Secret of Betrayal: Book Two of The Destroyer Trilogy (32 page)

Excitement quavers through the vision of a
younger Braden walking into a utilitarian room. Not what I was expecting for
the most highly paid government service in the world. He sits down at a plain
metal desk and a military-looking man marches in and slaps a stack of papers
down in front of him. Braden starts reading eagerly. I skim through most of the
memory. Policies and procedures aren’t useful to me right now. Those weren’t
the secrets Braden was meant to keep. The stack of paper dwindles down to a
single sheet.

I look over Braden’s shoulder and find exactly
what I’ve been looking for.

Words of Idris, Prime Seeker, 1257 BC

Her birth will be the beginning of our
destruction,

An unseen threat to everything we are.

Power and Talent greater than anything seen
by this world will blossom in her hands.

Alone, she will unlock the deadly secrets of
this age.

Her assault will begin slowly,

One small prick, one gained asset,

But will grow to a raging onslaught.

Her might will slice into our ranks where we
think we are safest.

One will try to take everything from her and
fail,

But she will learn the secret of his
betrayal.

She will learn the value of destruction, of
gathering power,

And will turn it against us.

We cannot stop her.

Cassia the Destroyer will be the end of our
world.

Chapter 2
4

Nobody Ever Does

I slam the sheet of paper down on his desk and
glare at him. He looks up calmly, and says, “Good afternoon, Libby.”

“You knew about this the whole time, didn’t
you?” I demand.

Mr. Walters rubs his wrinkled chin thoughtfully.
His eyes scan the copied prophecy. He’s too well trained to show any real
reaction, but there is a subtle glint in his eyes. “How did you get this?”

“I got it from Braden.”

“Impossible,” Mr. Walters says. “Braden could no
more speak or write of this than I could. To answer your question, of course I
knew. Every Guardian does. And every Guardian is bound never to reveal what
they know. How did you really get your hands on this?”

Leaning in so he can have a clear view of my
seriousness, I say again, “I got it from Braden, but I never said he told me
about it.”

About to brush off my words, he stops and more
carefully considers what I just said. It’s odd that I can sense the tiniest
hint of fear clouding his thoughts. “There’s no way, Libby. Not even you can
break a Guardian promise. You had to get it from somewhere else.”

“Idris himself said I would have power and
talents greater than anyone has ever seen,” I argue.

“No. Guardian promises can’t be broken, Libby.
They just can’t.”

Given that he abandoned his brothers, you would
think he’d be excited at the prospect of getting out from under the promises he
made to them. I’m not entirely sure Mr. Walters is sane, though. He did offer
to kill me the first day we met.

“Look,” I say patiently, “I didn’t exactly break
Braden’s Guardian promise. I got the prophecy by getting around the promise. I
tried to break it, but I couldn’t. Maybe if I have more time to practice I’ll
be able to, but I didn’t need to break the promise to see his memory.”
Actually, I wanted to go further but it was putting too much stress on Braden’s
body and mind.

“Oh, well good.
At
least one thing in this world should remain sacred.” A visible weight slides
off his shoulders. I really don’t know what to make of his odd reaction.
Apparently satisfied with my limitations, he perks back up and motions for me
to sit down. I just barged into his house unannounced, but he doesn’t seem to
care. Updating his Destroyer notes is always more important than anything else
to him.

Pushing a lock of meandering white hair off his
face, he presses his fingertips together—a signal that teacher mode is fully
charged—and says, “So why did you bring me this? My promise is still in place, so
I don’t know what you expect me to tell you about it.”

I fold my legs under me, knocking my knee
against the corner of his desk in the process. I rub my knee absently as I
think. “You’re always saying these cryptic things to me like how there’s more
to my purpose than I think, and about there being more to being the Destroyer
than I realize. Do you know what this prophecy means?”

He doesn’t say anything. The way his hands
suddenly ball into fists and drop to the desk alerts me to the reason for his
silence. His promise is holding him back. Having him try to write something
down isn’t going to help either. Blinking, nodding, shaking his head, nothing I
can think of will get him around his promise. His frustration pulses against
mine, giving me an idea.

“Time to play twenty
questions, Mr. Walters.
I’m going to listen to your emotional responses
to each question. I’ll feel your frustration when you can’t answer me, but want
to. Okay?”

“It’s worth a try,” he says.

“Do you know what the prophecy means?”

His first response isn’t very encouraging.
Confusion, frustration, and annoyance drift away from him. “That’s too general
of a question, Libby. You’re going to have to be more specific.”

“Okay, how about we go through it line by line
then?”

Taking the paper back, I read the first few
lines aloud. “
Her
birth will be the beginning of our destruction, an
unseen threat to everything we are.
Okay, the first line is pretty clear,
but the second, this Idris guy acts like my whole goal is to wipe out the
Guardians. Is that true?”

Mr. Walters actually attempts to say something,
but all he manages is to make his lips quiver. Frustration is definitely
mounting in him. I realize the problem with this tactic right away. Obviously
he wants to answer me, but I don’t know what answer he’s trying to give.

“This isn’t working, Mr. Walters. How about if
the answer is yes, think about something happy. If
it’s
no, think about something sad.”

“Okay. Ask me again,” he says.

“Is my whole purpose to destroy the Guardians?”

A low hum of sadness buzzes around me. No.

“But it’s part of it, right? I have to get rid
of the Guardians, or at least get them out of my way before I can do whatever I
need to, right?”

Mellow pleasure drifts across my skin like
feathers. Yes.

“Okay, next lines.
Power and Talent greater
than anything seen by this world will blossom in her hands. Alone, she will
unlock the deadly secrets of this age.
The first line’s obvious. I’m the
most powerful person on the planet. I’m more interested in the secrets. We’ve
figured out what the Guardians are doing to the Ciphers.
Killing
innocent people sure sounds
like a deadly secret, but is it the only
one?”

Grief and sadness.
I
wonder if he’s thinking about his sister who has been in and out of the
hospital lately. Either way, it’s a no.

“There are more deadly secrets?” I ask.

Happiness.
Yes.

Great.
I was really
hoping for a no to that one.

“Next stanza.
Her
assault will begin slowly, one small prick, one gained asset, but will grow to
a raging onslaught. Her might will slice into our ranks where we think we are
safest.
My strength has certainly been growing slowly. I thought maybe that
might even refer to Milo, rescuing one Cipher from them, then Dean. I was
wondering about whether the second line might be talking about us going after
the Ciphers in the Guardian’s own Compound. What do you think?”

His emotions seem neutral, leaning slight toward
pleasant. Maybe yes? It’s seems like the most obvious connection, but maybe
that’s why he’s not very quick to agree with me. That could mean something else
entirely. Whatever it means, going straight at the Guardians has never sounded
like a great option.

“Moving on, then.
One
will try to take everything from her and fail, but she will learn the secret of
his betrayal.
This one really bothered me. It could mean a lot of different
things. Someone will try to take everything from me. What does that mean?
My friends, my life, my power?”

I listen when I mention each one, but I get the
same reaction as last time.
Neutral.
He doesn’t have
anything specific he wants to pass on. Being warned that someone, not
necessarily a Guardian will come after me is useful, I guess.

“That’s not the right question, Libby,” Mr.
Walters says suddenly.

I have to reread the line. What they try to take
would be good to know, but knowing someone was going to try to kill me wouldn’t
be nearly as helpful as knowing who was planning to come after me. It strikes
me as significant that the prophecy doesn’t say it will be a Guardian. All
through the prophecy Idris says
we
,
us
, and
our
.
But when he mentions this person he only says
one
.
Someone
outside of their ranks.
Someone close enough to me to make an attempt.

“It will be one of my own friends, won’t it?” I
ask quietly.

Fierce happiness blasts against me.
A very emphatic yes.
My stomach drops even farther. No
timidity in his answer. Somehow he knows this one without a doubt.
“Who?”
I ask.

His last answer fades. “We don’t need the game for
this answer. I can tell you who I trust the least without being blocked by any
promises. I know Lance has turned on you once before, but I also know from
experience how intense Guardian training can be. I believe him when he says he
merely reacted out of instinct. He has the longest and strongest connection
with you. I don’t think it will be him. I think Milo and Braden are the least
trustworthy of your young friends.”

“Okay, I can see you doubting Braden, even
though I think you’re wrong, but Milo?
Seriously?”
I
want to argue that Braden couldn’t possibly betray me because he’s a Guardian,
and the prophecy seems to say the opposite, but is he really a Guardian
anymore? He’s given it up in every way but actual words. And he hasn’t done
that because he needs the access.

“I’m not saying anything definite about either
one, but they are the two people who have the biggest motives to betray you.
Braden may have a sudden attack of guilt for abandoning his brothers and what
he’s worked for the last four years. Or he might find out switching sides is a
lot harder than he expected,” Mr. Walters says, reminding me of his scarred
body. “It’s also possible that Milo may decide you aren’t taking the right
actions to get revenge on the Guardians for what they’ve done to his family.
Either way, both of them are balancing their lives on a very thin wire right
now. They could tip to either side at any moment.”

I shake my head. Everything he’s saying, I know
it’s true, but I just can’t accept it. “You’re wrong.”

“Libby, look,” he says, sounding as if his
patience is wearing thin, “I know you’re in love with both Braden and Milo-”

“I am not!”

He crooks an eyebrow at me and says nothing.

“I mean, I am, with Milo,” I splutter, “but I am
not in love with Braden! You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“So the way you both turn into the most
distantly polite people in the world every time you’re in each other’s presence
isn’t an attempt to make up for something? Or how about the way your eyes
always linger on each other whenever they happen to meet? And I know you can’t
possibly think I missed him brushing his fingers against your wrist a few days
ago when Milo wasn’t watching,” he says. “I recognize that gesture.”

“Those … that’s … it’s all just coincidence, or
nothing at all. You’re reading too much into it,” I argue. “How could such
small things mean anything to you?”

 Longing so profound it resonates fills the
entire room. I’m nearly choking on it. Mr. Walters drops his head and quietly
says, “Because I know more than you’d think about forbidden love.”

I don’t know how to respond to that. I certainly
can’t pass his claim off as bogus just because he’s a slightly crazy,
Einstein-haired old man right now. At some point he was young and, I don’t
know, somewhat attractive, I guess. Even if I wanted to laugh at the idea of
this scarred, old ex-Seeker having a secret love affair, the truth of his words
and deep desire to be with the woman
he
once loved
isn’t something I can deny.

“Besides,” he says, suddenly sounding much more
chipper, “I think you’re forgetting that I was a Seeker once. My Vision didn’t
abandon me just because I gave up my title.”

Head to toe, my body goes rigid. “What?” Taking
a breath is way too much work. “What are you talking about?”

He laughs and shakes his head. “I think it’s
supposed to be a surprise. I wouldn’t want to ruin it for you.” I try to
object, but he holds up a finger and stops me. “I think we have more important
things to discuss, Libby.”

My teeth grind together painfully. He did that
on purpose, just to torture me.
Crazy old goat.
Regardless, he’s right. I need to refocus.

Backtracking, I remind myself of what we were
talking about before. My irritation cools to despair as I remember discussing
which of my friends it will be who betrays me. He thinks I love them both, but
he also thinks one of them will be the one to turn on me.

“It’s got to be someone else, Mr. Walters.”