Page 14 of Exordium

“I thought I was your best friend. Now I’m thinking murder should be our first choice.” The Psycho gave the door an evil stare.

Before I could respond, the door flew open, and Chloe jerked me into her arms. I was so shocked all I could do was stand there with my arms hanging at my sides.

Behind her, Nathan mumbled, “Too bad she doesn’t have gonads.”

“Where the hell have you been? I’ve been worried sick.” Chloe shrieked. Zeke and Zane came running out of the dorm.

“Finally, we thought we were going to have to get in touch with your family to see if you teleported home!” Zeke grabbed me away from Chloe. Chloe looked as shocked as I was at his action.

“I’m glad you didn’t. I’ll tell my parents, but maybe not quite yet. I’m sure you have questions, and if we can go inside, I’ll try to answer to the best of my ability.”

Nathan jerked me out of Zeke’s arms and gave him a narrow-eyed stare. Zeke gave Nathan a cold look in return, but turned and walked into the dorm, and we followed close behind. Chloe and I sat on the couch, but Nathan walked over, picked me up and sat down with me in his lap. I guess someone was feeling a little territorial.

“This is Nathan Strauss. We went to High School together, and we’re a Faction.” I rubbed his chest in a calming manner as I spoke. He smiled proudly at my introduction.

“Thank you for not trying to gaslight us.” Chloe smiled in appreciation. Zeke and Zane stood side by side with their arms crossed staring at Nathan.

“Would there be any point? I won’t start our friendship by acting like you’re stupid.” I smiled back at her.

“I appreciate that. But I’m not sure why you wouldn’t just tell us when we met. I mean, you must have found your Nexus to be able to access your power.” Chloe frowned, “Or you’reNexus, and your Faction is complete. But that would be crazy.” I glanced over my shoulder at Nathan. He gave me a nod of encouragement.

“Crazy should be his middle name, not mine, but I am Nexus.” I reluctantly shared.

“When did you perform the ritual? I bet your mom performed it! She’s amazing!” Chloe answered her own question. I sighed in relief. I didn’t think we should tell everyone just yet about that little detail, but I didn’t want to lie to them. Chloe kept talking, “It would be unusual, but not completely unheard of.” She was mumbling to herself at this point. “Nathan must be your only Faction member that’s why you’re getting your ability.”

“I’m sure that’s not the case. My Nexi is way too strong for that. I can feel how powerful she is through our connection.” Nathan narrowed his eyes at Chloe like she had insulted me. Zeke and Zane looked relieved at Nathan’s statement but confused at the same time.

“So, if your Faction isn’t complete, how in the hell do you have an ability? I’ve never heard of a Nexus getting access to abilities before completing their Faction, and nothing about this guy looks special.” Zeke sneered at Nathan, probably still pissed at how he acted earlier, and a little envious he already had a Faction.

“I most certainly am special. You’re just a duplicate. There’s nothing unique about you,” Nathan sneered back at Zeke.

“I’ll make sure you’re seeing double several times over after I knock the fuck out of you.” Zeke growled, balling up his fists.

“Bring it on, bitch!” Nathan growled back. The twins took a step closer to Nathan and he started to get up. This was getting ridiculous. I put my hand on Nathan’s chest to stop him from attacking Zeke.

“I hadn’t gained any abilities until tonight. We have no idea what’s going on.” I said quickly, hoping they didn’t question me any further.

“I know we just met, and you know nothing about us, but I promise you we just want to help. We won’t tell anybody what happened here,” Chloe stated seriously.

“Do you realize how insane this is?” Zane directed the question to me.

“I do know that. As far as I can remember, nothing like this was in any of the lessons my parents taught me. Maybe by having access to Emberhold’s library, we can figure out what’s going on.” I looked at Zeke when he cleared his throat to get Nathan’s attention.

“Look man, I’m sorry shit got heated but I was worried about Reverie, and I’m man enough to admit to being a little envious. We’ve been waiting on our Nexus for a long time.” Zeke held his hand out to Nathan.

“Believe me, it’s unusual. I’m normally the emotional one.” Zane chuckled trying to lighten the moment further. I frowned at Nathan and waved my hand in a “come on” motion.

“It’s all good, dude.” He reached out and shook Zeke’s hand. “But I do want to reiterate that I am special.” He pouted, looking at me for confirmation.

“You’re unique, alright,” I smirked kissing him sweetly. “I know you won’t tell anyone, and I’m truly sorry y’all are getting dragged into our mess. We both have every intention of letting the faculty know about my Nexus status, but we wanted to wait until we’ve passed initiation.” I blew out a breath, relieved everything was out in the open…well almost everything.

“I can speak for both of us when I say we’re happy to get dragged into your mess. There is nowhere else we’d want to be.” Zane winked at me continuing his flirting from earlier. I glancedat Nathan and waited for the explosion, but he just looked thoughtful.

“At least, on the bright side, initiation will be easier.” Chloe smiled at me.

“How so?” I asked confused at her reasoning.

“Well, you both will be able to do initiation together,” Chloe bounced excitedly.

---