From another box on the screen, a Paris bardia begins speaking. “Hi Vincent. Kate. Yeah, Charles sent me to question these guys. They were all happy to help.  Most of the requests were made by email—people sending the altered swastika image to ask if they could duplicate the tat. Once these artists refused, the issue was dropped. But a few people actually stopped by the tattoo parlors to inquire. Mainly men, but a few women as well. Mostly young. That’s the only connection they had—they all looked under thirty.

“One tattoo artist got curious and what the symbol was for. The guy told him it was for an online group. One of these conspiracy theory things. No one’s met the leader, who calls himself ‘M.’ M gives the loyal information and instructs them how to climb the ranks. He says a new order of humans is rising, and that his army will be the first wave.”

I glance around the table to gauge the effect of this news. Gaspard looks particularly grim, but the rest seem to be in shock.

Henri continues his story. “This customer confided in the artist that he knew someone who had reached the army’s highest level. The guy had done everything M told him to do. And he claimed to have been possessed on several occasions by a higher power that made him stronger and gave him skills he’d never had before. M told him it was in preparation for making him immortal.”

There is a moment’s silence as everyone digests this information.

Vincent asks, “Where does the tattoo come in?”

“The guy said the tattoo’s symbol means that a person has reached Level 5, and that the N.A. stands for ‘Numa Army,’ which you already discovered.”

Gaspard speaks up. “Being possessed by a higher power that grants unprecedented strength and skill...that sounds like possession by a volant revenant.”

Kate turns to Vincent. “That’s exactly what it felt like when you possessed me so I could kill Lucien. One second, I had no fighting skills. The next you were ‘powering’ me. Not only showing me what to do but adding your strength to mine so I could wield that heavy sword and throw a knife with enough force to kill him.”

“This is starting to make sense,” Charlotte says. “Those three bouncers at Judas fought us with numa skills and strength. But when we saw one of them last week, he not only didn’t remember fighting me, but didn’t remember ever having used a sword. If a numa wanted, it could possess the human in a way he wouldn’t remember afterward.”

“A numa-organized campaign,” Arthur says. “It’s genius, really. If they find humans who agree to be possessed by a volant numa spirit, they don’t even need to physically enter Paris, where Kate would easily track them by their auras.”