Read I Should Die for Free Online

find us.”
    “We should take you to La Maison,” I said. “But that’s in the seventh arrondissement, all the way across town. It would take hours to walk there if we stay in the sewers. And with the shape you’re in, I’m not sure you could even make it.”
    Bran shook his head. “I can’t walk much farther. And even if I could, I only know my way around the tunnels under our neighborhood. I could never find my way to the other side of the river.”
    “So we’ll have to go aboveground,” I said.
    A buzzing sound came from Georgia’s coat. She fished her cell phone from her pocket and looked at the screen. “Arthur. Again.”
    I stared at her. “What do you mean, again?”
    “He’s been leaving me messages all morning, wondering how I’m doing,” she replied with a shrug.
    “Why don’t you answer?” I asked, incredulous.
    Georgia made a face. “I don’t want to look too interested. That’ll just scare him off.” She looked as offended as if I had suggested that she marry him on the spot.
    I grabbed the phone out of her hand and answered the call. “Arthur? Yeah, this is Kate. Violette and some numa are after us, and we need your help. We’re hiding in the sewers. . . .” I turned to Bran. “Where are we exactly?”
    “Under the northern tip of Montmartre Cemetery,” Bran responded. “You can tell them to meet us right inside the north gate.”
    I handed the phone back to Georgia. “He said they’ll be here in twenty minutes, and to stay in our hiding place until he texts us.” Bran nodded and, settling his head on the back of the armchair, closed his eyes in exhaustion.
    “Did he say anything else?” my sister asked, eyeing me.
    I rolled my eyes. Even in an underground hideout, at mortal risk of being discovered by evil undead, Georgia was thinking about boys.
    “Well, did he?” she insisted.
    I sighed. “He asked if you were okay,” I admitted.
    My sister threw herself onto one of the cots with a satisfied grin and stared dreamily at the ceiling.

SIX
    WHEN ARTHUR’S TEXT FINALLY CAME, WE MADE our way carefully out of the bunker and up some nearby stairs. Bran directed me to push open a wooden trapdoor at the top, and we emerged through the floor of a mausoleum, where aboveground marble tombs dominated the small room.
    “This is so Buffy it’s not even funny,” Georgia said, supporting Bran as I waved curtains of cobwebs out of the way so that we could exit into the graveyard. Ambrose was waiting by the gate. As soon as he saw us, he sprinted over and hoisted Bran up in his arms. “Hurry it up,” he said. “It’s like numa central around here!”
    He bundled Bran into the back of the car, and Georgia and I packed in on either side. As soon as Ambrose was in the passenger seat, Arthur sped off. “Perfect timing,” he said, peering into his rearview mirror. I turned to see a squad of numa round the corner of the cemetery wall and push open the gate we had come through just seconds before.
    “Looks like our Evil Empress has got half of Paris’s numa trailing her as security,” Ambrose commented drily. “We sent Henri and some others to your shop, right after we talked to Kate,” he said, eyeing Bran. “But there was no sign of them. The door to the sewers had been smashed through so they could still be down there, weaving their way through toilet-level Paris looking for you.”
    He shifted in his seat to shoot me an annoyed look. “And who do you think you are? Wonder Woman?”
    “I would say Kate’s more Catwoman,” Georgia commented. “Much cooler. Less derivative.”
    Ambrose ignored her. “What possessed you to go wandering off after I left you three messages to stay put since Violette and her numa were spotted heading toward Paris? Since when does ‘Stay in your house’ mean go directly to the location where your enemy is most likely to go?”
    “I didn’t get your messages,” I admitted sheepishly. “I left my phone at home.”
    He sighed deeply and