Secret of Betrayal: Book Two of The Destroyer Trilogy (18 page)

“I may be able to help with that. I’m not in the
best of positions to get information anymore, but I still have a few contacts
who
might be willing to help me. I might be able to find out
who they’re going to take next,” Braden says.

I expect his offer to be met with enthusiasm,
but I am very wrong. A disturbance in the crowd brings a group of young men
forward until they push into the circle. The first one shoves an accusing
finger at Braden. “Why are you even here? He’ll go to his contacts all right,
but not to get information. He’ll tell them everything. He’ll sell us out like
he always does!”

“No, he won’t,” I say desperately. I have no
doubt in my mind that this is the leader of the renegade Ciphers. He is the one
who grabbed Casey. I recognize his spiritual energy from the attack.

“We can’t trust him!” the young man shouts.

Braden brings his hands up in a peaceful
gesture. “Lucas, please, I’m not going to betray anyone. I want to help you get
home.”

“I
was
home before you grabbed me!” Lucas
screams at him. “I was safe and happy before I met you. You stole my life! I
can’t trust you after that. I’ll kill you before I put my life in your hands
again.”

Spirit or not, he can do it. So when he lunges
at Braden, I know I have to stop him. My Speed carries me into his path, and
the blow that was meant for Braden catches me on the shoulder. I don’t hesitate
to throw my elbow back as I spin away from a second hit. We connect, but
instead of the sickening sound of breaking bone, there is no sound at all. The
impact is muffled by the world we are standing in, but it doesn’t take away any
of the force. Lucas cries out in pain. I reverse my spin in a split second and
catch his throat in the palm of my hand. The power behind my blow carries both
of us to the ground, me landing on my knees with him pinned beneath me.

“Listen to me right now, Lucas. I don’t care who
put you here. I wouldn’t care if it was me who put you here. Braden has given
me his Guardian promise that he will not reveal any of this to his superiors.
Whether you are stupid enough to think he can get around a promise like that or
not, you will not touch him. He is here under my protection, and so
help
me, if anyone even thinks about hurting him I will
leave you here to rot after everyone else is freed. I am Cassia the Destroyer.
Every single Cipher in this world belongs to me. You are mine to command. And
you will do exactly as I say. Do you understand me?”

His bulging eyes blink once before a strangled,
“Yes,” escapes his lips. I have to peel my fingers away from his neck. I stay
towering
above him for a moment longer before standing back
up. Lucas takes even longer to gather himself. As he scrambles back to his feet
I watch every movement for hints that he is going to attempt another attack.
The cautious hunch of his body reassures me. He backs away to the protection of
a group of similarly-minded friends. Their glares have turned somewhat wary,
but it is obvious none of them are very happy.
But as I look
at each one, memorizing their faces, their eyes drop in obedient shame.
I scan the entire group, finding that everyone is staring at me. I can’t tell
whether their eyes are drawn out of fear or awe, but I hope it’s the second
one. I’m not a Guardian.

Satisfied that no one else is going to do
something crazy, I turn back to Saia. She looks surprisingly appreciative of
how I handled Lucas. Some of the others near her look taken aback by my outburst.
It couldn’t be helped. The world around me swirls for a moment before returning
to normal. Braden grabs my elbow to steady me.

“You’re too tired. You’re not going to be able
to stay here much longer,” he whispers.

“Saia,” I say, wanting to wrap this up as soon
as possible, “I’m going to have to work out a plan with the rest of my team.
Braden will try to find out who might be taken next, but I want you to prepare
a detailed report about everyone that has gone missing so far. I need to know
where they were being held in the physical world, any personal information that
might be helpful, everything. I’ll be back as soon as I can and we’ll go from
there, okay?”

“Yes, thank you, Libby. We will be ready for you
when you return. And please, as soon as possible, would you bring Milo with
you? I know we are all anxious to meet this young man.”

I smile at her more widely than necessary. “Of
course, Saia, I’ll bring him as soon as I can. He’s only had his talents for a
few weeks, but he’s working very hard at developing them.”

“Wonderful. Now you should go back and get some
rest. I will see you tomorrow night.”

“Wait, I needed to ask you something else. Have
there been any new Ciphers lately?”

Saia shakes her head sadly. “We haven’t had a
new Cipher in months, Libby.” She doesn’t need to explain. I already know the
reason behind that one. Instead of saying more, she reaches forward and hugs
me. I can feel her tremendous optimism as we embrace. And it’s not just coming
from her. Everyone around me is drunk on it. I just pray they aren’t misplacing
that trust.

I pull
back,
ready to
leave, when I catch sight of the filament again. “Saia, could I ask you one
more question?”

“Yes, of course,” she says.

Holding up my hand so she can see the link as
well, I ask, “Do you have any idea what this is?”

Shock freezes her angelic features. Her eyes
slide over to Braden and she smiles. “Braden, you have found your companion.”

He looks over at me and shrugs. “Uh, I don’t think
Libby sees it that way, but I’m not giving up yet.”

Saia laughs. “Be patient, Braden.”

“Uh, what are you talking about?” I ask. I’m
about to remind her about Milo being my boyfriend when her face distorts in
front of me. No! I’m not done yet. I scramble for more control, but my trance
is slipping away from my exhausted mind. I grab Braden’s hands right before
everything dissolves.

Chapter 1
4

Desperate

Cold.

That’s all I can think about. My body is
shivering uncontrollably. I think I must be lying on the floor now. I can’t
tell. I’m so cold. I try to say something, but my teeth chatter too hard to get
anything out. Warmth suddenly surrounds me. Fire spreads through my veins, but
I don’t stop shaking. I can’t even open my eyes to figure out what’s happening
to me. The sensation of being lifted from the ground is the only thing I can
feel besides the cold.

The warmth leaves me without warning. I drop
into something soft, but it isn’t keeping me warm enough. My trembling hands
grasp for the fire. “N-n-n-
oo
,” I stutter. I’m so
cold. The fire has to come back.

“Damn it,” I hear Braden mutter under his
breath.

It was him, of course. He was keeping me warm. I
force my eyes open and search for him. He’s hovering over me, wrapping me in
blankets. I try to reach for him. For a moment I can’t figure out why I can’t
lift my shaking arms. Braden has me tucked in so tightly I can’t move. It takes
too much effort to force my arms out of the blankets. My eyes slip shut and I
panic. It takes all my strength just to force them open again.

“B-b-brad-den.
C-c-cold-d,” I beg. He looks at me uncertainly.
“P-please.”
A violent shiver runs through my entire body, loosening the blankets around me.
When it passes I push my fingers out and reach for him. He’s so warm. I need him.

Giving in, Braden pulls off his sweatshirt and
slips under the blankets. His bare chest presses up against me, giving me back
that beautiful heat. A blissful sigh whispers out of my trembling lips. Braden
pulls against me even tighter. I bury myself in his arms and close my eyes.
Even with his body pressed up against mine, it takes more than an hour for me
to stop shivering.

When he’s finally sure I’m not going to shake
myself to pieces, Braden says, “I’m so sorry, Libby. I should have made you
come back after you broke your block. The Ciphers could have waited one more
night.”

“No,” I say, “I had to go.”

“It was too much. I should have known. I’ve been
doing this for years, but you haven’t. I should have been more careful. You
really had me worried. I couldn’t get you to stop shaking for anything. Your
skin is
still
ice cold.” As if even thinking about how shocked my body
was brings back the cold, he wraps his arms around me until there isn’t a
single inch of space between our bodies.

“I told you it didn’t need to be so cold in
here,” I mumble.

He shakes his head, tickling the back of my
neck. “No, Libby, without the cold you would have lost control of your spirit
and starting wandering early on. The cold kept your body alert. But you stayed
for too long. Even with Strength, you can only push yourself so far.”

The idea of wandering in the spirit world,
becoming so unaware of my physical body that I lose my identity, makes me
shiver again. “I’ll get better at this. I promise.”

“I know you will, but until you do, I don’t want
you going to the spirit world without me.”

“You just don’t want me to go with Milo. You
want to keep me all to yourself,” I accuse.

I can feel his playful amusement almost as if
it’s my own. “True,” he says, “but you’re not ready to go back by yourself, and
I doubt Milo will be able to help you much since he’s even less experienced.
You need me with you.”

“Or I could ask Casey,” I remind him. “She’s
been going into the spirit world since she was a child. She’ll probably be able
to help me even more than you.”

Braden grunts in displeasure. Apparently, he
forgot about Casey. “Please?” he asks.

His poor attempt at begging makes me smile.
“I’ll think about it.”

Sharp pounding on my door startles me right out
of his arms. My eyes find the sickly green numbers on my alarm clock. Four
o’clock in the morning. For a moment, I wonder who on earth would be pounding
on my door right now. Then I remember Lance.

“Oh, shoot. I forgot I was supposed to call
Lance when you left.”

Braden grins at me. “I haven’t left yet.”

Rolling my eyes at him, I say, “Yeah, that’s
probably why he’s here, to make sure you do leave.”

I go to push the blankets off my legs and
realize my hand is shaking again. My whole upper body is shaking. Braden notices
as well and pushes me back down. Lance knocks again, impatiently. Braden stands
up to answer it. I’m about to object when I finally get to see him clearly. His
muscles look sculpted in the dim lamplight. Every inch of him is corded and
delicious except for the angry red scars crisscrossing his chest and back. And
the way he moves … I thought Lance was graceful. It’s captivating to watch his
muscles flex and release ever so slightly as he approaches the door. I don’t
even think about telling him to put his sweatshirt back on before he pulls the
door
open
,and
until it’s too
late.

The blast of anger coming from Lance knocks me
out of my delirium.
Braden with no shirt on.
Me in bed.
Yeah, this really doesn’t look very good. He’s
never going to believe me now. I close my eyes and wait for Braden to taunt
him, Lance certainly would if their roles were reversed, but Braden does
nothing of the sort.

“Don’t worry, Lance. She had a bad reaction to
being away from her body for so long, but she’s starting to feel better now.
She should be fine by morning,” Braden says.

Lance looks doubtful.
“Bad
reaction?
And you taking your shirt off cured her of that?”

“I was cold,” I tell him, my embarrassment
turning me scarlet from head to toe. I start babbling in my effort to explain.
“I couldn’t stop shivering. I couldn’t even talk, I was shaking so bad. He
tried to warm me up with blankets, but they weren’t enough. I’m still freezing.
You could give me your jacket instead of looking at me like that.”

Lance hesitates for a moment.

I take a deep breath and will my blush and
incoherent speaking away. “Lance, I promised.”

He doesn’t seem thrilled about it, but he
decides to trust me. Lance strips off his jacket and bundles it around me.
Sighing in relief of the extra warmth now that Braden is gone, I huddle under
it. Lance tosses Braden his discarded sweatshirt for good measure and sits down
next to me.

“So, did it work?” he asks.

“Yeah,” I say excitedly. “I got over my block
and went to the spirit world. It was amazing. And I found out what’s happening
to the Ciphers. The Guardians
are
pulling them out and killing them one
at a time.”

Lance blows out a breath and shakes his head. “I
was afraid of that.”

“It’s going to take some serious planning, but I
think we’ve finally found a way to rescue them.” I pause as a gigantic yawn
stretches my jaw to its max.

“Tomorrow,” Braden says firmly. Both Lance and I
glance over at him, neither of us appreciating his bossiness. He ignores me and
focuses on Lance. “She’s exhausted. I was afraid she was going into shock for a
while. She needs to rest. A few hours isn’t going to make any difference to our
plans.”

I sit up to argue with him, but the blankets and
jackets fall away and I start trembling again. This time it’s Lance who pushes
me back down.

“We’ll start making plans tomorrow, Libby.” He
stands up and tosses Braden his jacket. “Well, thanks for the help. You can go
now.”

“She shouldn’t be left alone,” Braden argues.

Lance smirks at him. “She won’t be. Now go.”

I can tell from his expression, and the longing
and irritation pouring off of him, that Braden doesn’t want to leave me, but he
doesn’t have a valid argument for staying. Pressing the point isn’t going to
end well, either. Crossing the tiny room to the bed, he sits down next to me
and places his hands on either side of my face. The warmth instantly calms my
shaking. He smiles at my reaction, but turns to look at Lance.