Whenever a murdered corpse is found with its eyes missing, like Vennet the bookseller, it is Joubert playing on my guilt, taunting me, luring me, daring me. One day I will take up the dare. One day I will finish this story once and for all. You, Koahu, may be my beloved, but he is my destiny. I hold myself responsible for him and all his acts of cruelty. Now that I have seen you, now that you know all you need to know, now that you’ve written it down, perhaps my story is finally approaching its end. Perhaps you can take on the legacy of our sin, all those lifetimes ago. Chanel doesn’t know about you. She doesn’t know for sure if you are even still alive. But if she finds out, she will want to destroy you just as surely as she wishes to destroy me.

You have the manuscript now, but it alone is not enough. You must write down your own story—the story of our meeting at the cemetery and everything that has happened since. You must write down my story too, the story of my seven lives. Add to it the story you wrote as Charles Baudelaire. The true tale of the albatross is all of these stories, together. They unite us. Keep them close to you so that, next time you cross, they will be the first thing you see. It is the only way to ensure you won’t have to piece together your true self over a lifetime of nightmares. Let the stories be your guide.

Perhaps you still don’t entirely believe me. Perhaps you never will. I’ve become accustomed to your skepticism. But when we met your nightmares stopped. And when we crossed you saw yourself staring back at you. When the opportunity to make a crossing comes, I know you will take it. You always have. Choose your inheritor wisely. Choose someone who wishes to die, and if you cannot, choose someone who deserves to. A crossing is no small thing. Every crossing is a theft of a life, and all that goes with it.

When this war is over, we’ll meet again. I’ll be waiting in my usual place: in the cemetery, standing by Baudelaire’s grave, in the late afternoon, smoking a cigarette just before closing time. Until then, all that is left for me to say is farewell, my beloved. Farewell, good luck, and bon voyage.

Go here.

Cast of Characters

Acknowledgments