Secret of Betrayal: Book Two of The Destroyer Trilogy Read online

  Lance nods and looks over my shoulder to glare at Braden. “What did he do that woke me up last night?”

  Nothing. Nothing, nothing, nothing.

  “You promised,” Lance reminds me.

  I knew I was going to regret that promise.

  “He kissed me.”

  I can feel the burning jealousy radiating from Lance, but he surprises me by saying, “That’s it?”

  “Uh, yeah.”

  Lance suffocates his jealousy and replaces it with confusion. “I’ve felt you kiss Milo plenty of times over the last month. It’s never been like what I felt last night.” His fingers tap anxiously against his leg. “That’s why I thought something more was going on.”

  I don’t even want to think about what that might mean for me.

  “Lance, I’m telling you the truth. He kissed me. That’s it. He caught me by surprise, or I wouldn’t have even let that happen. He won’t surprise me again. And I won’t lie to you again. About anything,” I say, even though it kills me to make such a broad promise. I need Lance. As a member of my tiny team, as my Guardian, as my friend. I can’t afford to lose him.

  “When are you seeing him again?” Lance asks.

  “Tomorrow night.”

  Lance sucks in an angry breath, but blows it back out in an effort to calm himself. “Text me as soon as you start, and as soon as you finish. I don’t care what time. I’ll be right outside your door.”

  “Lance, please don’t mention any of this to Milo, not yet. Not Braden being here, not him helping me, and certainly not him kissing me. You know how much he hates Braden for coming after him.” I can’t help glancing over my shoulder at him. Coach Clement is talking about him, but Braden is only paying attention to me. I turn back to Lance in order to escape his gaze. “I’ll tell Milo about this tonight.”

  “He’s not going to be happy about asking Braden for help.”

  “I know he won’t. Convincing him to go along with this isn’t going to be easy, so please don’t make it any harder by interfering,” I say.

  It takes several moments for Lance to consider my request. “You tell me the truth, but you haven’t bothered to tell Milo yet. Why? He picked you up for school today. You could have told him then.”

  The question makes me cringe. Milo used to be the one person I never lied to. He accepted me for who I was after my Inquest. I didn’t have to pretend around him, or be something I wasn’t. There have always been doubts tiptoeing around in the back of my mind about why Milo befriended me in the first place, but I was willing to push them aside because of the way he stood by me. At times I think he was rooting for me to pull out all the stops and really unleash my power. I fell in love with him because he made me feel as if I were a real person instead of a nightmare. I loved being me around him, being truly honest with someone for the first time in my life. I wish it could still be like that, but not with something like Braden getting involved.

  “I didn’t tell him this morning because I trust you more when it comes to dealing with Guardians,” I say. Lance brightens and I feel the need to clarify. “The Guardians tried to kill Celia. Milo hates them, a lot. After what Braden did to him, even hearing his name will set him off. Milo has been on edge since finding out about the other Ciphers. He’s itching to run out and kill every Guardian he can find. I can’t count on him not to give in to his anger when it comes to the Guardians, Braden especially. I don’t know how I’m going to tell him about last night without making him want to come after Braden, but I’ll figure it out. You’ve joined me, but I know you still respect Guardians enough to think before you try to kill one of them.”

  Lance nods and finally takes a step back. His gaze slides past me again to Braden, who has finally stopped sending his emotional barrage out in sonic waves now that Lance has backed off of me. The way Lance’s eyes narrow as he watches Braden isn’t the best sign that he’ll control his temper.

  “Lance, please,” I beg, “I need you to back me up on this with a level head.”

  “Fine,” Lance says as his eyes finally break away from Braden, “but if he tries to hurt you, I’ll do more than punch him in the face. I will kill him.”

  Chapter 9

  The Safest Path

  All day I have tried to come up with the best way to tell Milo about Braden. I really thought that by the end of the day I would find the answer. When we pull up to his house after school, I still have nothing more than a bunch of failed ideas. Milo is not going to like my plan no matter how I lay it out. He’ll be angry, but I am hoping as hard as I can that I’ll at least be able to convince him of how necessary accepting Braden’s help is. Lance wanted to help, but I knew his help would be in the form of him calling Milo names for not agreeing with me. I certainly don’t need that. He is hanging out at my motel trying to figure out exactly who is watching my room.

  Milo turns off the car he looks over at me. “Are you ready for this?”

  He’s talking about working with his mom again, but it’s an appropriate question for what is on my mind right now. Either way, my answer is the same. “Not really.”

  “You’re going to be fine. Come on.”

  “Actually,” I say, holding him back when he moves to get out, “I need to talk to you about something first.”

  Milo settles back into his seat. The seriousness in my voice is hard to miss, but I am sure he’s picked up on the slight tremor of fear as well. “What do you need to talk to me about? Does it have something to do with why you sent Lance off today? Usually he’s pretty determined to stay glued to your side.”

  “Lance is watching my motel room.”

  “Why?”

  “I think Guardians are watching it. Apparently they have been for a while. They’ve left me alone so far, but I’d like to know exactly who is keeping tabs on me. I only sent Lance because he might recognize some of them since he knows a lot of the local Guardians.”

  Milo doesn’t seem to appreciate Lance’s usefulness, but he seems to sense this isn’t the something I wanted to discuss with him. “How did you find out Guardians are watching your apartment? If neither of us spotted them before now, someone must have told you. Who was it?”

  I try very hard to keep my breathing slow and steady. The effort makes my Naturalism hum. “Last night when you dropped me off, I ran back out for you because there was someone in my room. A Guardian.”

  “What!” Milo exclaims. “Why didn’t you get me? Call me? Why did you wait so long to even tell me what happened?”

  “You were already gone when I ran back out, and before I could call you my phone was taken.”

  “You could have done something!”

  “Once he told me why he was there, I realized I didn’t need to.”

  Milo stares at me. The utter disbelief in his eyes that I could ever say something so ridiculous makes me wilt. “What reason could there possibly for you to be okay with a Guardian breaking into your motel room?”

  “He wasn’t there to hurt me. He just wanted answers about what happened to Casey.”

  “Casey?” Milo asks, completely confused. “How would the Guardians know anything about Casey unless they were there that day?” Milo frowns, his expression becoming even more muddled as he thinks he’s figured it out. “The school Guardian was in your room last night? What was Guardian Cogburn thinking?”

  Despite my Naturalism, my heart starts racing. I have never wanted to lie to someone so badly before. “Cogburn isn’t our school Guardian anymore. Braden is.”

  He seems to recognize the name, but not why it is so familiar. I can hardly blame him. Braden’s name was mentioned once at the theater. Milo had suffered a blow to the head and various other injuries. If he were to see Braden, I have no doubt he would recognize him in an instant, but his name takes a full thirty seconds to place. When Milo does make the connection his entire body goes rigid.

  “Braden,” he says through his teeth. “That’s the guy that attacked me at the theater. What the hell is he doing at
our school! What was he doing in your room last night?”

  I wait for the sound of Milo’s perfectly justified yelling to die away before answering.

  “His punishment for letting you go was to be assigned to our school so he could keep track of me. He was in my room last night because I’ve refused to answer his questions about what happened to Casey at school.”

  “And breaking into your room was going to fix that?” Milo explodes.

  I bite the inside of my cheeks, drawing blood. My hands are gripping the sides of my seat so hard I fear I’m going to ruin the upholstery. I don’t think I can tell Milo that it worked, that I told Braden the details of saving Casey. He’ll think I’ve lost my mind. I can’t bear the idea of him looking at me like that. My silence betrays me. When I brave looking up, I see the disbelief and confusion bordering on disgust that shines in his eyes.

  “You told him?” he asks. “Why?”

  “Because … Milo he swore a Guardian promise before I told him anything, I promise. And I didn’t tell him why the Ciphers wanted to talk to me. He still has no idea about that.”

  “Why did you tell him anything?” Milo demands.

  “I told him because he already knew some of what happened. He’s a Spiritualist. If I didn’t, he was going to invent his own explanation and maybe tell his captain.”

  “So?”

  The words that form in my mind stick there and refuse to leave. Thank goodness they finally do. There is no way I can tell Milo about the strange familiarity I feel around Braden, or about the feelings of safety he inspires. I can’t tell him that I trust Braden way more than I should despite knowing I have little reason to. I can’t explain any of that to him. I don’t understand it myself and all I would be accomplishing would be hurting Milo.

  Milo waits for my answer, and all I can offer is, “Milo, I know what Braden did, but he’s offering to help us.”

  “And you’re actually considering it? Are you crazy?”

  I stare at Milo, my hands tightening in frustration. “Crazy? No, I’m not crazy. I’m desperate! Your mom isn’t helping me enough. It’s not her fault, but she has hardly any experience in the spirit world. I need another teacher, but not even Mr. Walters could find someone willing to work with me.”

  “And it just so happens that this Braden guy can? Doesn’t that seem a little too convenient? You can’t possibly see this as anything other than a trap!”

  “I see it as my only chance to get into the spirit world. I don’t know what else to do!”

  Pure frustration buzzes over Milo’s skin. It feels like sitting next to a ball of static electricity. I understand his response, I honestly do, but what other choice do I have at this point? No one else will help me. I have to take the risk with Braden.

  “Milo,” I say softly, “I know this isn’t an easy thing for you to accept. I wouldn’t ask you if I didn’t feel like it was the only way. Braden says I have a spiritual block. He says he knows how to help me.”

  “Again, too convenient to be believable,” Milo growls. “Why would a Cipher hunter know more about this than my mom, who actually practices her Spiritualism every day? There is really no way he can help you.”

  “Your mom hasn’t been able to figure out why I can’t get to the spirit world. Believe me, I know this is a huge risk. You can be there when I meet with him. I know you’ll protect me from anything he might try. I don’t want to turn to someone like Braden for help, but I have to get into the spirit world soon. Everything we’re doing will be for nothing if the Guardians kill all the Ciphers before I can even get there. Please, Milo. I need you to trust me on this. I think the risk is worth taking.”

  Fury slams against me. “Well I don’t!”

  Closing my eyes, I focus on my emotional blocks. As close as I am to him, there’s no way I can block everything. Even dulled, I can feel every exquisite emotion that runs through him. I practically relive the hatred he feels for the Guardians attacking Celia, chasing him, hurting me, trying to arrest him. Even the hurt it caused him to discover his idols were nothing more than mercenaries, spirals through the car. My body sinks into the seat under the weight of it. I don’t think I can overcome something so consuming. Maybe it’s wrong of me to even try, but I have to.

  “I have no other options,” I say firmly, my frustration slipping into my voice. “I have to do this. I know it’s hard for you to accept, but I need you to back me up on this.”

  “No. I don’t trust the Guardians. I never will. And I won’t turn to them for help. No matter what promises this guy made to you, he’s lying. All the Guardians want is to destroy you before you can do the same to them. There is no way we’re trusting them.”

  “That’s it? You say no, like it’s all your decision, and I just have to live with it?” I demand. “I’m asking you to support me on this because I care about you, but this isn’t your decision alone. I want us to make this choice together.”

  “I can’t believe you’re even thinking about this! He tried to kill me.”

  Milo has every right to be resistant, but I can’t stop the irritation that builds under my skin. “How am I supposed to figure this out without a guide? I need his help!”

  “You’re the Destroyer,” Milo says. “You can do anything you want, on your own. You’ll be able to push through this thing without anyone else.”

  “And what if I can’t?”

  The anger humming around the car is still very present, but it does lessen some when Milo reaches over and takes my hand. “You used to get mad at me if I doubted you were capable of doing something on your own, but now you’re doing the same thing. You can do this without taking dangerous risks like trusting a Guardian.”

  Forcing a smile onto my face is difficult, but I manage a small one for him. His belief in me was one of the things that drew me to Milo when we first started hanging out. I love it that he trusts my power to overcome anything. It’s nice to have someone believe in you so completely. But this time Milo believes in me too much. I can’t do this on my own.

  I looked up what little I could find about spiritual blocks. There wasn’t much research, but I did find out there is literally no way for a person to independently break a block. Breaking the block can only be accomplished by first getting into the spirit world. Unfortunately, having a block means you can’t get to the spirit world. You need a guide to get the process started. After that, I have no idea. The explanations were very vague, because apparently it’s completely different for each person.

  I need help.

  “Look,” Milo says, “why don’t we go inside and talk to my mom about this. Maybe once she knows what the problem is she’ll be able to help. And if she can’t, I promise we’ll find someone who can, someone we can actually trust not to try and kill you in the process.”

  Again, I turn the corners of my mouth up by force and nod my head. I have absolutely no faith in this plan, but I go along with it because I can think of no other options. When we reach the house, Milo calls out for his mom. After the dismal session we had yesterday, she walks into the living room without her usual bubbly smile. Subdued, but not ready to give up, she settles herself on the couch.

  “Mom, we think we might know why Libby can’t reach the spirit world,” Milo says.

  Surprise makes Mrs. Hanover scoot forward on the couch cushion. I can see the hope that our never-ending rounds of failure will soon be put to an end. For a moment I think maybe Milo is right. Maybe she can help me. “What’s your idea?” she asks.

  “We think Libby may have a spiritual block.”

  The corner of Mrs. Hanover’s eye twitches. I don’t think Milo notices because he’s looking at me instead of his mom. I do notice, and my last grain of hope dies in a flash of despair. Milo looks over at his mom. All signs of doubt disappear from her expression.

  “We’re not completely sure, but if it is the problem, you can help her with that, right?”

  She smiles at her son. “I’ve never done something like this
before, but I will certainly try.” She switches her gaze to me. “I’m sure we’ll be able to figure it out, Libby. Don’t worry.”

  “Great,” I say with more enthusiasm than I feel. Her words are confident, but she isn’t. The emotions I’m getting from her are confirmed for me when she turns back to Milo.

  “Milo, your dad is in the back yard waiting for you. He asked me to send you out to him as soon as you got home. He has some agility exercises for you to practice today.” She holds up a hand when he starts to object. “It will be easier for Libby and me to work if we’re alone. Fewer distractions.”

  The scowl on his face shows how much Milo appreciates the idea, but he knows I need to be very focused when I train with Spiritualism. Leaning over, he kisses me. I hold onto him for a little longer than necessary. I try to let his optimism and belief rub off on me. When he finally pulls back, his hand trails softly down my cheek. He smiles.

  “This is going to work,” he says. “I believe in you. You don’t have to trust anyone but yourself, okay?”

  I nod, but I don’t make any promises. He walks away to find his dad, leaving me to face Mrs. Hanover. The casual, calm demeanor she held onto while Milo was in the room has vanished. My shoulders sag. “You can’t help me, can you?”

  She shakes her head. “My spiritualism is powerful, but you already know my talent for using it runs rather one-sided. Anything to do with the spirit world itself is incredibly difficult for me. I know very little about spiritual blocks. As I’m sure you’ve already discovered, I would have to be able to lead you to the barrier between this world and the spirit world to even get you started. The fact that I haven’t been able to do that for you in the last month should make it clear that I am incapable of helping you with this. Even if I could, I have no idea what it would take after that.”

  I nod slowly. “That’s what I thought.”

  “I didn’t want to disappoint Milo again, so I said I would try,” she says, “but if you have anyone else that could help you …”

  “Even if it’s someone who’s supposed to be my enemy?”