Inception (The Marked Book 1) by Bianca Scardoni Page A

their time here has always been conditional—temporary. There is, however, one creature that defies this universal truth. One supernatural breed that is inherent to this world, and that breed is known as a Revenant .”
    “A Revenant? You’re talking about vampires, right?” I asked, making the connection only because of the book title. It wasn’t something you’d soon forget.
    “Yes, Jemma, I’m talking about vampires, but more to the point, I am talking about a special breed of demon—a vampiric demon known as a Revenant. Unlike other demons, the very first Revenant rose from the ground right here on earth, over two thousand years ago in the Kingdom of Dacia—”
    “The kingdom of what ?” I heard myself interrupting, my eyebrows furrowed in bemusement. “Is this like a fairy-tale type of story?” It was a fair question, I thought.
    “No, Jemma, this is not a fairy-tale type story,” he said, frowning now. “Dacia was an ancient Kingdom that existed thousands of years ago. Today, that region is mostly known as Romania, all of which you can find in a book ,” he explained, exaggerating the word.
    It sounded like a dig.
    “The Kingdom, like most regions at that time was under constant attack by the Roman Empire. For a while, they had managed to stave off defeat, but with Dacia’s diminished numbers and dwindling resources, they knew it would only be a matter of time before they would be conquered. Unwilling to surrender, King Decebalus ultimately took matters into his own hands, forever altering the course of humanity.”
    He paused and looked out the window, collecting his bearings. “What do you know of Nephilim?”
    I shrugged. “Never heard of him.”
    “Not him, them ,” he corrected. “The Nephilim were said to be the offspring of humans and fallen Angels. Angels who rebelled against God and whose unsanctioned union with humans resulted in the creation of new bloodlines; beings that were neither Angel, nor human, but rather something in the middle.”
    “What do you mean something in the middle? Like a hybrid?”
    “That’s one way to look at it,” he nodded. “Descendants who still carry that Nephilim blood today are known as Anakim —a rare people born with the strength of Angels and the Spirit of man. Earthly beings with otherworldly powers, if you will.”
    “O-kaaay,” I said slowly, not quite sure how this fit in.
    “It was one such bloodline—a faction of Anakim known for their magical delving and sorted affairs with the thralls of power—that were summoned by the King to come to Dacia’s aid using their ethereal magic. The Casters , as they’re better known today, knew full well that Dacia’s greatest challenge was their army’s lack of strength and numbers, and so they set out to create a spell that would essentially wake the dead, bringing them back to life stronger, faster, and more powerful than they ever could have been before, thus eradicating both pivotal problems in one impetuous move.”
    My eyes widened in horror as I knew where this was going.
    “And sadly, it worked. The spell was cast, and the dead rose from the ground in droves. Only they didn’t come back right . The newly reanimated were strong, yes, much stronger than their human counterparts, and they were virtually indestructible, but they had no interest in fighting a war, or heeding instructions, or doing any of the things they were brought back to do.”
    His eyes darkened into an eerie shade of smoke. “The only thing they wanted to do was feed, and the only thing that could satiate their appetites and sustain them, was blood.”
    “Holy crap. It’s actually true.”
    “Language, Jemma.”
    “Sorry,” I apologized, though I hardly thought a little curse word even remotely mattered at the base of what he had just recounted. And, plus, I wasn’t crazy! “So these witch Angels or whatever—” I started clumsily.
    “Casters,” he corrected.
    “Yeah—why didn’t they just reverse the spell