The Nexis Secret: YA Fantasy Romance (The Nexis Angel Series Book 1)

by Barbara Hartzler

  “Are you for real?” In a few steps I stood next to him, plowing into the ten-book tower. With titles like Angels, Angels, Angels, and The Nephilim Conspiracy, I wasn’t sure what to choose. Flipping through the dusty hardback books, I settled on the top three, plus a few with lots of pictures.

  “Thanks for this. I researched in the library on my own a few weeks ago but didn’t find much. It’s so overwhelming.” The real question, the reason I’d ran straight to his office, paused on the tip of my tongue. I bit it back, for now.

  He crammed the remaining books onto his shelf. “Just doing my job. You know, half the kids come here fully brainwashed by their parents. The rest are like you, stuck with parents who want them to choose a side but won’t educate them. That’s why you’re here.”

  “What do you mean?” The books weighed on my arms, but his words burrowed into my brain.

  “You want the truth?” He zeroed in on me with those beady little eyes behind his thick lenses.

  My arms went slack, the books dive-bombing into a pile at my feet. Slowly I nodded. “I need the truth.”

  “Brace yourself.” He rolled up his shirtsleeves and plunked down in his seat, motioning me to do the same. “The academy was founded by the Montrose family, Nexis leaders whose sole purpose was to recruit future Ivy Leaguers into the ranks of Nexis. Within a few years, the Guardians discovered their plot and threatened war if they kept recruiting innocents, as they called you teenagers. A truce was negotiated, allowing Guardians free access to recruit as well. So innocents had a choice.”

  Pressure built up between my eyes as I wrinkled my brow at him. “I don’t get it. Why don’t they just duke it out?”

  He only shook his head. “At that time, neither side was strong enough for all-out war. Now, I’m sorry to say, both sides are too strong. There’d be too many casualties. Instead, it’s all about clandestine missions and turning the right people.”

  He openly stared at me this time.

  An ache spread across my forehead as his implication lapped into my mind. “By ‘the right people’ you mean me, don’t you? But seriously, why me?”

  He lowered his voice a notch. “With your gift, you can tip the balance of power to whichever side you choose. Your parents sent you here to join Nexis, not the Guardians. Why they didn’t indoctrinate you more, I have no idea, but it hasn’t always been that way.”

  “What?” The idea kicked my mind into overdrive. To think, my parents could’ve pushed Nexis on me since birth, but they hadn’t. “Wait, you mean some of my relatives were Guardians?”

  “Until recently.” He turned his face away from me, toward a picture on the wall. “For centuries actually, on your father’s side. A few generations ago, that all changed. Which is why it is so critical for you to learn all you can. You have to make the right decision. It will impact future generations.”

  Perching on the wooden chair I squinted at his painting, a landscape of a lone tree in the forest on fire. Shapes flickered at me in the waves of fire. A lone branch emerged from the flames, then the rest of the tree. Something niggled at my mind, but I couldn’t make sense of it.

  “Why would my parents keep all this from me?”

  “That’s what I can’t figure out. Maybe because you’re the middle child, and not yet eighteen.” He chewed on his pen cap, eyes glazing in a faraway stare. “But I don’t think so. It must have something to do with your brother.”

  At the mention of James, I couldn’t hold back any longer. The words tumbled out of my mouth. “Do you know what happened to him? Can you even tell me?”

  He swiveled back in my direction, shaking his head. “I really wish I did. I’m pretty sure he was kicked out of Nexis, but I have no idea why. If he never told you or your family, then it’s probably not a good sign. I’d go on, but I don’t want to alarm you.”

  “I think I’m already alarmed enough as it is.” I combed my fingers through my hair, pulling out the knots as I bent down to pick up the scattered books. “Maybe these will help.”

  “I’m afraid you won’t find much about the Nexis sect in these books. They’re a very secretive bunch. You’d have to be a member to know it all. Although once you’re in, it’s hard to get out safely.”

  James’ face flashed in my mind, shadowed in torchlight. The breath caught in my throat. “You mean James might’ve been in danger for leaving?”

  His shoulders slumped as if I’d punched him in the gut. He barely nodded. “That’s my guess, but I hope I’m wrong.”

  Suddenly, the blood pounded in my veins and my brain sputtered to life again. I knew what I had to do. “I have to learn everything I can about them.”

  “Now we’re getting somewhere. I hoped you’d say that.” He rubbed his hands together, a smile creeping up his face. Then he opened his desk drawer and slid out an ancient skeleton key, with a modern-looking key hanging next to it.

  “For me?” I snatched the wrought-iron keychain from his hands. “Cool. What’re they for?”

  “The big one is for the chapel door, the small one for the library. I suggest you do some extra research in there. Those old texts will give you a much richer history than these contemporary books.”

  He wiped his hands on his plaid dress shirt. “Be very careful with those old books. They have some bias in them, but you’ll find more information on Nexis, even if it’s from the opposite side. Things aren’t always as good, or as bad, as they seem. Keep that in mind.”

  With that he scooted me toward the door. In the doorway, he stopped, whispering in my ear, “Keep those keys to yourself. Don’t share.”

  “Got it.” I shoved the keys in my pocket and took off down the hall. Nothing could stop me from finding the truth now.

  * * *

  Burning candles flickered in the chapel foyer, a faint smell of wax in the air. Stained glass spattered rainbows of dusky light on empty pews. My wedges clicked against the marble tile en route to the library.

  The door creaked open at my touch.

  “Oh, it’s you.” Mindy lifted her head from the book she hunkered over at the corner table. Her eyes said it all. “What are you doing here? Wait. Don’t tell me, you procrastinated on that Western Civ paper, too. Shocking, since I heard you were next in line for the Nexis throne, or something.”

  I glared her way, squinting daggers. Just because I was James’ sister? She couldn’t be that clueless.

  “That’s a sick joke.” The words burned like acid in my throat, then it dawned on me. “Where’d you hear that?”

  “Please, it’s all over school.” She shoved her book aside, and matched my gaze with withering fury. “Your dad’s on the school board, your mom was homecoming queen, your brother was president. It’s only a matter of time.”

  My jaw dropped straight onto the carpet. Air puffed from the gaping hole, but I couldn’t wrap my mind around her words.

  “Deny it all you want, we all know it’s true.” An odd sort of smile played at her lips, kind of like Will’s under the maple tree. Too creepy. “I bet even your precious roommate is jealous.”

  “Don’t believe everything you hear.” So, that’s what this was about. Did I really have to deal with her as if she were an arrogant guy, my own suitemate? I wanted to wipe that smirk off her face. “That’s not the whole truth. Someday you’ll have to learn to think for yourself. If you can ever grow up and stop believing idle gossip.”

  “Whatever.” She flipped her hair at me, as if I cared one iota. “Go do your stupid research.”

  “Fine, I will.” I turned my back on her and beelined across the room to the card catalog.

  Without another word, I yanked open the top drawer of the skinny five-tiered file cabinet. It banged open, almost dumping its yellowed index cards all over the floor. I thumbed through the angel section, scouring the tiny type for books on Nephilim, or Christian sects.

  “Jackpot.” I fist-pumped the air, reading the card again. These books were in stack number seven, the dark corner of the libra
ry. With a gulp, I swallowed the lump of fear creeping up my throat. Time to be brave. If not for me, then for James.

  I zigzagged to the other side of the room, then tiptoed down the last aisle. At the end of the row something banged into my shin, and I almost face-planted right into a tall ladder. It completely blended in with the cedar shelves. Pushing aside the ladder, I scanned the numbers, then the titles, but the books I wanted were nowhere in sight. They had to be in the turret.

  The dimly lit tower extended up twelve feet or so, with old books stacked around its three sides.

  “Impressive.” The only light seeped in from two porthole windows ten feet up, highlighting the section I needed. That meant one thing—time to climb the ladder. It creaked on its rusty hinges as I rolled it into place.

  If only I could swing around like Belle from Beauty and the Beast, it might be less creepy. But I was on a mission—a mission to figure out why James disappeared and why Nexis kicked him out. I couldn’t fail this time.

  On shaky legs I climbed upward, rung by rung. With even shakier fingers I pried the thick leather spines of two books from their hiding places. As I descended, the ladder wobbled beneath me. Belle would’ve never had to put up with this.

  Finally my feet touched ground again. I lingered in the musty old corner. The cool darkness cradled me, ten times safer than Mindy and her misplaced anger.

  I spread my books out on the nearest table, turning my back on her even though she was on the other side of the room. The first dusty tome listed a bland paragraph about the Nexis sect, but no juicy details. I shoved that book aside and moved on to the next.

  “Please let me find something, anything.” This decrepit book had a whole 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. They held to “extra-biblical” views of the reasons God flooded the Earth in Noah’s time.

  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 create Nephilim in the modern world by convincing fallen angels to marry and have children with Nexis women.

  “How would you do that?” I whispered to myself, hoping Mindy wouldn’t notice from across the room. She didn’t move a muscle.

  The book put forth an even scarier idea—that these Nephilim children would be brought up under Nexis control. So one day all Nexis Nations would be populated with these 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. Question after question pelted my brain, pummeling me in the forehead like a tether ball hitting me again and again.

  “Ick, is that what they want from me?” I stared at the page until my eyes lost focus. None of it made any sense. Why in the world would some ancient group with an elaborate scheme hold secret meetings on a prep school campus?

  In a split-second the room dimmed. I blinked. The inky letters on the yellowed page shifted, like something out of a movie. Slowly, some grew larger and glowed with a yellow light. I snapped my eyes shut. When I opened them again, the letters were still the same.

  What could this mean? Was it something I had to decipher?

  I pulled out my notebook and wrote the letters vertically. Sure enough, they spelled out Nexis Semigod Nations. Weird.

  I glanced back at the book and now the letters were glowing brighter, a strange gilt-halo effect that erased everything else on the parchment. The highlighted letters seesawed around the page and then Poof! they rearranged.

  I penned the letters vertically again, next to the Nexis column. 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 bad.

  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?

  From across the room, Mindy glanced up from her book and glared at me. “You look awful. What’s the matter, find out your perfect world isn’t so perfect?”

  “Just stop. I can’t deal with you right now.” I held up my hand in front of my face. Anything to shield me from the ugly truth. “You know, if you didn’t believe the lies about me, we could actually be friends.”

  “Yeah right.” She swiveled away from me again.

  And the room started spinning with her. My head lolled down to my hands. The darkness of the tabletop soothed the spinning, if only for a few seconds.

  Loud footsteps clomped on the thin carpet, heading straight toward me.

  “Lucy, didn’t know you’d be here.” Even Bryan’s calm voice couldn’t soothe the rocking in my brain. Who could be calm at a time like this?

  An inch at a time, I raised my head. “What, I can’t come here on my own?”

  “No, just surprised to see you here.” He wrangled a spot in the chair next to me, carefully avoiding eye contact. As if that mattered now.

  “Join the club.” I pursed my lips, eyeing the back of Mindy’s head. “I give up, I don’t know what to think any more. This is too much. It’s just too much.”

  “What’s too much? What’ve you got there?” He picked up the book, brows scrunched, blue eyes clouding over. “Is that why you came here, to see for yourself? You don’t trust me?”

  “After Will’s little speech, can you really blame me?” I clamped my hand over my mouth. The book dropped to the table with a thud. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. Right now I don’t know what to believe.”

  “Why don’t we go sit in the sanctuary? You love it in there.” The blue calmed again as he rubbed slow circles on my back. “Maybe I can help you figure this out, if you’ll let me.”

  “No need to move. I’ll leave. I’m done anyway.” Mindy hoisted her bag over her shoulder, closing the gap between us until she stood next to my chair. “Listen, I’m sorry about earlier. I guess things really aren’t so perfect for you either.”

  “You can say that again. Thanks.” A weak smile was all I could offer her.

  “You take care of her. Bye, Lucy.” She waved her perfect little wave and disappeared out the doorway.

  Bryan leaned over my shoulder to examine the earth-shattering book, his palm still circling my back. “So this isn’t about me. It’s about them.”

  I nodded. “Is this true? Is that what Nexis wants, for me to marry a fallen angel and make half-angel children? Because I know what fallen angels really are—they’re demons. Hello, check the Bible.”

  He only nodded his head. “Hey, I’m not disputing that.”

  “So it’s true then?” For a long minute I let myself gaze into those mesmerizing eyes, hoping this was all a dream. Maybe I should tell him what I saw. Would he believe me, or just try to use me like Will?

  He gave me a head-bob, the final nail in the coffin of the ugly truth I just figured out. “I’m afraid it’s one of the possible scenarios, according to our intel.”

  “Your intel? Does that mean you’re spying on Nexis?” I stared at him, hardly believing what I was hearing.

  “Not me personally. But the Guardians, yes.” He just shrugged. “Each side spies on the other. It’s
the only way to get ahead.”

  “Really?” I blinked like a fool. How could he be so calm about such crazy, out-of-this-world, completely unbelievable stuff? Did I really want to be caught in the middle of this clandestine game of chess? No matter what side I chose, surely it was a game nobody could win—let alone one teenage girl from the middle of nowhere.

  He kept nodding, but it didn’t make his words easier to swallow. “Some of our sources say the Stantons want you, or your descendants, to have a Nephilim child. But there’s no way Nexis would stand for it. In theory, if the Seer had a Nephilim child, that family could rule Nexis. Which violates one of their main tenets of belief about equal power among Nexis nations, or some garbage like that.”

  “I just don’t get it.” I just stared at him, not knowing what to say. His words held no meaning, giant waves of nothingness crashing around in my brain. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

  “Essentially, they want to rule the world.” A hush fell over the room, like a calm before the storm. “They actually think their crazy plan will bring peace to the nations of the earth. At least that’s what they tell themselves.”

  “Yeah, right.” The force of it all smacked me head on. “We’re not just going to roll over and let some wacko group take over the world. I know I wouldn’t. There’s plenty of militant groups who’d fight. Governments, too.”

  “That’s why they recruit Ivy League families, to get into all kinds of power positions like the government.” His hand on my back stopped, mid-circle. “Of course, Nexis believes there won’t be a fight. Nephilim are supposed to be that strong. The Bible says they stood head and shoulders over any man.”

  I nodded slowly as the pieces of the puzzle finally clicked into place. “So that’s why they’re here at Montrose. Didn’t they read the part about David and Goliath? Or that part about the Flood wiping out the Nephilim? As if God would really allow any of it.”

  He resumed the circles, slower this time. “But the Nephilim did exist, Goliath, too, and they created so many problems that God had to wipe them out. That’s why the Guardians were formed. We believe our purpose is to oppose Nexis, and eventually demolish all their entrenched schemes.”