Maybe I had one more trick up my sleeve. Couldn’t the dark Seer powers lead me to things? If so, time to test out my theory.
Shadow wraiths, where is the book we seek? Tendrils of smoke hissed past my feet, climbing up the shelf to my right.
I tiptoed down the row, holding up my cell phone for light. I followed the skinny black wraith, running my fingers across every spine until something pricked my middle finger.
“Ouch.” My finger throbbed its own little heartbeat as drops of blood hit the carpet. I pressed my thumb against the wound.
“Where’d that come from?” With my left hand, I wrangled the book off its shelf. Caramel leather bound together the rough-edged parchment, an embossed seal in the center. I touched the metal lines raised in a symbol I could’ve sworn I’d seen before, an angry-eyebrowed jack-o-lantern with a mouthful of fangs. The metal burned my fingertips.
A distant thud crashed around in the dark. Something smashed down on my foot, crushing my big toe. In my mind, I released the shadow tendrils. The dark shadows twisted into shades of gray and dissipated into thin air.
The dim colors of the library returned to normal.
Heaving in a sigh of relief, I bent over to pick up the book. The pages fluttered in front of me, to a chapter on the Nexis Semigod Nations, the same name they used at the initiation. According to the author, the sect was actually a collection of clans across many countries, called Nexis Nations.
Nexilim, as they preferred to call themselves, believed that God used the flood to wipe out all the Nephilim because they had grown too powerful, almost god-like. These half-angel beings were so powerful they ruled humanity. A drawing in the book depicted a figure with broad shoulders standing a full head and shoulders higher than any man.
The Nexis goal was to recreate Nephilim in the modern world.
“How would you do that?” I whispered to myself, hoping Shanda wouldn’t notice from the aisle beside me. I turned the page to find a strange picture of a man standing in front of a gemstone on a pedestal, arms outstretched towards it. Lines emanated from the gemstone. The caption read The Ceremony of the Seer and the Sacred Ruby.
The book put forth an even scarier idea—that one day all Nexis Nations would be populated with these Nephilim Semigods. In turn, they’d rule every country on Earth with Nephilim as their heads of state.
This was too much. I couldn’t wrap my mind around it.
“Ick, is that what they want from me?” I stared at the page until my eyes lost focus. None of it made any sense. Suddenly, certain letters glowed brighter, like flickering flames. Everything else on the parchment disappeared. These fiery letters lifted off the page, then Poof! they rearranged into a phrase that sent a chill to the depths of my bones.
GENESIS SIX DOMINATION. Side by side with Nexis Semigod Nations, the phrase contained the exact same letters. An anagram.
I slammed the book shut. So that was the true purpose behind Nexis. Their one goal for centuries, to dominate the world according to Genesis six with these Nephilim beings. Could they really find a way to recreate the terrifying Nephilim creatures God had destroyed in the flood?
Hold the phone—did they want to use my gifts to do it? Better yet, did they know about the visions I was seeing? That must be why Will wanted to be with me so badly.
I gasped and suddenly forgot how to breathe. This couldn’t be real. This had to be a nightmare or just another vision. But if my vision about James was true, did that mean this was true, too?
“Did you find it?” Shanda peeked into the space I’d left in the bookshelf. “Is that it?”
I nodded and my voice croaked. “Let’s get out of here, before I really lose it.” Literally. My stomach turned rancid.
“There’s no time to go out the way we came. We’ll have to sneak out the back. C’mon.” She yanked me toward the end of the aisle. I blindly followed, my body still numb. What kind of price was I about to pay for experimenting with the dark powers?
Beside me, Shanda raised her voice. “Guys, we got it. Follow us out the back.”
We tumbled down the back steps and into the dewy grass. Under my arm, the book radiated heat, as if those shadows singed it somehow.
I thrust the horrible book at Shanda. “Here, take it. I don’t care what Will or that stupid group has to say about James. I’m out.”
She tucked the book into her giant purse. “Are you okay, Lucy? Did something go wrong with your little experiment?”
“Yeah, actually.” I sucked in a breath of cool night air, but my cheeks still burned. “That book says that Nexis is way creepier than I thought. And they’re totally using me.”
“Yikes, that sounds really bad.” She squeezed my shoulder. “Does that mean you want out?”
I just stared at my hands. “I don’t know what I want.” I wanted to say yes, but I didn’t want to shut the door on my mission.
“Why don’t you sleep on it? I’ll cover for you tonight and catch you back at the dorm, okay?” She waved and followed the rest of the troops to the edge of the woods.
“Thanks.” I watched her disappear into the night.
~
Sunday morning brightness floated over my face from the corner of my dorm window. I rubbed the grit from my eyes and rolled over, but sleep eluded me. It had eluded me all night, ever since I’d dabbled with my dark powers. More like a walking nightmare. All I could see were the fingers of the shadow-wraith on that poor guy’s forehead and his vacant stare as the darkness controlled his every move.
Too many strange things were happening, and I couldn’t make sense of them all. The vision of James getting banished by torchlight, the blameless man in the spotlight, the angel vs. demon fight at Hard Rock, then last night. Shouldn’t the Seer be able to make sense of her visions? Would I ever figure out what really happened to my brother?
In one fluid motion, I peeled back the covers that clung to my body and swung my legs over the side of the bed. I pulled on jeans, then grabbed my soft navy hoodie in case the late-September morning held a chill. I slipped my feet into my canvas shoes and padded to the sink. The cool water soothed my warm cheeks but failed to wake me from my daze.
Shanda slept soundlessly as I tiptoed out of the room and down the stairs to the lobby. The house looked so still and peaceful at this hour. At my touch, the front door creaked open, and I stepped into the cool air. Gray clouds covered the sky.
Grateful for my hoodie, I zipped it up and went wherever my feet decided to go. I pivoted off the path into the dew-drenched grass until I found the steps that led to the Hudson River bank. As I descended the uneven flagstones, I slowed my pace.
At a landing carved into the hillside, a white-washed pergola towered over a mosaic stone patio. A cement bench rested on the hillside’s wall, but my arms reached for one wide column of the pergola.
The wind whipped my hair in front of my face. I hugged the column and faced the wind. My tangled hair flew behind me. How I wished the strange nightmare of last night would fly away, too. The river below me gurgled with life and freedom. James would have loved it. In an instant, hot tears sprang to my eyes. An ache seared through my heart, slicing all the way down to my guy. I missed him so much.
“James.” I whispered his name into the wind, but it made no difference. The tears streamed down my face until I tasted their salt. “Wherever you are, I hope you’re safe.”
My breath came in shudders, but I held on tight to the pillar, fighting to keep the sobs at bay. A realization sank like a stone in the depths of my being. James wouldn’t want me to give in to the darkness just to rescue him. No matter how bad things were for him.
Something rustled behind me. I snapped my head around.
Bryan shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “Sorry, didn’t see you there.”
“It’s okay.” I wiped my eyes on the sleeve of my hoodie, glad I hadn’t bothered with any makeup on my way out.
He moved in front of me, his broad shoulders blocking the worst of
the wind. “Are you okay?”
Those images of the shadows wouldn’t go away, the dark hand, Tim’s vacant stare. They haunted me still.
“I don’t know.” I refused to meet Bryan’s gaze. Instead, I ran my hand through my hair. Halfway down, it snagged on a mass of tangles. “I don’t know what’s real any more.”
“You look like you need to sit.” He eased onto the cement bench, and I moved next to him. “What’s wrong?”
I nodded, tears clinging to my lashes. I couldn’t keep my voice from shaking. “I’m so confused.”
“When I’m confused, I just go with my gut. What’s your gut telling you?” He wrestled his arms from his bomber jacket and bundled it around me.
I wrapped it tighter, snuggling into the fleece. At least someone knew what I needed, even though I hadn’t noticed the cold until now. Maybe if he knew what happened last night or the night before, he’d take it back. I swallowed and inhaled deep.
“My head tells me to do what my family wants and go to finish my Nexis initiation.” The images rushed back, and I closed my eyes to shut them out. But that only made them clearer. Snapping my eyes open, I lifted my face to the gray sky. “But my gut tells me there’s something I’m missing, something I’m not aware of yet. Maybe something my brother figured out before he disappeared, before they made him disappear. But that just sounds crazy when I think about it too much.”
Those aqua eyes glowed against the steely sky. His Adam’s apple bobbed with an audible gulp. “I think you’re right about James. He was on to something—that much I know.”
“Do you know anything about my brother?” I reached for his hand and he flinched like I’d shocked him. His fingers were hot under mine. I studied his face, strong cheekbones outlined by dark stubble, eyes darting back and forth. Not in a sinister way, more like he struggled to recall something.
“Only through my sister.” His eyes stopped dead center, and his jaw dropped. He stared at my hand over his. “How could I have forgotten? It’s as clear as day right now. I was still in junior high, but I remember Abby’s story. About the Guardians taking someone in right before graduation, after Nexis ousted him. Apparently he was afraid of something. Right after graduation, he moved into the chapel and slept there. He was never alone, always with two of the Guardians’ biggest guys, like bodyguards. Abby said it was the weirdest thing. It had to be James.”
His words triggered a memory of my own that was fuzzy at first, but clearer now. My family had been in town for James’ graduation. The night of the ceremony, he was supposed to meet me at sundown to tell me something important, but he made a flimsy excuse and bailed on me. That night I had a crazy dream that I’d been positive was really happening. I woke my dad up in the middle of the night and told him I saw James in some weird library. Dad said he believed me and went to find James. The next morning Dad came back with this crazy story about James being so distraught over his girlfriend’s death that he was running off to Europe to recover. I was crushed. We never heard from James again. Not until that postcard.
When I shivered, Bryan looped his arm around me, scooting me closer. “Can’t believe I remembered that all of a sudden.”
“Me either.” I nestled into his side, hoping he wouldn’t unearth my double meaning. If this was true, then Will had lied to me when he told me about James. Why would he leave out something like this? He was a freshman then, but he still had to know more than he let on. That creeped me out even more. “But why would James leave without a word to any of us?”
“I don’t know,” he whispered into my hair. “But you said it yourself. Your family wants you in that club. Maybe that’s why.”
I shook my head. James knew me better than that. “But that didn’t include me. I couldn’t care less what club he belonged to.” There just had to be more to the story.
He drew back to look at me. “I’m sorry. I’m not helping, am I?”
“I don’t know about that.” My lips curved at the beautiful concern in his eyes. “Things didn’t make sense until you told me to listen to my heart. At least I don’t think I’m crazy any more. That’s a big improvement.”
“Good to know I have some effect on you, even if it’s only keeping you sane.” A laugh rumbled from his chest. “I believe I said, go with your gut, not this mushy heart stuff.”
I didn’t have the energy to laugh. Still, the burden of uncertainty over James lifted like a weight off of my heart. If Bryan’s story and my memory were true, then it was just another clue to help me figure out what really happened. I finally felt like I was on to something. I let my shoulders relax and my head sink onto Bryan’s firm shoulder. As he stroked my hair, I closed my eyes. I barely noticed the bright light I saw instead of darkness. It wrapped around me, filling me with peace as I drifted off.
When I came to, strips of sunlight beamed between the wooden slats in the pergola’s ceiling. I sat up and rubbed at the knot in my neck. “How long was I out?”
Bryan stretched his long arms to the sky. His fingertips skimmed the vines that hung from the wooden slats. “Less than an hour. You needed the rest.”
I yawned, arching my back. “Probably because I didn’t sleep at all last night.” The images of the shadow terror were gone now, and a strong sense of peace surged through me.
“Maybe I should walk you back to the dorm so you can get some rest.” He helped me up, putting his hand on the small of my back to steady me as we climbed the stairs. “Why couldn’t you sleep?”
Even if he proved to be a good pillow, I couldn’t mention the strange visions, let alone misguided foray into darkness. “I think I was just worried about James.”
“I’m sure he’s fine.” Bryan slowed his pace as we neared the girls’ dorm house. “If you want, maybe I can do ask my sister about it. Try to find out what happened to your brother.”
“That would be great. You’d really do that for me?” It finally felt like someone understood my dilemma, at least a little. And to have another person take something off my plate of worries—priceless. Could such a gorgeous guy really have a good heart? That might be too hard to resist.
“Anything for you.” He veered to a path that led to the back door of the dorm.
“Do you mean that?” I gazed up at him until he nodded, but a question lingered in my mind. “Okay, here goes. I was wondering why you freaked out about my ring the other night.”
“Oh, that.” He scratched his chin and wouldn’t meet my eyes. “It’s just an indicator of how important you are. The fact that Will knows it—that’s what made me mad.”
“I see.” I nibbled the inner edge of my lip, willing him to clarify what that meant.
“Don’t you worry about it, that’s my job.” His strong palms rubbed into my shoulders.
At the door, he reached for my hand and pulled me closer. I ran my fingers across his five o’clock shadow, examining that soft expression in his eyes. It melted my insides. With a mind of their own, my toes arched until I stood inches from his face. I tugged on his t-shirt until his lips met mine. When I pulled back, his arm slid around my waist, bringing me in for another quick kiss. Then he dropped his arm and jerked back.
“I’m sorry.” His voice cracked. “Didn’t mean to be presumptuous.”
“Don’t be sorry. It was nice.” I grazed my fingertips across my lips.
“If you’re sure.” His blue eyes burned into mine, searching for something. “Get some rest, Lucy, and be careful. I’ll see you in class tomorrow.” He stumbled backward and cold air filled the space between us.
“Right, can’t wait,” I murmured, unable to look away. Instead I reached back, found the doorknob, and waved goodbye as he walked away. “See you tomorrow.”
I bit into my lip to keep the rest of my thoughts inside. I couldn’t wait to get back into the chapel with the postcard and see if I could find any new clues. Oddly enough, I wanted to tell Bryan the truth. All of it. Lack of sleep could do crazy things to a girl. With Bryan, I forgot to check my
self. Things just came naturally with him, easy and uncomplicated. Like freedom for a change. And it felt good.
Chapter 15
Crisp wind blasted my face as I tiptoed out of the dorm at sunrise the next day. The darkness receded as the sky lit up in pastel shades of pink and orange. A chill crept down my neck and I wrapped my soft sweater around me as I hurried down the cobblestone to the chapel. The trees dotting the once-green landscape were now bright hues of red, orange, and gold, another sign October had come to New York.
When I stepped into the chapel foyer, candles in red hurricane globes glittered in the foyer. The arching stone cavern swallowed up all the light from the sunrise outside. Gothic chandeliers hung on wrought-iron chains from the vaulted ceiling. They cast dim circles of yellow around the room.
The morning sun cast stained glass shadows across the ancient wooden pews lined up in the sanctuary. Pulling out the postcard, I examined my brother’s words again.
Wish you were here, lil sis. I found a great church here. I hope you find one, too. I’m not sure what you’d love more, the stained glass windows or the libraries full of old books. Books hold so many secrets, just waiting for you to find them. Don’t worry about me. You just take care of yourself until I see you again. Love, James.
The only things that stood out were “church,” “stained glass,” “libraries,” and “books” which he’d written two times in a row. Did he mean a certain church? Why did it say libraries and not library? Was there a specific book he wanted me to find?
“Ugh!” I let out an exasperated sigh, looking up at the ceiling. Wracking my brain, I tried to remember my conversation with Bryan yesterday—and the memory it triggered. James had holed himself up in this very chapel library. Maybe I needed to go there to figure this out.
“Worth a shot.” I shrugged and shuffled down the hallway. The door to the chapel library was propped open and light spilled into the dim hallway. Yikes. Maybe I wasn’t the only one up at dawn trying to figure things out.
My wedges clicked against the marble tile en route to the library.
Montrose Paranormal Academy, Book 1: The Nexis Secret: A Young Adult Urban Fantasy Academy Novel Page 14