Die for Me

We arrived at Jean-Baptiste’s gate. Vincent took my hand in his. “Listen. I’m sorry if I’ve messed up things between your sister and your grandparents tonight. But I couldn’t just sit there and say nothing after hearing her mention that . . . monster.”

“No, you were right. And it didn’t matter where you said it, in front of everyone or one-on-one: Georgia would have had the same reaction.”

“You’ve got to talk to her,” he urged. “Even if things don’t go too far with Lucien, she’s hanging out with some dangerous people.”

I nodded at him. “I’ll do my best.”

Danger was constantly lurking in the shadows for Vincent and his kindred. But now that one of my family members was at risk, it seemed much more real. It made me feel closer to him. We now had a common foe. But I hoped that Georgia would listen to me and remove herself from that danger.

“What are you going to do now?” I asked.

“I’m going to get the others and start hunting Lucien down.” Vincent’s voice shifted an octave lower and his eyes blazed with anger. He looked lethal.

“You’re going to be careful, right?” I asked, fear gripping me as I realized what this could mean.

“I would take him out tonight if I could. But there’s a reason I haven’t been able to destroy him yet. If he doesn’t want to be found, we’re not going to find him. The cards are in his hands.”

Then, seeing my expression, some of the steeliness went out of his features. “Don’t worry, Kate. Try to come over after school tomorrow if you can.”

“Are you still going to be alive tomorrow after school?”

“Yes,” he said with his lips. But his eyes were telling a different story. He would do anything to destroy this enemy. It was clear that his own safety wasn’t his priority.

“I’m sorry I have to leave you like this,” Vincent said, drawing me to him and brushing his lips against mine. Every point of contact with his body seemed to trigger a shower of fiery sparks inside me. Is danger an aphrodisiac? I wondered. I’d rather him be safe than have a Fourth of July celebration in my nerve endings. But since I didn’t have a say, I grabbed him tighter and responded to his kiss.

Too soon, he pulled away. “I have to go.”

“I know. Good night, Vincent. Please be safe.”

“Good night, mon ange.”

I knocked softly on Georgia’s bedroom door. It opened violently a second later, and my sister stood there looking like a Fury. “What the hell was that about?” she raged, slamming the door shut behind me.

I perched on the edge of her bed while she threw herself belly-down onto a fluffy white rug in the middle of her floor and stared at me.

“I’m sorry Vincent embarrassed you in front of Papy and Mamie. But from what he’s told me, Lucien does sound like really bad news.”

Georgia almost spit her reply. “Oh yeah? What exactly does he say?”

“He said that Lucien’s kind of in a . . . Mafia type of organization.” I tried to remember how Vincent had described the numa that night in the Marais restaurant. “And that his colleagues are involved in all sorts of illegal dealings.”

“Like what?”

“Prostitution, drugs—”

“Oh, give me a break!” Georgia rolled her eyes. “You’ve seen Lucien. He’s an entrepreneur. He’s got bars and clubs all over France. Why in the world would he even need to be involved in stuff like that?” She looked at me with distaste.

“I really don’t think Vincent would make that up,” I replied.

“Yeah?” she asked bitterly. “How’s he know him?”

“He doesn’t,” I lied. The last thing I wanted to do was to make some sort of link between Vincent and Lucien with Georgia and me in the middle. “He just knows his reputation.”

I paused, weighing how far I should go. “He said there’s even talk of Lucien’s associates being involved in murders.”

Georgia looked shocked for a moment, and then shook her head. “I’m sure that in the world that Lucien moves in, there have got to be some shady dealings. It must go with the territory. But to suggest that he could work with murderers . . . I’m sorry, I just don’t believe it.”

“It’s okay,” I said. “You don’t have to believe it. But do you have to see him again?”

“Kate, we’re barely even seeing each other. It’s not serious. We only see each other out in public. I’m sure he dates other people, and so do I. No big deal!”

“Well, if it’s not a big deal, and there’s even the slightest chance that he’s bad news, then why don’t you just . . . you know . . . ditch him? Please, Georgia. I don’t want to worry about you.”

For a split second after hearing my pleading voice she looked uncertain, and then a stubborn look stole over her pretty face. “I don’t have to see him again. But I’m going to see him again. I don’t believe a word you or Vincent has said about him. And why are you and your new boyfriend getting all involved in my private life anyway?”

I knew I couldn’t say a thing that would change her mind. And how would I say it, anyway? “The reason my boyfriend hates yours is because Vincent’s a good zombie and Lucien’s a bad zombie?” I could only hope she would lose interest in Lucien before anything bad happened.

She was really mad now. Her light dusting of freckles was becoming mottled by angry red patches. I knew my sister, and when she got to this point, there was no more reasoning with her. I began to stand, but she sprang up and beat me to the door. Opening it, she pointed to the hallway. “Go.”

Chapter Thirty-Two

THE NEXT DAY GEORGIA LEFT FOR SCHOOL BEFORE I even got to the breakfast table. From behind his newspaper, Papy asked tiredly, “Are you girls on World War Four now, or is it Five?”

I didn’t see her between classes, and she disappeared afterward. My sister was avoiding me, and that hurt. But I knew I had done the right thing by warning her about Lucien. Vincent had said that nothing might happen to her. But in these circumstances, “might,” for me, was too big a word.

I headed to Jean-Baptiste’s on the way home, texting Vincent from the street, and the gates were opening by the time I arrived. He was waiting for me, the same worried look on his face as he had worn when he left me last night.

“Any news?” I asked as we walked to his room.

“No.” He leaned forward and opened his door, politely standing aside to let me by before following me in. There are some advantages to dating a guy from another era, I thought. Though I am a big believer in gender equality, chivalry scores high in my book.

“We were out all night searching. It’s like all the numa in town just up and disappeared. We went to every bar and restaurant that we know they have a finger in, and only saw human employees—no trace of them.”

“That could have been really dangerous, couldn’t it?” I tried to imagine what would happen in a standoff between the good and evil revenants. The undead leaping around with swords among a frightened bar clientele.

“If they had been there, then it could have been dangerous. But with humans around they wouldn’t dare attack us.”

I thought about Ambrose getting stabbed just a few feet away from a crowd of humans and suspected Vincent was downplaying the danger for my benefit.

“But no one was in sight for us to interrogate. They don’t have one fixed residence like us. So it’s impossible to know where they’re based.”

“How’s Charlotte taking it?” I asked.

“Not well,” Vincent said. “She’s out with the others right now, looking.”

“Why aren’t you with them?”

“Tonight’s the ‘big night.’ And I’m already feeling weak. I wouldn’t be much help if we actually found anything.”

“So when does it start . . . the dormancy thing?” I asked.