to hide his shock.
    “No,” says Ambrose. “Just doing a little tidy-up-the-neighborhood work, and thought we smelled some trash in here.”
    Nicolas ignores him, keeping his gaze on Vincent. “So you are the bardia’s new leader? I would think you’d be more interested in hunting down our leader than chasing after her second-in-command.”
    “There were three of you. Where’s the other?” Vincent asks.
    Louis’s eyes flicker toward the apartment they just came from. And then, realizing what he’s done, he nervously grasps his sword in both hands as if he can protect the door from all ten of us. “Watch that door!” orders Charlotte, and Ambrose stations himself in front of it, sword drawn.
    “Would you like to die fighting, or should we stand here all night chatting?” asks Vincent, and the revenants on both sides of the passage draw their swords.
    I see the fear on Louis’s face, and my heart goes out to him. You don’t want to be here, do you? As soon as the words cross my mind, his eyes widen, and he looks around as if trying to locate a volant spirit.
    No , I think with disbelief. Did I just communicate with Louis? Could I contact the mind of a numa? Only one way to find out. Louis, this is Kate. You told me your secret. And I want to save you. Are you willing to side with us? To turn your back on the numa and help the bardia?
    He stands there confused until he locates me standing behind Vincent and Charlotte. He looks me straight in the eyes, his own widened in fear.
    Do you want to escape the numa? Will you come with us? I ask again. Nothing. Well, DO YOU?
    “Yes!” he yells. Dropping his sword, he puts his hands up in the air.
    “What the hell are you doing?” asks Nicolas, looking Louis up and down.
    Vincent catches my arm as I step past him. “Kate! What . . . ,” he begins.
    “Amnesty,” I say to the numa. “I’m offering amnesty to both of you, if you agree to abandon your kind and come to our side.”
    Nicolas begins laughing but keeps his sword at the ready.
    “Kate, what are you saying?” hisses Charlotte. My kindred look at one another in shock.
    “I am saying that, like anyone, they deserve a second chance before being slaughtered. That maybe, if given the opportunity, they will walk away from what they are.”
    “Kate,” Vincent pleads, “that isn’t even possible.”
    “Violette was a bardia and she became numa. It must be possible,” I insist.
    “That rule was written in our texts. It was never actually tried—as far as we know—until she did it. But it can’t go the other way. That . . . that is unthinkable.”
    “You know,” Nicolas says, “I think your Champion here has a point.” And he begins to lower his sword.
    “Freeze right there,” says Geneviève with a permafrost voice, taking a step closer to him. “Don’t you dare move.”
    Keeping his eyes on me, Nicolas ignores her and squatting carefully down, he lays his sword on the floor. Then, straightening, he spreads his hands before him, showing us that they are empty. “I have been waiting for this day. The day when someone finally asked me what I wanted.”
    Louis draws his breath in in surprise and stares openmouthed at his fellow numa.
    “And finally, it took the Champion to ask the right question. Do you think I like working for Violette, that miserable, obsessive, self-absorbed ex-bardia?” He looks from one incredulous face to the next. “Of course not. So when asked if I would rather die in her service or join you—help you defeat her—my response is . . .”
    And his hand moves inside his coat and back out so quickly that I don’t even know what has happened until I look at Geneviève and see the knife sticking out of her neck. She makes a gurgling noise and crumples to the ground. Ambrose roars and leaps toward Nicolas, who dips down and retrieves his sword.
    As they begin fighting, Vincent rushes forward and