Courage (Mark of Nexus) by Carrie Butler Read Free Book Online

wallet, ancient tome, tissues—wait.
    One of these things didn't belong.
    With cautious hands, I pulled the book onto my lap and sat up. The thing smelled like leather and the musty passage of time. Its gilded pages glinted in the light as I turned it over and carefully opened to a page of fluid, elegant script.
    September 02, 1881
    I saw him again today, the man whose very presence burns through my veins. I pray the exhilaration courses through me each morning I reside here, if only to remind me that I still live and breathe on this earth. There is life in this town, and I must bury this cursed ability to cling to it.
    Adelyn
    I closed the book and looked around, half-expecting someone to pop up with a video camera. This thing couldn’t be legit. How did it get into my bag? I flipped back to the beginning and found my answer—a note scrawled on several pages of prescription pad.
    Rena,
    I lied to you, and I apologize, but it was for everyone’s good. Faye has been prodding me for information since the Nexus’ rebirth, and I’ve come to realize her reasoning too late. She’s using us—both of us—more than anyone knows. ERA has already found the girl. It's too late to stop what has already been set into motion.
    I know this doesn’t make sense right now, but it will soon. What you’re about to read is a firsthand account of the last Nexus. Our father led us to believe it was nothing more than a fairy tale, but a few years back, I found this journal among his things. When I confronted him, he refused to acknowledge the book at all. It wasn’t until I read its pages that I understood why.
    You’ll find a change in handwriting near the end, where I’ve listed my notes, conclusions, and hypotheses. I wish I could explain more, but there’s no time. A man can only stay in his bathroom so long without arousing suspicion.
    Just know this. Faye can never find out you have this journal. I told her it was lost, and there are still a few things she hasn’t pieced together. So, please keep your wits about you, Rena, and be careful whom you trust. That threat of yours can still be disguised as an asset. Remember that. We’re entering a darker age than you know.
    Henry
    I blinked and read the note again, unable to comprehend the information before me. Henry was lying? We were entering a dark age? What the hell? I looked up at the clock and grimaced. Wallace wouldn't be done for another thirty-seven minutes. That meant, until then…I'd have to sort through this mess on my own. 

CHAPTER 8

    That one was probably a seven.
    I surveyed the room with my non-blurry eye, frowning at the wave of destruction I’d left behind. The desk was tossed, my textbooks were strewn across the room, and blood smears stained the bedpost. I vaguely remembered slamming my face against it a few minutes ago.
    A soft knock sounded at the door, and I didn’t have to look to know it was Rena. She was the only one who dared approach the 'madman' afterhours. I twisted the handle and pulled the door open. “Hey.”
    She stood there in her Hello Kitty pajamas, clutching her bag like she’d stolen something. “Can I come in?”
    “What’s wrong?” I asked, stiffening at the anxiety that swelled between us. “You’re nervous.”
    She edged around me, and I shut the door. “Wallace, I found something in my bag. Something your uncle Henry put there.”
    “It wasn’t a condom, was it?” Grandma had slipped one inside her coat pocket a couple months back. I wouldn’t put it past Henry to do the same. “Look, it’s just their way of—”
    “I think he’s in trouble,” she blurted out, manic tears glistening in her eyes. “I think we’re all in trouble.”
    The room gave a little tilt. “What?”
    She sank down onto the floor, pawing through her bag with a desperation I couldn’t get a lock on. After a few seconds, a cracked leather book slid across the carpet between us. “It’s all in here, your great-great-grandmother Adelyn’s