I Should Die

Kate if it’s not even a possibility?” He turned to me. “Vincent doesn’t like what Bran is about to read and requested that we wait to discuss it until you are gone.”
    “Thanks a lot, Vincent,” I said, feeling peeved. “Overprotective much?”
    Sorry , mon amour, I heard him say. There are some stories I don’t think are completely necessary for you to know. Especially when they involve me.
    “I think I can decide for myself what will upset me,” I countered. “Please, Bran, go ahead.”
    Bran scanned through the story and then encapsulated it for us. “The story took place in medieval India under the Tanwar Dynasty. This Champion was destroyed and his spirit cast into an animal that was killed and eaten by his numa captor. It was thus that the Champion’s power was transferred into the numa. It took an army of bardia to bring him down, and only after he had used his multiplied powers of strength and persuasion to conquer an entire city.
    My throat tightened. “Okay, I’m not upset, but I am disgusted,” I said, my stomach turning. “Vincent, is that what Violette tried with you? The animal bit?”
    Yes , he replied, while Gaspard nodded. Vincent had obviously already told him the story.
    “What happened?” I asked.
    Kate, it’s really not important , Vincent pleaded. Not that I don’t think you can take it. It’s just that . . .
    “Tell me.”
    Violette forced my spirit into the body of a rabbit, which she then killed and ate raw. But sometime between the killing and the eating, my spirit left the animal .
    “What would have happened to you if it had worked? If you had been the Champion?” I asked Vincent.
    Bran responded for him. “Violette would have absorbed Vincent’s spirit, which would have been combined with her own. His identity would have been intertwined with Violette’s and his power added to hers.”
    But, obviously, that didn’t happen , Vincent rushed to say.
    My head hurt. A dull burn behind my eyebrows, like when I crunched on ice. I raised my hand to cup my forehead and felt tears sting my eyes. The very idea of Vincent’s and Violette’s spirits intertwined made me sick.
    It’s okay. I’m here now , Vincent said consolingly.
    “But when Violette jerks you back to her, what will you tell her? That she did the right thing, but it didn’t work since you aren’t the Champion?” I asked.
    “No, he’s going to lie,” Jean-Baptiste said. “We will concoct some type of bogus ceremony for her to try on him in order to stall her a bit longer.”
    Bran added his two cents. “Stalling isn’t actually going to solve anything. He’s still bound to her, and will remain so until one of two things happens.”
    “And those would be . . . ?” I asked.
    “Until Violette is destroyed or Vincent is re-embodied.”
    I’ll kill her. Gladly , I thought, my fury making me even more nauseous. However, realizing that my slaying a revenant protected by a numa horde wasn’t the most probable outcome, I settled for practicality. “Then let’s find this account of the re-embodiment,” I urged.
    “I remember my mother reading it to me when I was still a child. I haven’t actually seen it myself, so I have no idea which of these books contain the story,” Bran admitted. “I’ll need to work my way through them until I find it.”
    “I’d be happy to help,” I offered. I reached for one of the books, but withdrew my hand when I saw his expression.
    “I’m sorry, child, but these texts are full of my family’s secrets,” Bran said. “I have sworn to protect them and show them to no one.”
    My heart sank. If Bran read through all of these books by himself, it could take a long time. And time was something we couldn’t afford.
    “Do you mind if I wait here until I have to go home?” I asked.
    And do what? asked Vincent . Watch him turn pages? You’ll be bored and you’ll drive him insane.
    “There’s a lot here to keep me occupied,” I responded, gesturing at the walls of books. “I don’t want to go home yet.”
    “You are welcome to stay,” Bran responded, to my relief.
    “Vincent and I are going to take this opportunity to chat,” Jean-Baptiste said. “I need to know everything you can tell me about Violette and her plans.”
    I’ll be back, mon ange, promised Vincent.
    Bran spent the next hour carefully studying his books, while Gaspard hovered nervously to one side. He was more tic-y than usual, wringing his hands and trembling as he