Read Online Covenant by Maria Rachel Hooley - Free Book Online Page B

but I block him, instantly recognizing his intention. The
last thing I want is him tinkering with anything in there, even if
it means pain. “No, I’m fine,” I tell him.
    “ You said your head hurts.”
He tries again, but I push his hands away.
    “ It’s
tolerable.”
    After so much blinking, my
vision is finally starting to clear, and I can definitely see the
outlines of Evan and Celia standing there. We’re still in the
hospital room, but the chaos has vanished, leaving only the woman
lying in the bed, all the machines disconnected from her body.
There’s a calm to a place after death has come. Most mortals
consider it eerie, but really it’s the perfect place to think,
especially for angels.
    Granted, I’ve never really
liked mortals, but there is something about the body that humans
leave behind that is imprinted with lingering impressions of the
life once lived. No, the human doesn’t have access to this anymore.
The soul takes the important part of it—the lessons and love
experienced. That’s what other living humans sense that make them
afraid of the dead—the responsibility of the living.
    I struggle to my feet,
sensing Celia must have already carried the soul and returned,
which makes me wonder how long I was unconscious. My vision is now
clear, and I see that both Evan and Celia watch me, waiting for
something else to happen, but I’m going to do my best not to give
into that.
    I turn to them. “May I have
a moment with her?”
    They look at each other as
though they didn’t really expect this but then drift away. I know
they won’t be far. Apparently based on their earlier exchange, I
have become too big of a liability for that. But at least for the
moment I have my space to try to make sense of all of
this.
    I step toward the body and
stare at her face. At first, all I can see is the chaos and pain
that I remember when she first started dying. I remember the
screams and how they seemed to echo inside me, tearing at every
fiber of my existence. Now, I see a calm has slipped over the
corpse, a sheath to guard the connections left behind. Whatever
struggles she faced no longer wrap themselves in her frame or
infuse themselves in her thoughts. This world does not encumber her
any longer and, she is free. That is where the peace comes in, if
you ask me.
    “ So how did it feel for
you?”
    I turn and find Sarah there,
her whole body rigid with pain. “I don’t know what you are talking
about,” I finally say, swallowing hard.
    “ Of course you do. I
watched you try to sojourn, and the strangest thing happened. You
seemed to forget how to shield yourself from the dead.” While there
is a slight smile playing at her lips, her expression is far too
cold to call friendly. In fact, it’s more like she wishes I hadn’t
come back.
    “ It’s just a glitch,” I
say, looking away. “I’m sure it won’t happen again.” My entire
being is rigid, and yet I don’t understand why.
    “ You think not?” She laughs
at me. “I hope it does. I hope one of the souls tears you apart,
Lev. I hope Evan and Celia let the dead feed on you. Just like you
let them feed on me!” She narrows her eyes at me
violently.
    Evan must sense the chaos
within us both because he seems to appear out of nowhere. He stops
in front of Sarah and places his body between us. “Sarah, what are
you doing here?”
    “ Just talking to Lev.” She
refuses to look at him. Instead, she keeps staring venomously at
me.
    “ Lev isn’t exactly up to
another round.” Although Evan keeps his tone civil, he’s also
giving her a warning; she’d have to be stupid not to know that, and
I’m pretty sure Sarah is anything but stupid.
    “ And why is that, Evan?
What could possibly be weakening him considering how skilled a
sojourner he is? Can you tell me that?” She stands there, waiting
for his response, and I can feel the chaos within ever stronger as
I wonder what Evan will say on my behalf. It’s not like there is a
reasonable