Redemption (13 page)

“Odd claims she doesn’t date,” Garnier answered.

“Oh.” I didn’t know what else to say. It didn’t make much difference in my life—did it? It was a good thing actually, less chance of an ordinary guy taking her time away from me before I had this whole thing deciphered—and after that? Well I guessed it didn’t matter too much. Though I wondered how that conversation was even brought about.

“I’m sorry about yesterday,” she said to me.

About what was she apologizing? I was confused by her, and by why I found it so important to understand what she thought.

“For taking off on you,” she clarified.

I nodded. The apology lifted a weight I didn’t even realize was there.

“I’m glad you’re okay. I worried that something happened to you. You and danger seem to have an attraction for each other.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Aude, you’ve recently been attacked twice. I think it’s fair to say you are the type to attract trouble,” I said.

Her entire body stiffened. “Who says I’m the one attracting trouble? Maybe it’s your fault. I don’t know what stuff you’re into, Guillaume,” she turned to Garnier, “and I don’t know if you’re involved, Garnier, but I don’t think it’s any coincidence that you came into my life around the same time as all this started. Actually,” she pauses and her eyes open wide, “did you talk to me in the subway that night I was first attacked?”

Garnier raised his eyebrow at me and waited for me to respond.

“I have no idea what you are going on about. You’ve been under a lot of stress lately—”

“Bullshit! You do know, and you can’t continue keeping it from me.” Her voice was low, but her stance was aggressive.

“You’re causing a scene,” I said.

“Well, I think you two should probably be leaving so I can work,” she responded, frowning at both of us.

Garnier bought a new shirt and she rang it through for him, clearly happier with him than me.

“Goodbye, Aude,”
he said once her back was turned to him.

She pivoted and looked at him with furrowed brows.

“What was that about?” I asked him.

“I needed to see it for myself. How interesting. On another note, she’s definitely angry with you and starting to figure out something is wrong. You should move faster, Guillaume. Or here is a novel idea: just tell her what is going on.”

“I’m starting to think this might be what I will need to do. But she needs to be ready to hear it first. You know how it works with humans, there’s no cooperation from them until they calm down.”

“Well, I think she might be nearing that point now,” Garnier said.

“No, I’ve come to know her a little.” I smiled. “She’s easy to temper, but she’ll cool down quite easily too. She’s firmly rooted in what has been fed to her as reality. This grounds her, but it also will make it more difficult for her to accept the truth.”

“Well you have to do something; I’m starting to feel the drain in our essence.”

Yet, since the workshop, I still felt somewhat energized—though noticeably less so. I needed to know how I could use her Native powers.

“Maybe I should take over the Aude case,” Garnier said.

“What? Why would you? I’m making great progress. If you want to help, why not work alongside me?” He couldn’t just relieve me of my case. Who did he think he was?

“Relax brother, I just thought we might need to employ different methods. I can be more persuasive than you.”

“Persuasive?”

“Charming.” Garnier smiled.

“If I wanted to charm her, I would have already. She is my most important lead and needs to be treated with some respect.”

“Yes, it’s all very sweet, but that’s the problem. You’re treating her like a lead. It’s not conducive to her opening up. Is that all she is to you, then? A lead?”

“She’s pretty, and witty, and interesting. She is a lot of fun to be around. But it’s all inconsequential. She’s an ordinary young human girl, a baby, really, compared to you and me. How could I even contemplate … ?” I said.

“She’s not ordinary. We’ve established that. And if you were to set your sights on someone, who should it be? Someone’s grandmother, who would also still be an infant compared to us, but doesn’t even resemble us in body?”

“Maybe I don’t need anyone.”

Garnier shrugged. “Maybe you don’t. But I thought the whole point of this exercise was to live a normal life.”

“How normal is it going to be watching Aude age while I remain the same?” A knot formed in my throat as I said this.

“It doesn’t have to be that way.”

“It was different with Vincent and Marie, the same way it would have been different with Marguerite, but without her, our only solution is not a very pretty one.”

“But if she is what you think she is … ”

“We have no answers, and it doesn’t matter. We aren’t meant to feel, Garnier.”

“Speak for yourself,” he said.

We stood in silence, waiting for the metro home. I couldn’t help but remember Garnier as he was with Marguerite. Maybe it was just me who wasn’t meant to feel.

Marie’s death had been hard for all of us. We’d always been close to the de Rouen witches and losing one was a dark time for us, but losing Marie was worse. When Vincent had allowed himself to age with her, she became part of the family. When she left, it was like losing one of ours.

Vincent may actually have handled it better than the rest of us; he’d been preparing himself for that time from the day they had decided to be married. One night, he told us the story of their betrothal. We sat by a fire while his mature voice boomed a story of young love and destiny, but I hardly paid notice to what he said. My attention was captivated elsewhere by Marguerite, and the way she sat next to Garnier. They held hands and shared looks with each other throughout the narrative. At the end, they excused themselves and Garnier led her outside.

An icy-cold dread passed through my body. I needed to know what Garnier was up to. I excused myself and exited from a different door to follow them.

They sat on a bench in the rose garden at the old de Rouen house. The moonlight barely illuminated them, but my eyes could not fail me. Everything about us was strong. Marguerite was a powerful witch and as long as we guarded her, she would continue to keep us alive. Her life essence sustained us the way her lineage had for centuries.

Garnier kneeled in front of her and my heart leapt to my throat.

“Will you marry me?” he asked.

I stood watching them, urging her to let him down gently. She didn’t even believe that Garnier could truly love her.

The sound of the train brought me back to the present and I glanced at Garnier. She had said yes, and if only she had gone through with it, I might not live with such regret as I do.

21

Aude

I spend all day wondering what the big band news is, and by the time I show up to Trick’s for band practice, I’m sure I’m in for a disappointment. I’ve overanalyzed Lucy’s message for hours and I’ve come to the conclusion that we’ve either been invited to some half-decent gig or we won one of the radio contests we’re always participating in.

Trick’s dad greets me with a smile. “They can’t wait to tell you the news,” he says.

I give a weak smile and make my way to the basement. I can’t believe everyone knows but me.

The moment she spots me, Lucy runs over. Her hands are clasped together and she looks like she’s going to burst.

“All right,” I say. “Let’s hear it. What’s the big news?”

“We have a gig at The Factory!” she screams.

I’m shocked for a moment, trying to figure out how it could have even happened. The Factory is a big deal. That’s where real bands play.

“Really! The Factory?” I push back the enthusiasm that I’m catching from her. Maybe I’m misunderstanding or something.

“Yes! But you haven’t heard the best yet!”

“Did Lucy tell you that we’re opening for Fetid Crimson?” Trick blurts out as soon as he walks in the room.

“Omigod! What?” I exclaim.

Lucy is jumping up and down and I can’t blame her since I’m so excited I’m doing some weird form of spirit fingers on speed.

“We won
that
radio contest? Wow, I can’t believe it!” I let out a girly screech because if I can’t do that in front of Lucy, where else could I do it?

“We hadn’t heard back after we sent our demo CD. I just didn’t think we would.”

It makes sense why Lucy has the news; she was the one who had insisted on trying out for that contest. It sounded way too professional and though I knew we could cut it, I was sure some minor signed bands would be all over it. But Fetid Crimson is known for bringing new bands into the spotlight, and this time, it’s totally going to be us.

“Wow! Lucid Pill could be Fetid Crimson’s next discovery. This is huge,” I say.

“No kidding,” Trick answers.

We practice hard that evening and I forget all about the mystical stuff that’s been bothering me. This is real life.

We concentrate on a few songs and really fine-tune them. That night I leave Trick’s house with pages and pages of notes on things to work on before our next practice. I can’t believe this is happening to us and can’t wait to tell Mom. She’s going to flip!

I’m so pumped with energy from band practice that I decide to walk to the train station.

One light burns out just as I pass under it, and a chill races down my spine. It’s only one streetlight, it happens to people all the time. I pass below the next one and it goes out, only it’s right back on again, as if something flew in front of it or something. A thump comes from behind me. I don’t look back to see what fell and run down the street.

With a
whack
something hits my head and I scream. A dead raven lies at my feet. I scan my surroundings. It’s late. I’m edgy and confused and I can’t believe I was stupid enough to walk alone in the dark again like this. Except that walking alone at night is something I’ve done for years now and freaky stuff or no freaky stuff, it’s a hard habit to break.

I kneel to examine the dead bird at my feet and try to figure out what happened to it, but I’m not a bird expert and can’t see anything wrong with it other than the fact that it fell out of the sky to its death.

I get a second chill. This one crawls up my arm.

“Birds will fall out of the sky … ” I whisper, remembering the Mohawk prophecy I read earlier today.

I stand up slowly and resume my walk, this time at a brisk pace. The metro station is right around the corner. I rustle through my bag and find my metro card while I enter the station. The clock indicates that I’ll catch the last train, but barely. I speed down the stairs and over to the platform as I hear the telltale whooshing sound of the train through the tunnels. The train’s door opens and I run in, only to stumble and nearly fall when an old man exiting pushes me. I regain my balance and force my way past him into the train. I don’t know what he’s trying to do but he should have been out by now. The doors close with the man on the other side. He turns around, and through the door windows, I see his face. A face that reminds me of weathered terra cotta. His lips spread to reveal a toothless smile. A knot forms inside my throat. The train speeds off, leading me away from the man standing still on the platform.

22

Guillaume

When they called me in for the job as a music teacher, I made sure I would be working with Aude, whom they had hired as well. All I had to do was to convince them that Aude and I had worked together in the past and they changed my shift.

At least that part had been easy. But I worked tonight and I felt a little apprehensive about seeing Aude after our last conversation.

I was tuning a guitar when she walked in.

She eyed me suspiciously. “What are you doing here?”

“Well when I found out you would also be working here, I asked to switch our shifts so we could work together.”

“Don’t you play the piano?”

“I’ve fiddled with the guitar before.”

“Guillaume, I don’t know what is going on but I can’t get involved in whatever weird stuff you’re into.”

“The things happening are centered on you. I don’t think you have a choice but to be involved.”

She scrunched her eyebrows at me, and picked up a set of notes she had brought with her.

“These are the lesson plans I prepared last night. These are third-semester students, so I thought our best bet is to evaluate where they stand before getting too technical.”

She was just going to ignore everything, then? What was wrong with her? She’d been attacked twice, she experienced things that visibly freaked her out, and now she would just pretend it never happened.

“Is this denial? Are you going to just pretend everything is all right and continue having your life in danger without doing anything about it?”

“As refreshing as it is to have you being almost honest with me for once, I have real-life priorities to worry about,” she said. “My band has been invited to open for Fetid Crimson. I don’t expect you to know who they are, but they are huge.”