Darkening Chaos: Book Three of The Destroyer Trilogy (26 page)

Hammond
laughs at catching us and says, “Hey, sorry to interrupt you two lovebirds, but
Lance said you were out here.”

Braden
removes his hand from my thigh and takes a step back, forcing my hands to fall
away. Braden actually looks embarrassed. So much for my argument. Lance, I know
he misses Hope and is patiently waiting for a chance to kiss her for the first
time, but really? Does he have to ruin my moment? Hammond seems to be enjoying
Braden’s embarrassment.

“And?”
I ask when Hammond doesn’t continue.

“Oh,
you have a visitor, Libby. She said she couldn’t stay long so I came out to get
you. She’s in the parlor.” Hammond starts to turn away, but remembers something
and turns back to me. “I wanted to tell you, too, that Daniel did a lot better
today. His shield is getting stronger, and he was able to keep it up for a full
ten minutes this afternoon. I think he’ll be ready in a couple more weeks.
Kayla wanted you to know she’s improving with her Speed and coordination, as
well. Braden can tell you more about that, though. He was training with her
today. I watched for a while. Sometimes I forget that man of yours doesn’t have
any talents. It was pretty impressive. I better get back to Daniel. Catch you
both later,” he says, pausing and grinning again. “Or maybe you two should take
this kind of fun somewhere else so I don’t catch you again.”

“Shut
up, Hammond,” I say, but my grin is almost as big as his.

That
was actually my thought as well. Braden scowls at the both of us. I can see the
corners of his mouth trying not to turn up, though. He’s dying to whisk me off
to one of the dozens of bedrooms in the training house. But he won’t. He’s made
that perfectly clear. I’m too young, in his opinion, and we have more important
things to be doing. Again, in his opinion. I’m not convinced.

Braden
reaches for my hand and helps me to my feet when I take it. “Come on, let’s go
see who this visitor is,” he says, barring any more attempts on my part to
distract him. “Do you think it’s Jen looking for a comment on what happened, or
something?”

“No,”
I say, shaking my head, “she was heading for the AV lab to work on her blog
when Lance and I left school. She couldn’t have gotten here before us. I don’t
know who it could be.”

“Well,
let’s go find out.”

So
we do. Getting up the stairs is a painful experience, but thankfully the parlor
is right off the foyer, so the rest of the walk isn’t too bad. Braden asks if I
want him to leave before I open the door, but whether he has talents anymore or
not, there isn’t anyone else I’d rather have at my back. Hammond has already
met this girl and didn’t seem concerned, but you never know. Braden’s hand
stays firmly in mine as I push the door open.

Her
blond head bobs up at the sound of the door. When she spins around, I’m
shocked. “Celia? What are you doing here? Did you come with Milo?”

Her
eyes dart around at the mention of her brother’s name. “No. You know Milo
hasn’t wanted me to get too involved with this stuff because of how dangerous
it is.”

“Then
what are you doing here?” I ask as I walk further into the room. I thought
Milo’s refusal to let her be involved with the Ciphers was ridiculous early on,
but he’s been positively adamant about keeping her away since the rescue. It’s
been months since I’ve even seen her. While I am wondering what made Celia risk
her brother’s anger, her eyes are drawn to Braden’s hand in mine. Her whole
face scrunches up and she has to blink back tears.

“It’s
really true? You and Milo aren’t going to get back together?”

Braden
and I exchange a glance. He silently asks again if I want him to leave, but my
answer is the same. “Celia, I’m sorry, but Milo and I, we’re not getting back
together. That doesn’t mean we can’t still be friends, though. I’ve missed
hanging around with you.”

“Me
too,” she says. She already knew her brother and I had broken up, it’s been a
couple of months now, but I suppose being faced with it for the first time is
still a little shocking. I remember the first time we hung out and she told me
about how Milo was finally happy again since he met me. I just wish that could
have lasted. Celia looks up at me after composing herself and glances at my
bruised cheek. “Sorry about your face. Jen already posted what happened. Does it
hurt?”

“It’ll
be okay,” I say, “but you didn’t come here to ask about me and Milo or my
bruises, did you?”

“No.
I came here because Milo can’t keep me away anymore. He wouldn’t let me come
because I don’t have any talents to protect me, but he can’t do that anymore,”
she says. I glance down at her right wrist and don’t see anything.  She sees me
looking and finishes her explanation. “Not after tonight, anyway. Today’s my
birthday. I want you to try and perform an Inquest on me. I have an appointment
with Inquisitor Moore in a few hours, but I want you to try first.”

She’s
sixteen today. I haven’t even thought about Celia in weeks, which doesn’t make
me the best friend in the world, but I don’t think I even knew exactly when her
birthday was. I knew it was sometimes in October, but it hadn’t even crossed my
mind. Braden helps me over to the couch and I sit down next to her. “Celia,
just because Milo is a Cipher doesn’t mean you will be, too. It doesn’t work
like that.”

“I
know, I just thought you could at least try.  Maybe it won’t work, but I’d
rather have you do it than anyone else. Will you try?” she asks.

She
and Milo both told me about how horrible of a night it was when Milo’s first
Inquest didn’t work. Their parents panicked, knowing what he was and that he
would be taken. Celia had to watch as they pulled Milo away from her and sliced
open his wrist trying to forge diktats and keep him from being abducted. A slip
of the hand, and Milo very nearly died that night. Celia must be reliving that
moment again because her hands are trembling.

I
take them in mine, and say, “I’ll try, Celia, but if it doesn’t work, Inquisitor
Moore is a good man. He’ll take care of you.”

She
smiles thankfully and takes a deep breath. I can feel Braden move up behind me,
no doubt staying nearby to keep a close eye on me. My wounds aren’t that bad,
but any physical problem makes using talents harder. I close my eyes and start
the Inquest. After the initial burst of energy from using my talents fades away,
I start pushing my way through Celia’s body and mind. I search, looking for the
usual signs of talents, but I can’t find anything. It feels like it does every
time I’ve tried searching Braden lately. I don’t like the sensation at all.

I
push harder. My Perception becomes more finely tuned, and I delve even deeper.
My body is struggling to keep up. Finally, I catch a glimpse of something. It’s
faint, but the hint of spiritual energy drifting away from her is there. So is
the downward pull of her spirit connecting with the natural world. No matter
how hard I try, though, I can’t unlock them. I can sense where each of her
talents originates, and how they access her body and senses, but that’s all.
What does feel different than when I’ve tried this with Braden is that with him,
when I find the place his talents should be, it’s like there’s a hole waiting
to be filled. Celia’s are already full, just not open to me. With Braden,
they’re open and waiting. I just can’t figure out how to fill them.

I
pull my Perception back in and open my eyes. Celia’s eyes blink open as well.
“It didn’t work,” she says sadly.

“I’m
sorry, Celia, but you’re not a Cipher.” Who would have thought I’d ever be
apologizing for that? She looks honestly disappointed. She’s got to be the
first. “I can tell you what your talents are, though, if you want.”

“Really?
Sure.”

“I
couldn’t unlock them, but I could see that you have both Spiritualism and
Naturalism, one from each other your parents. I can’t say for sure, but I think
it’s a pretty safe bet to say you’ll be in the Creator class. I have no idea
what your name will be, though. You’ll have to come back and tell me tomorrow.”

Celia
nods happily and assures me she will. That might cause a fight with Milo, but
what’s new about that? It’ll be nice to have Celia around again. Celia looks
like she’s about ready to leave, but she turns thoughtful as she stands up.
“You know, it’s too bad I never got to see the spirit world when all the
Ciphers were still there,” she says.

I
look at her with a confused expression.

“Not
that I wish they were still imprisoned, but what’s the point of going there
now? You can do other neat stuff with Spiritualism,” she says, “but I always
thought getting to go to the spirit world was the best. Now it’s just an empty
place. Oh well.”

She
says goodbye and heads off for her second Inquest of the day, leaving me
wondering. When she’s gone, I turn to Braden, and ask, “Do you think that’s
true? Is the spirit world just an empty place now?”

“I
don’t know,” he says. “I don’t think anyone’s been back since you released the
Ciphers. I don’t think they want to, for obvious reasons, but I don’t think
they see the point, either. Before the Ciphers were put there, it was just a
place to meditate and think. That’s what we’ve been told, anyway.”

We’ve
been told a lot of things, though, a lot of things that aren’t true.

Chapter
21

Creative Uses

It turned out I was right
about Celia being in the Creator class. Over the last month, she’s been one of
the most dedicated recruits. When she’s not at the training house with us,
she’s usually with her dad having him help her learn even more about healing.
She was determined to be on the team with us tonight to finally collect Drake,
but that sparked a huge argument between Milo and anyone who supported her. I
only wanted her to come along and stay on the perimeter just in case we needed
her healing abilities, which are developing rapidly, but Milo wouldn’t even
agree to that.

The
argument was threatening to put off the maneuver even longer than the three
months it’s already been since we found out where Drake is hiding. Eventually,
I had to give in and tell Celia she couldn’t come.  Knowing her brother better
than anyone, she knew it was his fault and didn’t hold it against me. Milo
didn’t appreciate that, and thought my caving was a sign of things to come. Not
even close. I look over and smile at Braden, which he returns enthusiastically.
There were some fights I just wasn’t willing to give in on. Milo pitched a fit
when I suggested Braden and Lance come along. Agreeing to Lance didn’t take
long once Hammond perfected being able to shield a second person. For Braden, it
took what basically boiled down to a massive game of hide-and-seek where Braden
was the finder trying to sneak up on people to find out if they could sense him
coming with their talents. Nobody could, well almost nobody. Just like with the
Inquests.

The
funny thing is, I was the only one who could use any of my talents to sense
him. Speed and Strength, yeah, Blackwood already proved those could be used
against Braden, but those are solely internalized talents. Nobody could sense
him coming. Only me. It could be just another weird thing with me being the Destroyer
and the Ciphers belonging to me, but Braden wasn’t a Cipher. He isn’t even one now,
not really. Ciphers always had talents. They just couldn’t access them until I
unlocked them. Braden actually has
no
talents at all. I secretly believe
it has something to do with us being Companions. Maybe that isn’t lost
completely. Everyone but Milo was pretty hyped about Braden’s “Invisible Man”
qualities.

The
only way Braden could be affected by the external talents, the ones that
require extending some part of you into the other person’s body or mind, was
when the use actually caused them to physically invade him. Not a single one of
them could sense his emotions from a distance or use Naturalism to track him,
but they could touch his spirit, tell when he was lying, and manipulate his
physical body once their talents were pushed into him. I really had no idea
what to make of it, but it certainly was an interesting phenomenon. One that
proved he could get into Drake’s hacienda without being detected.

Milo
hasn’t brought up any of the stuff we fought about again, but his disdain from
me and Braden makes it obvious he hasn’t forgotten it, either. We do our best
to avoid making a display of our relationship in front of him, but it makes him
angry that Braden and I go out with Lance and Hope on the rare times we aren’t
neck deep in Destroyer business, but not because he’s jealous. If he even
thinks
I’m not paying enough attention to handing him the Guardians’ heads, the
fighting starts. And Lance thought Hope was going to be worse than Milo.

Hope
still spends the majority of her waking, and probably non-waking, hours hating
everything about the Guardians, but I do catch her watching Lance with a smile
every so often. I didn’t think anything could make that girl smile. It makes me
happy. Milo couldn’t care less about Lance and Hope, but he definitely
disapproves of Braden staying in my guest bedroom more nights than not. Braden
has yet to repeat that first night, unfortunately, but having him close by
keeps my anxiety level down at a reasonable notch. Tonight is no different.

Team
members start to check in as they reach their positions. There are ten pairs,
plus one new Cipher we picked up in Tampa a few weeks ago named Carlos, who
happens to be a savant when it comes to electronics. He’s in charge of hacking Drake’s
security feed and looping it. It sounded a little too
Hollywood-easy-and-totally-fake when he first suggested it, but he tried it out
on one of the malls in town and it worked perfectly. Let’s hope that goes for
tonight, too.

I
wasn’t so sure about having such a large number, at first. We had to fly in
Ciphers from the other safe houses to even manage so many. I’m more accustomed
to working with a small team of people I know very well and trust completely.
Once we started going over the information about Drake’s fortress—I mean
fortress
literally—I had to admit that I couldn’t do this with just two or three people
like we did rescuing Hope. Now, I’m not sure twenty people will be enough.

“Hey,”
Braden says, slipping his arms around my waist, “everything’s going to be all right.
This will work.”

“I
hope so, Braden.” At least he has faith in me when it comes to this. After
weeks of poking around in him to try and find something, I still haven’t a clue
about how to give him back his talents. I’m going to figure it out, though.

“I
feel like time is starting to eat away at me,” I say. “It took three months
just to prepare for this. There’s only nine left, now. And we still have so
much to do. This is only the first step. Even if we find out the rest of the
prophecy, and what the Guardians are creating to fight me, are we going to have
enough time to do anything about it? I’m worried that we’re going too slow.”

Braden
pulls me against him until I’m leaning my whole body against his. “You’re not
going too slow, Libby. You and everyone else spend nearly every waking minute
thinking about ways to defeat the Guardians. Hope is already almost all the way
through three decades of her grandfather’s notes on you. You’ve learned more
about how the Guardians work from those notes than staring at their compound
for hours on end. You’ve all been training hard as well, and that isn’t just
for getting Drake. Every minute you train brings you closer to defeating them. You’re
doing everything you can.”

“Well,
it wouldn’t be the first time my all wasn’t good enough.” I’m much more
familiar with failure than success.

The
last team checks in and Braden looks at me seriously as he tightens the straps
on his pack. “This is going to work, Libby. Now, let’s go.”

There’s
no point in arguing, I suppose. Either it will work, or it won’t. Either I’ll
get the information I need from Drake, or we’ll all end up murdered by the
Guardians. It’s time to get started. I visualize the hacienda below us as we
crawl down the fifteen foot cliff face. Having only slippery sandstone to use
for grip makes it a treacherous climb. When we reach the dark lava rock on the
lower half of the bluff, it’s much easier to hold on, although more painful too,
and we make it to the bottom without incident.

The
crunch of boots on the rocks sends us to our stomachs. Our black clothes let us
blend into the rock, and my Concealment does the rest. The guard passes us by.
Right now, at seven other points along the perimeter of Drake’s hacienda, the
other pairs are slipping into place. The remaining two teams are watching our
exit, prepared to help us get away quickly if things don’t go well, and likely
even if things do. As soon as the guard is out of range, Braden and I start
forward with all my talents flaring.

Three
other teams begin moving toward the house as well. Dean and Hope, Milo and
Daniel, Kayla, Hammond, and Lance all chirp in my ear about their progress. The
remaining four teams will start circling the perimeter to discreetly take care
of the guards there. If things get dicey inside, I don’t want anyone left out
here to raise the alarm.

Not
all the guards are on the perimeter. The ones who aren’t are our prize. We
cross into the light spilling out of the house unseen. Well, I do, anyway.
Braden stays back. I can extend my Concealment to another person, an idea
Hammond gave me that only the two of us have been able to implement so far, but
it thins my own shield when I do. I leave him in the dark behind a column and
stalk right up to the Seeker guarding the door.

My
Concealment drops away, much to his surprise, and I punch him right in the
face. His consciousness winks out, but he doesn’t need to be awake for me to
use him. I tug off his glove and flatten his hand against the palm scanner on
the wall. A hushed beep acknowledges the palm print, and we hear the soft click
of the door unlocking. Braden pulls it open a few inches, just enough to keep
the lock from reengaging without being too noticeable. It takes me a few
seconds to tie the Seeker up and shove him into the space between a cabinet and
bench. No one will see him right off, but they might hear him. I press two
fingers against his forehead and tap my Naturalism. He falls into a deep sleep
that he won’t wake from for hours.

I
hope everyone else is doing the same. My orders were to leave the Guardians alive
if we could. I know some of these men are as evil as Drake, but what if they
aren’t? We came here tonight for Drake, not for a slaughter. I trust everyone
to follow my orders but Milo. I won’t know if he doesn’t, either. Milo knows
how to sink a body into the earth so no one will ever find it. I hope that on
this one thing he will do as I ask and refocus my thoughts on what I’m doing.