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

by Barbara Hartzler

  “I see.” I gripped the edge of the table, my only anchor. “Hold on a second. Did you just say you thought I was the Seer?”

  His mouth curled up and he nibbled on his bottom lip. “Caught that, didn’t you? I think that’s what Nexis believes, anyway.”

  “And what do you believe?”

  “I don’t know. I didn’t think it was possible, but right now I just don’t know.” His eyes met mine, and I couldn’t pull away.

  “And that’s why you need me. Just like Nexis does.”

  “Again, I’m afraid you’re right.” The calm on his face softened into sadness. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “Sometimes I wish you weren’t so perceptive, you know.”

  “Wait a minute.” I nestled into his collarbone, unwilling to watch his eyes cloud over again. “You said Will might have something else planned for me?”

  “I don’t know for sure. We only have circumstantial evidence from our sources.” His muscles tightened against my cheek. “We’re still trying to figure out what the Stanton family is up to. It’s all just conjecture right now.”

  “Out with it, Cooper.” I couldn’t stand it any more. He knew more than he was letting on. How could I ever trust him, or the Guardians, if they didn’t tell me the whole truth? “Just tell me, whether I like it or not.”

  He gulped in a giant breath, so big his Adam’s apple bobbed against my temple. “Okay, here goes. Another theory is that Will’s family is pushing him to date you, even marry you so whenever you have a family, they’ll be in control of the next Seer.”

  “Double ick. That’s messed up.” The idea of it churned my stomach into a spinning whirlpool of sludge. “As if I’d ever marry him, let alone be controlled by him, or his family, or anyone else.” In my mind, that included the Guardians, too.

  “I’m sorry, Lucy.” He murmured against my forehead. “I shouldn’t have said anything. It’s too soon to know for sure.”

  “No, I’m glad you told me.” I couldn’t move, my limbs stiff as a plank. “It’s better that I know now, before it’s too late.”

  With his free hand, Bryan scooted the book closer, and flipped it open right to where I had left off. “What’d you find out?”

  I blinked, and the letters lit up again, waltzing around the page. Any second they’d spell out that awful phrase, the anagram of doom. I slammed the book shut like it was a disease.

  “Enough to know one thing for sure. I’m never joining Nexis. Ever.”

  Chapter 16

  Night air hissed in from the cracked window, softly, like a whisper. I could almost hear Will’s voice on the breeze, calling my name. His face floated unbidden into my mind, sitting on that bench under the maple tree. Why couldn’t I get him, or his family’s scary plans, out of my head?

  I slammed my face into the pillow, hard enough to send his gray eyes out of my mind. The wind blew across my bed and I shot up to close the window. If only I could block him out, too. Outside, the sun disappeared though the trees as the sky purpled with deep hues, then faded into navy blackness.

  Uncertainty curled up like a vise grip in my gut. This new revelation didn’t sit well with me. No matter how much I wanted to believe my parents had it right, there were only two possibilities. Either they didn’t know what Nexis was really about, or they wanted to use me just like everyone else. A shudder crept up my spine. That couldn’t be true, could it? My parents loved me—that much I knew.

  So what about James, where did all of this leave him? Maybe he figured it out too late and wanted out. In the end, I guess my options were the same as his. Get pushed around by everybody, Nexis, the Guardians, my parents. Or choose for myself.

  A star winked at me through the glass, reminding me of my obligation—the bonfire tonight. I lingered in the window, not ready to get all dolled up just yet.

  My gut told me which way to go, but who gave me that whole listen-to-your-gut speech? No, there had to be something I was missing. Something that tugged at the corners of my mind, but I couldn’t grab onto it.

  I slipped down from my perch and padded to the mirror. With a wide-toothed comb, I parted my hair down the middle and twisted each side into pigtails. Then I bowtied them with blue and gold ribbons that shimmered in the fluorescent light. “Perfect.”

  “You look hideous.” Shanda practically shrieked in my ears. “Why don’t you just paint your face with Montrose colors and do cartwheels?”

  “Wouldn’t want to steal your thunder.” I dangled the leftover ribbons in her face. She gagged. “Seriously, you should come.”

  “No way, I won’t be caught dead at a smelly fire.” She ran the mascara wand over her thick lashes. “Besides, I have a date with Kevin.”

  “You’re always with surfer boy lately. What’s the matter, he’s not into football?” I balled up the rest of the ribbons and chucked them at her.

  She batted down the blue and gold satin. “Yeah, he’s sane like me. We’ll have way more fun than you, at some lame pep rally.”

  Bobby pins poked into my skull as I secured the ribbons in place. “C’mon, it’s the first one of the year. You can’t miss it. I’m meeting the suitemates, Laura, and Lenny in the lobby, just in case you change your mind.”

  “Not on your life. I’ll be the only one having a good time.” She put the final sprinkle on her eye makeup.

  “Suit yourself.” I zipped up my navy Montrose hoodie and sashayed out the door. If only my gloomy thoughts would stay home for the night.

  The girls and Lenny waited in the lobby, not one of them in school colors. Not even the girls. Apparently, no one else did peppy. Maybe I’d hung out with jocks too long. Jake’s friends would’ve mocked me all night if I didn’t wear the right shade of Alton High red.

  “How cute are you?” Brooke checked her hair in the mirror. “Maybe I should change.”

  “She’s right. Those are adorable.” Mindy smoothed down my pigtails. The first gesture of affection I’d had from her in awhile. Maybe things could finally go back to normal.

  “You know, I did bring some extra ribbons in case mine fell out.” I slid the sapphire and gold satin out of my jeans pocket. “Have at them.”

  “Really?” Laura squealed and fingered the blue one.

  “Don’t take too long.” Lenny plopped on the couch, crossing his legs like he knew she would be awhile.

  The girls grabbed for the ribbons and went to town. Mindy worked a long gold ribbon into a stylish headband, while Laura looped a big blue bow around her ponytail. I split Brooke’s hair into loose pigtails, then double-knotted them with blue and gold ribbons.

  She grinned back at me in the mirror. “Now I look as cute as you.”

  “Cuter.” I poked her button nose. Her cheeks pinked up.

  “Better, don’t you think?” Laura waggled her ponytail at Lenny.

  He lumbered to the door, holding it open for us. “Just don’t put any on me.”

  “Don’t be silly. You’d just look tacky in ribbons. Too bad we don’t have any face paint.” Brooke linked arms with Lenny as they marched across campus.

  He rolled his eyes at her. “Yeah, too bad.”

  Mindy hooked one arm around Brooke’s and the other through Laura’s, who roped me with her tiny arms onto the end of the chain. I’d created three monsters. More like a band of peppy Rockettes ready to high-kick it all the way to the bonfire.

  “I’ve got all the ladies tonight, so you’ll have to share me. Speaking of sharing…” Lenny shook his shaggy red hair from his eyes and craned his neck down the Rockette line. “Lucy, you know Will still talks about you like he’s got a chance.”

  “What?” I dropped Laura’s arm and halted in the middle of the path. “You’ve got to be kidding me. We had a huge fight and I haven’t spoken to him since.”

  “Must be clueless.” She patted my back and prodded me forward. “Or just plain arrogant.”

  I crunched my sneakers into the dead grass as we followed the path toward the practice football field. />
  “I guess absence makes the heart grow fonder.” Mindy batted her eyelashes at me. “Good thing Bryan’s not that way, or he’d be sick of you already. You’ve been with him every day.”

  “Have not.” I huffed like ten-year-old me after I got busted for stealing Paige’s Barbie doll. Didn’t fool my little sister then, not fooling anyone now.

  “Yeah, right, you eat lunch and dinner together. Then you’re at the chapel library after that.” Mindy flipped her hair over one shoulder, catty eyes flashing at me. She kept awful close tabs on me. A little jealous maybe, or did she still think I knew something about Maria?

  “Please, we’re just friends.” The words tumbled out of my mouth, but even I didn’t believe them.

  Lenny stared me down. “Will thinks you’re just friends with Bryan, too. He doesn’t care that you ignored him.”

  “Of course not. God told him to marry Lucy.” Laura’s comment sent the group into hysterics.

  “Say what now?” I grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to look at me. Could she really joke about such a thing? “You wanna run that by me again?”

  Her eyes inflated to the size of the moon behind her. “Lenny didn’t tell you? Kevin let something slip to that effect. I’m sorry, Lucy, I didn’t mean to make fun of you. I just assumed my brother already told you.” She elbowed her twin in the ribs.

  The night wind whipped my pigtails around, sending a chill down my neck.

  “Why would I tell her? It’s completely nuts.” Lenny slapped her elbow away. “She has enough on her plate right now. No need to pile on some crazy guy’s idiotic nonsense.”

  “So true.” I nodded at Lenny, and we exchanged knowing glances. Maybe what Bryan said about Will last night wasn’t so far off after all. Still, the idea of it kind of unhinged me. Marriage, at sixteen? Ick.

  “Yeah, it’s beyond wacko.” Mindy gave me a small smile and came closer.

  “Thanks.” I quirked one side of my mouth at her. Maybe we could put our silly little fight behind us now.

  Our group merged with the crowd in front of us. A roar rippled through the huddled mass as the first branch caught fire.

  I shook my pigtails, but it didn’t clear my head. Now I knew enough to stay away from Will, even with his irresistible bad-boy charm. Maybe he overestimated that charm, or I’d simply underestimated him, period.

  A shadowy figure bobbed its way through the mess of teenagers. Before I knew it, Will’s gray eyes found me in the crowd. He pushed people aside until he stood next to me.

  “Hi, Luce, I’ve been trying to find you everywhere. You’re adorable. Love the pigtails.” He flicked one in my face.

  The shiver on my cheek felt more like a slither. “Don’t call me Luce.” That’s what Jake always called me. I backed up into Lenny’s shoulder. “That’s creepy.”

  “No, it’s romantic.” Mindy giggled and the girls laughed.

  Lenny muscled his arms across his chest and scowled at Will. Bryan would be proud.

  The dense crowd thickened by the minute. Even with a blazing fire twenty feet ahead and the warmth of my hoodie, goosebumps popped up all over my arms. “Look, Will, I hate to break it to you, but I’m not into you.”

  “I don’t believe you.” His chin cleft quirked at me. Then his beady eyes honed in on me as if they alone could convince me of anything.

  I scanned the crowd for a quick exit. I’d never escape without him following me like he did in the kitchen. Who knew how he’d act without the group? I shuddered.

  I planted my hands firmly on my hips and steeled my gaze. “Don’t you get it? There’s nothing between us.”

  “You and I both know that’s not true. Just wait and see.” His creepy grin widened.

  Butterflies on caffeine swirled in my stomach. “I’ve had enough stalkers for one year. Just leave me alone.”

  “I’m no stalker, I just know what I want.” In his dark jeans and black leather jacket, he practically blended into the night. Only his gunmetal eyes glinted as he edged closer, his breath hot on my face. “You’re the firstborn, which means I’ll never leave you alone.”

  Laura, Lenny, Brooke, and Mindy’s stares bounced from Will back to me like a tennis match. Eyes wide as tennis balls, too, stunned silent. Some help.

  I clenched my fists at my sides, fingernails digging into my hands. The butterflies were hopped up on Redbull now.

  “I’m not the firstborn. You’ve met my brother.” I huffed out all the air in my lungs. Yet it made sense somehow, explained why my mother always pushed me so hard. Like no other child.

  “Yes, you are.” He leveled his gray eyes at me. The bonfire raged behind him, but his eyes, his voice, transcended the chaos. Calm as still waters. “You know, for someone who’s supposed to be good at seeing things, you’re pretty blind to what’s really going on.”

  In the corners of my peripheral vision, I saw the group staring at him, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away. Everything around him blurred.

  “What are you saying?” Wood smoke hovered in the air, weaving its way in and out of the crowd, clinging to my ribbons. It clogged my nose, my thoughts.

  “Lucy, don’t you know how much I care about you?” He turned toward the fire, then back to me. “What do I have to do to get through to you?”

  The distant orange light edged the silhouette of his face. Those steely eyes pierced into the shadows, dead set on me, waiting for an answer.

  My stomach clenched into a thousand knots I could never untie. I had to ask, I had to know, now or never. “Why didn’t you tell me about James?”

  “Please, like you didn’t already know. Deep down, you knew.” His soft tone jarred the knots. They buzzed in my middle like a hot wire, ready for the onslaught. The firelight soared higher, the teenage roar rippling through my objections.

  “Excuse me, I certainly did not.” How could I ever imagine it? A secret so deep it cut through the entire McAllen family, my very being. Every idea, every belief, every hope held captive by my mother’s indiscretion. “Like I would guess something that awful about my own mother. How could she?”

  “What is it that really bugs you the most? That she did it in the first place, or that she hid it from you?” Firelight danced in his eyes, as if he were a stand-up comedian, mocking my pain.

  I gasped. Why didn’t he just sucker punch me in the gut? Air puffed from my lungs like he had.

  “Try sixteen years of lying, of keeping secrets. Then I had to find out on my own from some guy who—” Suddenly my hand shot up, ready to smack the smugness off his face.

  His fingers clamped around my wrist, held my arm still, even as I lunged forward with all the strength I had left. “Some guy who what? Tried to be gentle about the truth and not dump it on you all at once. What do you have to say to me? Just tell me.”

  The words burned and choked my throat, all of them. So many things I could say to him. “I can’t believe you. What you did to James. How could you?”

  His eyes narrowed at me, and his lips twitched like he wanted to laugh. My hand squirmed in his grip of iron. “That wasn’t me, I was just a freshman. The council did that.”

  Like he couldn’t have stopped Nexis if he wanted to. Excuses, all of it.

  Finally, I wriggled free of his grasp. “But how could you not tell me sooner? I thought you cared about me.”

  “Of course I do, that’s why I didn’t tell you. It’s a family thing. James isn’t here, and your mom wasn’t about to go into the sordid details. I’m sorry I had to do it this way.”

  “As if that’s any excuse.”

  His lips curled and he stepped closer. I could smell the cinnamon over the wood smoke. “Soon you’ll see the truth. Then we’ll be together. I knew it was you the moment I saw you.”

  So he thought I would be the Seer, but he didn’t know about my visions yet. Score one for Lucy. The smoky-spiced air caught in my throat. I backed up, an odd feeling settling in my stomach. I didn’t want to be the Seer. He couldn’t be right. And nobody t
old me what I was or wasn’t going to do.

  “We’ll never be together, not now. So you better get over it, or leave me alone.” I drew my right arm back, angled for a jab.

  Firm fingers gripped my arm, locking it in place.

  “She said leave her alone.” The gruff voice came from behind.

  My insides melted at his breath on my neck, a soothing warmth that banished the goosebumps. I turned around to meet those darling blues.

  “Bryan?” My arms went limp. Was he taller now? His eyes seared into Will like a western showdown.

  “Yeah, Will.” Lenny stood taller, too. “Stop bugging Lucy. Go hang out with your Nexis friends. Look, they’re over there.”

  “Fine.” He shoved his hands in his pockets, eyes stuck on me. “This isn’t over.”

  He stormed off into the crowd.

  “Sheesh,” Mindy breathed. “No more hanging out with that guy.”

  “He certainly can’t take a hint.” Laura’s little laugh put the group at ease.

  “I wonder if I can find a new suitemate,” Lenny said. The girls laughed, but it was off-kilter.

  “Better ask your dorm parents. I don’t want you hanging around him any more.” Laura’s shoulders quivered. Their discussion of Lenny’s dilemma faded into the background.

  My heart still thudded in my chest. On tiptoes, I arched as close as I could get to Bryan’s ear. “Thanks.”

  The musk of his piney aftershave mixed with the smoke of the fire. It hit me in the pit of my stomach. I sank down on my heels.

  “No big deal.” He brushed aside a strand of my hair, his fingers soft on my face.

  “It’s a big deal to me.” My words tumbled out fast and breathy. “Nothing phased him. He said he’d never let me go. It was creepy.” Even thinking about it made me shiver.

  He rubbed my arm, and more chills trickled down my spine. “Here, take my jacket.”

  “I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t shown up.” The familiar fleece lining rubbed against my cheek. I closed my eyes, inhaled the scent.