I sank further into my seat. I had a lot to learn. At least now I knew what Julia meant when she spat on Utopia. She thought I was bound for Nexis.
The clouds outside shifted, sending shadows scurrying over Mr. Harlixton’s face. “The Order of the Guardians was the original secret society formed from the grandchildren of Noah. Their original mission was to protect the chosen ones and the sacred stones. In the Great Feud, Nexis and the Watchers stole certain stones when they split from the Guardians. Now the Guardians directly oppose Nexis, because they believe that the Utopia that Nexis wants to create will exploit society and only benefit Nexis members.”
Oh, man. The hits kept coming. I almost didn’t want to hear the rest.
“The Watcher Corps want to enforce law and order among the Guardians and Nexis, so that there will never be another Great Feud. They consider themselves the neutral Switzerland of the secret societies.”
Okay, that wasn’t so bad. I could get on board with neutrality.
A wave of mumbles swept around the room. The murmurs grew louder now, as spurts of arguments broke out behind me. But some strange fascination kept my eyes on the balding man in the front of the room like my life depended on what he had to say.
A guy in the front row raised his hand. “I’ve always wondered why God gave divine powers to humans at all.”
“Excellent point, Mr. Dixon. God knew humans weren’t all bad. In face, he found one completely blameless man, Noah. He was the only righteous man, according to Genesis chapter six, verse nine.” Mr. Harlixton grabbed his marker and scrawled Blameless on the board. “Being blameless in a world full of sin was a big deal to God.”
I squinted, zeroing in on the word blameless. The words shifted as Harlixton’s messy scrawl on the whiteboard melted into a black and white puddle. The puddle fizzled into a great beam of light that focused on a man. A middle-aged bearded man in funny clothing. “Blameless,” boomed through my mind. “I will establish my covenant with you.”
The booming voice came from a beam of pure white light that surrounded the bearded man. Holding a glowing purple stone in his hands, he nodded and bowed his head. With his eyes still closed, he turned to me. Then he opened them in a flash. From his eyes, swirls of floating light and shadow streamed straight at me.
One man called out above the rest.
To save the world.
To regenerate it.
And somehow I felt unworthy, like I didn’t deserve such an honor. And it wasn’t even about me. These were ancient words, from a thousand centuries ago, right?
Somehow they rang true in my heart. In my mind. In every part of my being. I could feel it in my bones.
Who am I? Am I really the Seer?
I couldn’t take it anymore and clamped my eyes shut. The images danced in the darkness, then dimmed.
I inched my eyelids open.
The swirls of light morphed once again into the classroom. My back slammed against the chair, rattling my spine. I blinked several times to make sure the vision truly disappeared.
My mind waded through every plausible scenario that could make what I just saw okay. Nothing made sense. That was the second vision I had at Montrose Paranormal Academy. Maybe I was more than just the next in line to be the Seer. Maybe my powers were starting early. I gulped back the bile that burned my throat. I needed to figure out my powers and get them under control before I did something really stupid—like reveal all my secrets before I figured out what happened to James.
“Heavy stuff, huh?” Julia whispered, jostling me out of my mental ramblings. “You okay?”
“It’s a lot to take in.” Definitely an understatement.
Julia jerked back like I’d jolted her with a taser. “You’re telling me you don’t know all of this already? Not even from your family? Or your brother?” She whispered the last word so softly I had to read her lips.
I met her gaze until the corners of her eyes softened. “What do you know about my brother?” Did she know James when he was here? Maybe they had dated or something and things ended badly. She definitely fit his usual girlfriend type, fiery Latina and all, but a little young for him.
“I, uh—” Her face crumpled and her eyes glistened with tears.
The bell rang, cutting her off.
“Looks like that’s it for this class.” Mr. Harlixton’s voice rose to a firm tone. “Next time we’ll pick up with the sacred stones.”
Julia shoved her books in her backpack, not bothering to zip it up, and rushed out of the room. I lost her in the sea of students rushing to lunch.
In a daze, I packed up my stuff and shuffled toward the exit. But I wasn’t the last one to leave.
Mr. Harlixton stopped me at the door. He motioned me to a far corner of the room, away from the loiterers glommed up by the door. “I don’t have time to explain now,” he whispered. “Come by my office after class today. Be careful this weekend and choose your friends wisely.”
Goosebumps prickled up my arms. “Okay, I’ll see you later.” What an odd, almost Bryan-like kind of warning.
Somehow my feet found their way out of the room and down the hall toward the front door. But my mind still lingered in that classroom. What could Julia possibly know about my family that I didn’t know? I raced down the hall, hoping to catch up with her, but she was already sprinting across the quad to the caf with those long legs. I’d have to catch her at lunch.
~
“Julia, wait up.” The rubber soles of my flats pounded across the cobblestone as I chased my suitemate across the
