Secret of Betrayal: Book Two of The Destroyer Trilogy (14 page)

“There are thousands of Ciphers,” Casey says.
Her trembling voice is small in the nearly-empty classroom.

“They’ll kill them all.”

I knew it from the first moment I found out
about the Ciphers. I knew it, but I let Milo’s parents talk me into not
worrying about them. I’ve been trying to reach them, yes, but what have I done
to protect them? They are mine. They belong to me, as my army, as my followers,
as possibly the only family I will ever have. My hand slips into Milo’s, but my
eyes settle on Lance and I nod. We meet for the briefest of moments, but the
message exchanged is clear.

I won’t risk losing my only chance to reach the
Ciphers just because I don’t like the source of the help. I am getting into the
spirit world tonight, and Braden, one of the ones meant to stop me, is going to
get me there. Lance nods and lightly touches his fingers to his emblem,
promising not to tell Milo. I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure I reach the
Ciphers tonight.
Whatever it takes.

Chapter 1
1

Promise

This time Braden doesn’t break into my room. I
pull up to the motel after spending a few luxurious hours wrapped up in Milo’s
arms watching a movie, and immediately recognize the gorgeous black sedan I saw
him drive away in last night. I didn’t used to be much of a car enthusiast, but
having spent so much time around Lance and Milo lately, it kind of rubs off
after a while. I think Braden’s yummy car is an Aston Martin. The word luxury
barely even touches it. My eyes follow the graceful lines of the car right to
Braden. His face peering out the window at me makes my chest constrict.

I don’t want to do this. I mean, I’m desperate
to get into the spirit world, but I don’t want to do it with him.
when
Milo went to get something from his locker, I pestered
Casey after class about getting over a spiritual block, but she had no idea
what to do. She was never blocked herself, and it isn't something that’s ever
been covered in class, either. So I’m stuck with Braden. Thankfully, I spot Lance’s
car pulling in behind me and parking discretely a few spaces down. I thank him
mentally and look back over at Braden.

The way he jumps out of his car and walks around
to my door makes my stomach start to roil. I bunch my shoulders up so I can
breathe in the scent of Milo. I thought ahead tonight and borrowed one of his
sweatshirts when I went to his house. The scent of him fills my Bronco. I
inhale every last particle of him that I can, and hold it in for as long as
possible. Braden pulling open my door and letting in a blast of frigid air
makes me gasp. The shocking electric vibration that runs through me doesn’t
help either. He offers me his hand, but I climb out and throw my door shut
without touching him.

“Nice to see you, too,” he says.

He’s mocking me again. I can’t believe he finds
it amusing that he has some bizarre ability to throw my emotions into chaos
just by being near me. The first time we met at the theater I was a little too
preoccupied to take much notice of how Braden had affected me. I felt it for
certain when he surprised me later that night, but after weeks of not seeing
him, the memory faded. Now I can’t stop noticing it.

Without responding to his taunt, I unlock my
door and go in, making a point to turn the lights on this time. I really don’t
want to be caught alone with Braden in a dark room again. He follows me in and
pushes the door shut behind him. A shiver runs through me at the sound of the
deadbolt flicking closed. It’s just for privacy, I tell myself. Once we start
this, we aren’t going to want anyone interrupting us. That’s the only reason he
just locked the door. It is.

“What reason did you give your captain for being
here tonight?” I ask as I kick off my shoes.

“I told him you agreed to answer a few questions
about your childhood and the emergence of your talents.”

My skin hums and I spin around in time to catch
Braden less than a foot away from me. I jump a little, despite my best efforts.
The corner of his mouth quirks up, but his concern keeps him from enjoying sneaking
up on me.

“You told him what?” I demand as I take a step
back.

Braden takes a step as well, keeping him too
close. “I thought it was a fair trade for me helping you tonight.”

“Well, it isn’t. I’m not telling you anything.”

Finally, he steps back. “Would you rather I
left?” He turns for the door. There is no teasing coming from him at all. He
means it. I lunge forward and grab his arm. “Wait. Don’t leave. I need your
help.”

Braden swivels to face me. “You’ll answer my
questions?”

My jaw clamps down.
“Fine!”
I snap.

“When did your talents first manifest?”

Do I lie? It may be petty, but I want the
Guardians to be afraid of me.
“The second I was born.”

“How did you conceal your talents for so long?”

“How do you think?” I ask. “I simply didn’t use
them in public. I trained myself to bury them any time I was with someone, but
I practiced using them when I was alone.”

“What do you mean you buried them?” Braden asks.
The curiosity in his voice is almost childlike. It momentarily makes me wonder
if the questions aren’t more for him than his captain.

“Well, I gathered up my external talents like
Naturalism or Perception and I blocked them from leaving my body. It’s what
anyone would do, isn’t it?”

Braden scrutinizes me, but there is the hint of
a smile in his eyes. “If they could, they would.”

His comment surprises me. “You mean other people
can’t do that?”

“I’ve never heard of anyone doing something like
that,” he says. “Then again, you may have been the only person who ever needed
to hide a talent.”

I seriously doubt that. Even if you couldn't
completely hide your talents to avoid a career you didn’t want, I’m sure plenty
of people would have liked to have minimized their abilities in a certain area
if it meant a better placement. It’s interesting, but I want to get this over
with so we can move on. “What else?”

“That’s enough for now. I can’t have my captain
think you were too cooperative or he’ll expect more next time.”

“Next time?”
I demand.

Braden folds his arms over his chest. “It’s a
possibility.”

Not if I can help it. I spin away from him, my
annoyance at this whole situation doubling. I didn’t outright lie to Milo about
this, but simply not telling him isn’t any more honest. It’s killing me to know
I’m going behind his back. There is no way I intend to make a regular habit of
meeting with Braden. My guilt for meeting with Braden—not to mention that I
didn’t Milo him about kissing Braden last night—is heavy enough to bury me
alive. I want to get away from Braden and be done with all of this.

A few books and random art supplies are
scattered over the floor. I have only one horribly uncomfortable chair and a
bed to sit on. The bed is not going to happen, so I start cleaning up the floor
as I will my irritation to calm back down. I have most of my paraphernalia
picked up when a hand landing on my shoulder and startling me makes me drop it
all again. Feeling more guilty and annoyed than ever, I face Braden. 

“Libby, are you all right?” he asks.

“Fine.
I’m fine. Can we
just get started?”

“You don’t seem fine. You’re always a little
jumpy, but tonight you seem especially keyed up. What’s bothering you?” He
keeps his distance for once, but the velvety worry rolling off of him is making
me lightheaded.

“Nothing.
I’m fine, okay?”
I snap.
Anger.
If I can stay angry and irritated so I
don’t get trapped by Braden’s freakish allure, I’ll be able to get through
this.

“No, you’re not. What’s wrong?”

I let every unpleasant emotion boil to the
surface and use it against him. “What’s wrong? Everything is wrong. You’re
wrong. Why did you kiss me last night?”

Okay … I really didn’t mean to bring that up. I
liked it.
Way more than I should have.
But I hate him
for doing it, for making me
feel
like that when I
didn’t want to. I meant to stay focused on my general anger at the Guardians,
but now that I’ve brought it up, it isn’t going back down. Fury at what he put
me through yesterday erupts viciously.

“Is that really what you’re upset about?” Braden
asks.

“Yes!” I snap.
“One of the reasons,
anyway.
You had no right to do that.”

He’s honestly taken aback by my reaction. “I …
I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you mad.”

“No, you just meant to anger my boyfriend, my
ex-boyfriend, I mean. Whatever! You only did it to be a jerk. And I don’t
appreciate that. Piss Lance and Milo off on your own time. Don’t use me to get
at them,” I say.

“I had to tell Lance everything yesterday. Do
you have any idea how embarrassing that was for me? I woke him up in the middle
of the night. He thought Milo and I were having sex! I have never been so
mortified in my life, and that’s really saying something for me! I had to
convince my ex-boyfriend, who I’m pretty sure is still in love with me, that
I’m not sleeping with my current boyfriend, which is totally none of his
business, and then to top it all off, you wander right into our class and he
figures out exactly who it was I was getting so riled up with last night. He
damn near attacked you right there in the middle of class, Braden!”

Hurt, angry pain reaches its boiling point and
tears start spilling down my cheeks. “He thought I slept with you last night.
He thought I was cheating on Milo with the guy who almost killed us!
The way he looked at me … what he must have thought of me at that
moment.
How could you do that to me? What the hell is wrong with you?”

My legs give out and I plop down on the corner
of the bed. Braden immediately sinks to the floor in front of me. His hands
touch mine in an effort to comfort me, but I slap them away. He sits back on
his heels and drops his head.

“I’m so sorry. I never meant to hurt you like
that,” he says quietly.

“What did you think would happen? You even said
you were doing it to get at Lance.”

His shoulders fall. “I thought it would make him
jealous. I figured with you and Milo being together, he’d feel that kind of
thing all the time. I didn’t think it would be that big of a deal. I’m sorry. I
honestly never would have done it if I’d known it was going to hurt you.”

“You were trying to hurt me. You wouldn’t have asked
about Lance and Milo feeling me if you weren’t. Making them jealous of each
other is only going to make things more difficult for me,” I say. Doesn’t he
understand that? Or is there some kind of receptor built into guys’ brains that
make them think jealousy and fighting over girls is a good thing?

“I didn’t ask about their Oaths with you because
I wanted to tease them.”

Yeah.
Right.
“Then why
did you ask?
Research for your Captain?”

“No,” Braden says, “I asked because I wanted to
kiss you, and I was hoping neither of them would know if I did.”

“Then why did you still kiss me?” I ask, not
sure whether I believe him or not. I have to forcibly push my own emotions away
to tap into my Perception and find the guilt coming from him, the guilt and the
honesty of why he kissed me. I shudder at the purity of his longing.

“Because I really wanted to kiss you, and after
you said only Lance could feel you, I thought it was a little bit of payback
for him turning on his class,” he admits. “It was stupid. Not kissing you, just
wanting to get back at Lance.”

“Kissing me was stupid, too.”
Even
if it did feel incredibly good.

Braden’s fingers brush against my thighs as he
reaches for my hands. My mind tells me to pull away, but my heart answers
Braden’s desire first. His touch crumbles every barrier I have. It takes all my
Strength to keep my muscles from quivering under his touch. “I’m sorry for
hurting you, but not for kissing you.”

“You should be sorry for both.”

“But I’m not, and I don’t think you are, either.
Not if it felt good enough to give Lance the wrong idea about what happened
last night,” he presses.

Why? Why did it feel so good last night? I love
Milo. I want him desperately. I have no desire to leave him for Braden. It’s
just the way he makes me feel, it’s so much more intense than anything I’ve
ever felt with Milo.

My whole body snaps taut, and I rip my hands
away from him. Braden is surprised by the change, but doesn’t move away. When I
speak, it’s through my teeth, and closer to a growl than actual words.

“Were you manipulating me last night with your
Spiritualism?”

Braden’s eyes widen. “What?
No,
of course not.
I would never do that to anyone.”

“It felt too good, Braden. You had to be doing
something to me. You had to be!”

“I wasn’t! I felt the same way you did. You can
tell if I’m lying. Please, just check and see if I’m lying,” he asks.

I try. I grasp for my Perception with no result.
I’m too incensed to find it under my chaotic emotions. “I can’t. I’m too
angry,” I growl. “Promise me, right now. Promise me that you weren’t
manipulating me last night and that you won’t ever try to manipulate me.”

His fingers snap to his emblem. “I promise I
wasn’t trying to manipulate you last night and that I never will. I’m not any
good at manipulating people, anyway. The first time we met, I thought you were
manipulating me, making me like you in spite of who you were. It was part of
the reason I came back that night. I wanted to see if I still felt as drawn to
you then as I did in the theater.”

“And did you?” I ask.