I Should Die

the fountain, bodies pressed tightly together, desperately kissing before stepping back and becoming Georgia and Arthur. Georgia walks away from him and, passing me without slowing her stride, she says, “You better the hell come back, Katie-Bean.” And entering the house, she slams the door behind her.

FORTY-NINE
    IT IS JUST BEFORE FOUR A.M. WHEN WE PULL INTO the Place Monge neighborhood. Vincent parks the car, and I step out onto the sidewalk as Arthur, Charlotte, and Louis scramble out of the backseat. Jean-Baptiste and Gaspard park nearby and join us. My stomach is in knots. But the calm that comes with the focus of a fight begins to settle over me, infusing me with the confidence I’m going to need. And the fact that Vincent has taken my hand and is holding it firmly in his doesn’t hurt.
    A few dark figures across the road shine with golden bardia auras, and one raises a hand in greeting. Groups that assembled in Paris over the last few hours have been waiting for us to arrive. We have sixty revenants in all.
    But when I glance toward the park hiding the Roman arena, my vision burns with at least a hundred red columns flaming up toward the predawn sky. We are outnumbered. As we feared.
    Vincent sees it on my face. “That bad?” he asks.
    I nod. “Yep. More than a hundred, I’d guess—some within the park and others scattered around the neighborhood.”
    He turns and cups my face with his hands, gliding his thumbs over my temples. “You don’t have to do this,” he says softly enough that the others don’t hear. “We can bring the fight to them without you ever having to face Violette. You heard Bran. Geneviève wanted to die.”
    “There’s always the chance that they’ll keep her until she’s volant and then destroy her, like they did you. She wants to be free. Not trapped as a wandering soul.”
    “If that actually happens, Bran can disperse her.”
    “Okay, you’re right,” I admit. “But I have to face Violette, Vincent. I know it. We both do. And I’d rather do it now, when we know she’s not going to slip through our fingers, than living our lives wondering when she’s going to turn up next and do something even worse.”
    “I know.” He leans down to kiss me briefly. Firmly. We stand locked in each other’s gaze while small groups begin to move into place around us.
    “If I should die . . . ,” I begin to say.
    Vincent cuts me off. “Stop, Kate!” And then he sighs and his shoulders hunch slightly. He knows it’s dishonest to pretend we’re all going to make it out alive. He shuts his eyes and, when he opens them, he looks resolute. “Whatever happens, remember that I will love you forever,” he says. “Even if my spirit is dispersed and my consciousness released to the universe . . . whatever is left of me will never stop loving you.”
    Vincent won’t possess me like he did when I fought Lucien. And there’s no sign of whatever superstrength was mentioned in the prophecy. But I am suddenly unafraid, knowing I will face Violette with a powerful but invisible weapon: love. The complete and unconditional love of another being. That is something Violette does not have. It won’t win me the battle against her. But it has already made me the victor over my fear.
    “This isn’t good-bye, Vincent. Because we’re going to win.” Although my voice is steady, I don’t quite believe my own words. I take his hand and we walk toward the park.
    The trees are surrounded by a tall iron fence, and as we near the gate we see that it’s guarded by four large numa dressed in police uniforms. They nod to Vincent as we approach, glancing apprehensively at the windows of the apartment buildings across the street. While outside of the park, we are in public. Nothing will happen here.
    “Only the girl goes in. With him.” One of them points to Louis. “Our kind is staying out of the arena, and so will yours.”
    Vincent shakes his head. “You’re lying. There is a large group of your kind already inside the park. And there’s no way Kate’s going in alone.”
    The numa eye him suspiciously, and one places a call. He muffles his voice with his hand and then hangs up. “Our leader admits that her security detail guards her within the park. Therefore, you may bring your kind inside, but no one goes within the amphitheater’s arena except your Champion and her hostage.”
    Hostage? I think. Vincent told Violette that Louis sided with us voluntarily. And the numa who