“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
