Page 98 of Inception

I considered it.

Maybe this would give me a chance to get to know the real Caleb Owens. Maybe even probe him for information about Nikki and find out once and for all what was really going on between the two of them. I could do that. I couldtotallybe persuasive when I needed to.Sort of. How hard could it be?

“Sure, I’d love to go with you.”

Gabriel was already waiting for me in the parking lot of All Saints after my shift ended later that day. As per our usual routine, we were supposed to be heading over to Temple, though those plans were promptly nixed when he informed me that our training session had been canceled due to an emergency Faction meeting. One that required the entire building to be sealed off and secured.

“Is that something they usually do?” I wondered as we pulled out of the parking lot in his black SUV.

“It’s not uncommon to secure the building, especially with so many leaders present.”

Interesting. I wondered if my uncle was included in that roster. “So what’s this meeting about anyway?”

“I’m not sure,” he said without deviating his eyes from the road. “I wasn’t given any details.”

“Can we attend?”

“Council members and Elders only.”

“Oh, good, more rules and secrets.” Because I didn’t have enough of those in my life. It was like a sickness in this town.

“I’m not allowed to attend either.” He offered it as solace, but it didn’t make me feel any better. “If you’re up for it, I know another place we can train tonight,” he said, bouncing a quick glance at me. “It’s not ideal but we wouldn’t be bothered.”

I’d rather go stake out this meeting but apparently that option wasn’t on the table. On second thought, “What if we blow off the rest of the night and catch up on our sleep instead?”

“Jemma.”

“What? Not all of us are frozen in time.” I flipped down the sun-visor to inspect the dark circles under my eyes. “Some of us actually need to rest.”

“Not as much as you need to train. What are you going to do the next time you encounter a Revenant? Are you confident in your abilities to defeat them—to vanquish them?”

“Vanquish them?” I looked him over as though he were the most absurd man on the planet. “The only thing I plan on doing is running as fast as I can, unless I somehow get captured, in which case my new plan is to kick ass until I get free, and then run as fast as I can.” There was no two ways about it. I was a girl with a plan, and I was sticking to it come hell or high water.Or vampires.

He scoffed without looking. “That’s a horrible plan.”

“It sure beats getting killed though.”

He shook his head, but he didn’t argue the point. We continued the rest of the drive in silence.

It wasn’t until a little while later that I realized we’d somehow ventured into one of the shiftier neighborhoods outside of Hollow. Between the broken streetlights and boarded up buildings, I had already decided this was exactly the sort of place I didn’t want to visit on any day of the week. Least of all, after dusk.

“Where are we going exactly?” I asked, locking my passenger side door. “This neighborhood is giving me the creeps.”

“We’re going to my place.”

“Your place?”Had he lost his damn mind? “Um, you live on the other side of town...you know, on the nice side.”

“That’s my family home,” he corrected, regarding me cautiously as though I might snap at any moment. “I don’t live there. I have a small apartment up the street.”

“So what you’re saying is, you actually pay money to live around here?” I was completely flabbergasted by this revelation.

The smallest impression of a smile appeared. “It’s a small price to pay for obscurity.”

We entered his apartment building through an unhinged side door and took the stairs up all the way to the third floor. The hallway was dank with mangy carpets and flickering lights that faded in and out like some cautionary tale I didn’t want to know. Sounds infiltrated the hallway at every turn—a baby crying, a shouting couple, police sirens in the distance—all attesting to the unsavory living conditions of life on this side of the tracks.

I latched onto the back of Gabriel’s leather jacket and scooted in closer as we made our way down the hall of horrors, stopping only when we reached the last apartment on the left.

He unlocked the door and held it open for me. “After you,” he nodded, clearing the path.

---