Montrose Paranormal Academy, Book 1: The Nexis Secret: A Young Adult Urban Fantasy Academy Novel

by Barbara Hartzler

  “Of course I do. She’s a member of the Guardians. A full member.” Bryan turned back my direction for a nanosecond. Long enough it burned me.

  “And yet, she put some kind of Watcher symbol on her painting, whatever that means. Strange, don’t you think?” I stepped in, matching his pointed stare.

  He backed up. “It’s still not enough proof to convict her.”

  “What are you talking about?” I pounced forward, caught in some kind of cage match. “I’m not asking you to convict her, or whatever you full members do. I’m just asking you to believe me. Why would I lie?”

  “Lucy, I’m not saying you’re lying.” His hand eased out, caressing my elbow. “I just think you might’ve seen things wrong, misunderstood something. There’s got to be some other explanation.”

  “After what they did to me, all I wanted was a little trust. But I guess I’m asking too much.” I jerked back my arm. Pressure pounded up my eye sockets, threatening to spill over. I bit into my lip, hard. As a tear slid down my cheek, I ran across the room, into the darkness of the turret.

  “Don’t be like that. C’mon, Lucy.” His words faded into the shadows, but his footsteps clomped closer. In seconds, he stood over me in utter darkness, no flashlight in hand. Moonlight from the turret’s porthole windows slid along the outlines of his features, outlining his forehead, eyelashes, the tip of his nose. Gritty fingers brushed my cheek. “I’m sorry, I really am. I want to believe in both of you.”

  With his breath on my forehead, his hand on my cheek, I could barely breathe let alone think. “I get that, but I know what I saw. There has to be some kind of explanation.”

  His mouth curved up as he came closer. “We’ll find it, together.”

  I nodded up at him and he pulled me in, wrapping his arms around me so tight. I hugged him back, not ready to face the others just yet.

  He pulled back an inch. “Hold up, you said the symbol was the mark of the Seer, right?”

  Again I nodded, craning my neck up at him. “You think we could find it in one of these books?”

  His lips spread, white teeth gleaming down at me. “It’s scary how you read my mind sometimes.”

  A thousand tingles fluttered up and down my arms. If he was right and I said another word, somehow I knew he’d kiss me. And I couldn’t take that right now. Even one kiss could completely unhinge the tenuous peace we’d just brokered.

  As if he’d turned the tables on me, he put some distance between us. “Bring the flashlight over here.”

  A circle of light bounced around the turret, onto Tony’s face. “I’ve got the girls searching the card catalog for books on symbols.”

  “Guess everyone can read my mind.” Bryan seemed further away now, and the space between us grew cold. “Lucy found some great books in here last week, maybe we’ll get lucky.”

  Why did the Watchers want to brand me, anyway? All my questions about the Watchers would have to wait. But I wouldn’t forget, they were burned into my brain.

  The boys each took a section, pulling out books, scanning the indexes. I ended up in the back section without a light, so I dug out my cell phone and scanned titles. They were hard to make out in the bluish glow, but something else caught my eye. The shelf’s boards were lined with carvings, intricate shapes in the wood.

  And there it was.

  The strange swirling eye inside a triangle, dashes radiating from the outer corners. My fingers bumped across the indentations and I dug out a clump of dust. As soon as I pressed into the triangle, a metal clanking sound clicked into motion like giant gears turning.

  The shelf shot back a few feet, then shifted behind the section beside it. A gaping hole opened up in the wall.

  “What was that?” Bryan aimed the flashlight at me. Its light spilled down a wrought-iron set of stairs, curling into the abyss. “What’d you do?”

  “You said to find the symbol.” I pointed to the shelf carvings. “I pressed it and poof, there you go.”

  “Cool.” Lenny peeked his head into the opening. “A secret passage.”

  “Way to go.” Tony held up his hand and I high-fived it.

  “Let’s check it out.” I gnawed on my bottom lip, shifting toward Bryan.

  His mouth curled up again, and this time I wanted to smooth my fingers against his lips. But now wasn’t the time.

  “Hey girls, we found a secret passage. Anyone ready for an adventure?”

  About time he listened to me for once.

  Chapter 23

  A gaping black hole stared back at me. Secrets lay buried down there, I just knew it. The way you know it’s about to rain or where to look for the moon. I grabbed the flashlight from Bryan and tiptoed down the creaking steps, swiping at cobwebs the whole time. Ten or twelve feet later, my shoes hit some kind of crumbling stone floor, about as far down as a basement.

  The circle of the flashlight illuminated a picture of truth right in front of me. As the others clambered down the spiral staircase, I stood perfectly still, palm flattened against my chest. Carvings etched into the ancient stone tile depicted intricate scenes that looked vaguely familiar. On a square tile, the flashlight beam highlighted a jewel hovering over a saint I now knew all too well.

  I gasped as the piece clicked into place. Reaching into my hoodie pocket, I pulled out my brother’s worn postcard. With my cell phone light, I found what I was looking for—a stained glass window that depicted the exact same scene from the stone tile in living color.

  “Is this what you wanted me to find?” I whispered to the postcard as if it might actually speak for James.

  “Cool postcard.” Lenny breathed in my ear. “Why does it have the same scene down here?”

  “Good question, Lenny.” My jaw dropped open. I reached my fingertips to the wall and traced the outline of the jewel.

  The scraping sound of stone on stone echoed in the dark cavern. Everyone huddled up behind me to get a look at the strange compartment now jutting out from the wall.

  “I heard that one of the Guardian amethysts was stored here on campus.” Bryan grabbed the flashlight from his sister and shined it in my face. “But the question is, how on earth did you find this hidden compartment?”

  “I uh …” I sputtered as I racked my brain for some sort of explanation.

  Could I really trust this guy? He was president of one of the three societies. Granted it was a student chapter of arguably the least evil of the secret societies, but still. Closing my eyes, I repeated the question in my head. Maybe my angel powers could tell me something. Warmth lapped at my skin, calming my nerves in the freezing cold tunnel. When I opened my eyes, I swear I saw a smattering of twinkling light burst over Bryan’s head. But when I blinked, it vanished.

  After eons of silence, I finally held up the postcard. “I got this from my brother a few months ago. I’ve been trying to figure it out ever since.”

  “No way.” Brooke shoved Bryan’s shoulder, and the beam of light faltered. “But I don’t get it.”

  He aimed the spotlight at the window on the postcard. “Here. It’s the exact same scene as on the stone carving. And this is St. Lucia’s church in Italy.”

  “Oh.” A collective gasp resounded from the group.

  “You mentioned the Guardian Amethyst. Is it here?” Tony’s voice came from my right, but I barely make out his profile in the dark.

  Bryan turned the flashlight back to the compartment and edged closer. “No. It’s been moved.”

  “Seriously?” I slapped my hands on my thighs. “I’ve been searching for months. And all for what? A stupid empty box?” Dust blew off the wall at my little tantrum, revealing another carving next to mine, at the entrance of the tunnel. With shaking fingers, I brushed the remaining dirt away. “You’ve got to see this. Do you think the whole tunnel is lined with them?”

  A picture formed as the dust cleared. Another jewel, but by itself this time.

  “Why would there be two carvings about the amethyst?”

  Reaching out,
I touched the carvings on the second tile, too. Nothing happened.

  “I think it’s a diversion of some kind.” Bryan angled the light around the cavern. We were standing in a circular stone vestibule. Similar carvings of the amethyst were lined up around the enclosure, forming a semi-circle. “Three years ago someone figured out the location of the American amethyst and the Guardians moved it to a safer location.”

  “You don’t think?” Saltwater pounded my eyelids as the realization struck me full force. “James.” I croaked, clutching the postcard to my chest as a tear slid down my cheek.

  “Of course.” Tony smacked himself on the forehead. “The location of the amethyst must’ve been on the pages he ripped out of that book at St. Lucy’s church.”

  “But I don’t get it. Why was he looking for the amethyst?” My voice wobbled as I glanced in Bryan’s direction.

  In two strides he was in front of me, reaching for my hands. “Because the Guardian Amethyst has one job. To protect the Seer.”

  My lungs froze and my heart skipped a beat. “He must’ve found out. He risked the wrath of Nexis just to protect me.” A sob wracked my chest as the tears flowed freely now, leaving hot tracks on my cheeks.

  Chaos erupted from the rest of the group, but Bryan just wrapped his arms around me and held me tight. “It’s what any big brother would do to protect his sister.” He whispered into my hair.

  Nestling between his bomber jacket and his soft sweatshirt, I let the not-so-silent tears fall. I had no idea how James figured out Mom’s little secret before his eighteenth birthday, but it didn’t matter. I knew my brother. The fact that he’d risk his entire future and even his life to protect me was so like him. And if I were in his shoes, I’d have done exactly the same thing even if it got me banished to Europe.

  All at once, the tears stopped. I finally knew the truth.

  “Wait, does that mean Lucy is the Seer?” Laura asked.

  “And her brother isn’t?” Brooke chimed in half a beat later.

  “I’m afraid so, kids.” Tony leaned against the back wall of the vestibule. His elbow grazed an amethyst tile and the sound of scraping stone filled the cavern once again.

  Bryan lifted one arm to aim the flashlight at the opening. The other arm slid around my back and together we turned to face an archway that opened into a long corridor—leading straight into darkness.

  “Looks like we just found a secret Watcher passage.” He flashed the light down the tunnel.

  “Should we investigate?” Wiping my tears on Bryan’s sweater, I couldn’t see anything but blackness beyond the end of the beam.

  The group fanned out down the arched tunnel, cell phones in hand, blue light leading the way.

  “Look. There are more pictographs on these walls.” Lenny’s fingers dug into a layer of dirt, revealing a bearded man, arm outstretched, knife held high over a child on a pile of branches.

  My heart skipped a beat or two, then pounded wildly against my chest. “Does that mean Abraham was a Seer?”

  “No, he was one of the first Messengers. This must be a Watcher tunnel.” Brooke leaned closer to Lenny, the bluish light reflection off her glasses.

  “Cool, let me see.” The light illuminated Laura’s orange hair, casting strange colors on the stone picture. As if the branch altar were alive with fire.

  “Come see mine. I’ve got Jacob’s ladder.” Tony’s voice echoed off the stones.

  Five heads jostled each other to get a peek of the two foot square carving. On tiptoes, I craned my neck around until I could see the whole picture. A robed man, wrestling with lines in the shape of a wing, on a ladder.

  Somehow, an electric current zapped the musty, dank air. The Watchers had a Chosen One of their own. So why did they want me, too?

  “Guys, you gotta come see this. Bring the flashlight.” Tony’s voice rang out from deep in the dark tunnel.

  Lenny doubled back around us to unhook the flashlight, traipsing through the blackness ahead.

  I lingered, unwilling to go into the unknown, not yet. With my fingernails, I dug out dirt from all corners of the stone tile. In the lower right-hand corner, I uncovered a symbol. The same one I’d seen on Felicia’s paintings.

  “C’mon, they’re leaving us behind.” Bryan tugged on my hand, but I wouldn’t budge. “Hey, is this the symbol? I’ve seen it before, somewhere.”

  Black shadows engulfed his body as if he’d disappeared into the darkness. When I flashed my phone at him, he was running his fingers along his chin scruff.

  “What is it?”

  His eyes ping-ponged from the symbol back to me. “It’s the Seer’s symbol, all right. All light from my phone faded and blackness surrounded us with its silence. His calloused palm encircled mine.

  “Don’t be mad.” His words floated around in the darkness, like an apparition. “I seriously just remembered this. One of the Watchers’ goals is to mark the Seer, so both Nexis and the Guardians know who it is.”

  “What does that mean?” I tried to drop his hand, but he clamped down tighter. “For a Guardian guru, you sure forget a lot.”

  “I don’t know. It was all just legend. Until now. I never thought it would play out in real life.” Suddenly a square light cut into the darkness, his phone aimed at my face.

  A patch of light in the shadows was all I saw. I held up my phone to see his face, too. “If Felicia’s dad is a Watcher, allegedly, then they probably know everything the Guardians are up to. At least here at Montrose.”

  “They don’t know the whole truth. Montrose is just a small piece of the pie. There are Guardian outposts all over the world.” The way he said that, his eyes wide, stole my breath away.

  “The whole world?” I heard his head rustle before I saw him nod. A sudden chill crept up my spine. I gripped his hand. “This is way more than I ever bargained for.”

  He squeezed back. “You’re telling me. That’s life, honey.” With a soft tug, he led me deeper into the tunnel.

  As I followed him into the shadows, the truth pierced me like an arrow between the eyes—he’d really given up a lot for the Guardians. A normal life, a normal school, maybe a girlfriend or two. I wasn’t sure I was willing to give up that much. Not yet, anyway.

  Dark heads huddled around the flashlight. Just another weird carving, in a really bizarre underground tunnel. Goosebumps prickled up and down my arms, as if they knew more than I did.

  Jagged rock bumped against my fingertips, unyielding as the tracks of sewn-together flesh hiding deep beneath my hairline. The stone scratched into my skin. All of a sudden I stopped, as my nails traced unknown ruts in the rock. Were there carvings on both sides of the tunnel?

  A vague whisper hissed in my ear, forming a faint word. Look.

  Pounding footsteps echoed off the arched stone. Tony shined his light on my face, then his chin dropped to his Adam’s apple. “Whoa, this has to be a Watchers’ tunnel for sure. Check this out.”

  More clomps resounded behind him until everyone crowded around me. Slowly, I turned on my heel. A strange pile of carved rock-like shapes reached high into the sky, with figures trying to climb the makeshift tower.

  “Is that what I think it is?” Heads bobbed up and down in the spotlight. I narrowed my eyes at the stone tile, but I couldn’t make sense of it. “I don’t get it. What does the Tower of Babel have to do with anything?”

  Bryan cleared his throat. “It’s where Nexis started. When they couldn’t reach heaven on their own, they worked up a new plan to make their own heaven on earth. They made it their mission to find the twelve sacred stones and use them to make their own half angels.”

  “More like dominating the world, actually.” Lenny’s deep voice rumbled on my right.

  Genesis six domination. The words were back again, this time they almost left my tongue. Tingles crawled up and down my neck. “That’s just crazy. The three societies have really been at this for tens of thousands of years?”

  “Afraid so.” His giant paw landed on m
y shoulder.

  I gulped, bit my lip, willing myself to ask the question I didn’t want to ask. “And that’s why they want the Seer so bad, so they can finally get what they want?”

  He stared down at me. “That’s it exactly.”

  Strange fascination gurgled in my throat, a bubble of curiosity I couldn’t shove down. “And what are these sacred stones exactly?”

  Brooke rubbed her hands together. “That’s my favorite part. It’s from the book of Joshua. Each group has their own sacred stone. The Guardian Amethyst, the Watcher’s Sapphire, and the Nexis Ruby. Each stone has a special power.”

  I gulped. “That sounds cool. What kind of power?”

  “Don’t worry yourself about the stones.” Bryan took my hand and squeezed. “We need to worry about Nexis and what they really want from you.”

  Maybe, here in this dark tunnel, it was my time to be brave—to find out the truth. I swallowed down the lump of fear before it could shoot up again. “Has Nexis ever had the Seer on their side before?”

  He raked his fingers into his two inches of hair. “No, never. Not that they haven’t tried. They’ve managed to get themselves in other positions of power and killed several Seers for not joining them. Even people they thought were Seers, like Joan of Arc.”

  “Joan of Arc, really?” This time a softer grit of sandpaper grasped my hand. Bryan.

  “Her and many more, though she wasn’t actually the Seer of her generation.” The goosebumps popped up my arms again. He squeezed tighter. “I think it’s time you found out the truth, before it finds you first.”

  I nodded at his shadowy face, but the dark and light shapes blurred until he was unrecognizable.

  “C’mon.” He tugged my hand, like he’d done so many times before.

  This time a strange cold seeped into my skin. Even his soft voice, his warm touch, couldn’t melt my heart. If I was the Seer, or even if they thought I was, would I meet the same fate as Joan of Arc did—a trial by fire? Or would it just happen to someone I love instead? The cold enveloped me, sapping away all my steeled-up resolve.