Page 96 of Inception

I shook my head. “There’s a peace treaty? With who? The Revenants?” This seemed like a great thing. Why hadn’t anyone bothered mentioning it to me? If we had a peace treaty going on with the demons, what the heck did they need us for?

“No. Between the Anakim and the Angel race.”

My face blanched.

“Look, maybe you should talk to your uncle about this,” he said, leaning forward to examine me as though I might keel over at any moment.

“No, I’m fine. I can handle it. Please, just tell me what this coven thing is. I need to know.”

“The Covenant,” he corrected as he sank back into his seat and shrugged. “The story goes that back in the day when the Angels first came down to earth, there were some problems within the ranks, you know, some of the Watchers who were supposed to be looking out for mortals were...well, helping themselves to them.”

“Helping themselves?”

He cleared his throat. “Mating.”

“Mating. Right.” I could feel my cheeks blushing. “Which, um, resulted in the Nephilim—our earlier ancestors,” I quickly added, remembering what my uncle had said about the Fallen.

“Exactly.” He cracked a half smile. “In the early days, the Angels made no distinction between any of them. They hunted them all equally—the Fallen, the Nephilim, and eventually even the Anakim even though their only crime was being the Descendants of a hybrid race,” he explained, tracing the frost down the front of my glass. “Anyway, a lot of blood was spilled on both sides.”

I felt a shiver run down my spine.

“Cut to a few hundred years later, leaders from both sides had finally had enough of the bloodshed so they came together and drafted a peace treaty that promised armistice amongst the races. Basically, they’d stop hunting us as long as we agreed to stay hidden from mortals and helped the Angels vanquish demons—from this world andbeyond. Neither side has broken the Covenant since.”

This worldand beyond?

“So what you’re saying is, as a Keeper you can like, take me to anotherworld?” There’s no way I heard that right.

“I can take you to many worlds.” His crystalline blue eyes burned into me, sending my heart into a chaotic tailspin.

I took a sip of my water, hoping the icy liquid would quell my racing heart and keep me focused. “And you can take me to another time, too? Like another era—say, I don’t know, the 1920s?”Or Florida, eight months ago.

“I can, but I won’t.” He was still staring at me with a stirring intensity. “That kind of thing has to be approved by the Council.”

“But you no longer work for the Council,” I reminded him, doubtful that he was actually concerned with their rules.

“True,” he said, raising his chin slightly, proud of his defiance. “Butyoudo.”

Crap.

“Besides, they check us twice a month whether we’re with the Order or not. If I get caught traveling, I could end up Bound and I can’t have that.”

“What do you mean theycheckyou?”

“Traveling leaves temporary traces on our skin, kind of like a cosmic time-stamp.” He clenched his fist shut. “Because of that, Reapers have to check-in with ‘the powers that be’ every other week so they can make sure we haven’t gone anywhere without their authorization.”

Dammit.

Everything in me felt as though it were sinking. I let myself believe (even if for only the faintest of seconds) that somehow, someway, I would be able to go back and see my father again—maybe even save him. The vessel for this unfathomable act sat right before me, tempting and daunting with the face of an angel, and all I could do was look at it, but never have it.

“Come on,” he said, cocking his head to the side. “Don’t look at me like that. You wanna get me Bound?”

I shook my head, trying to hold back my tears. “I just wanted to see him again. One last time.”

“It never works out that way. You’ll always want to go back.”

“How do you know if you’ve never gone?” I challenged.

He didn’t respond though something in his eyes was telling me that he knew it well, and from firsthand experience.

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