Secret of Betrayal: Book Two of The Destroyer Trilogy (11 page)

“Libby, please,” Lance begs.

“Why do you need to know that?” I demand.

“Because I still don’t trust him, and I think
he’s an idiot who’s clearly not good enough for you.”

“Not a valid reason,” I say. “Milo has never
given me or you any reason to doubt him or to think he’s going to hurt me. I’ve
put up with your suspicions because I know you really believe Milo is
dangerous, but until you have actual proof of him being a problem, I don’t want
to hear another word about it. And Milo is not an idiot. Quit talking about him
like he’s beneath you or you won’t get another word out of me about anything,
including missions.”

“Come on …”

“No, Lance, I mean it. And besides, I wasn’t lying
to you when I said I went home alone. I wasn't with Milo last night. He dropped
me off at the motel, and then he went home. Maybe you should trust
me
a
little more.”

His mouth pops open to argue, but he stops
himself. It takes him a moment to continue. “You woke me up last night. It
wasn’t pleasant. It felt a lot like how I used to feel when we were alone.”
Lance closes his eyes and shakes his head. “It hurt more than anything to think
you and Milo were …”

“We weren’t!” I hiss. “I wasn't ready to go that
far with you, and I’m not ready for that with Milo, either. I’m not lying when
I say I wasn't with Milo last night.”

“Then what was going on? You woke me up from a
pretty deep sleep. That wasn’t some reaction to a movie or a dream. It was too
strong for that.”

Nothing I say is going to make him back down.
Lance is relentless when he gets something between his teeth. He’ll badger me
until I break. I resort to begging. “Lance, please just leave this alone.”

“I want an
explan
…”

“Class!”
Guardian Clement
calls out. “Gather round, I want you all to meet someone.”

The static electricity that runs over my skin
makes me jump to my feet, but I don’t turn around. Lance is staring at me, and
for once I’m glad of it. I reach for him to make sure he keeps his eyes on me,
but his gaze slides past me and his eyes light up with fire. One by one his
muscles tense under my hands. The force of him trying to push past my body
nearly topples me. I’ve never seen him tap this much power. I have to summon up
every ounce of Strength in my body to hold him back without hurting him.

“No, Lance, please don’t,” I gasp.

“Let go of me. You don’t see who it is. It’s …”
My pleading expression begs him to stop. And then he catches on. “You know who
it is, don’t you?”

Lance shakes his head in confusion. “Why are you
trying to stop me? That’s the guy that nearly killed Milo. He might be here for
you this time.”

“He’s not.”

“How do you know that?”

“He’s just here to help Guardian Clement and
patrol the school. Braden is our new school Guardian. His Captain sent him here
to keep an eye on me, not to kill me,” I say in a rush.

“And you know that how?”

“He told me, okay?”

“When?”
Lance demands.

Holding Lance back is getting even harder. My
feet slide across the slippery mat a few inches.
“A few weeks
ago.
He pulled me out of Spiritualism to let me know he was here.”

Lance’s eyes fly wide.
My
shoulders slump.
I really shouldn’t have said that much.

“Spiritualism?”
Lance
hisses, grabbing me roughly by the shoulder. My nose is millimeters away from
his. “Those weird feelings I was getting from you that day, and ever since
then. That’s the reason? You’ve been talking to him for the last two weeks! You
were lying again?”

“I didn’t want you and Milo to freak out.”

Shaking his head, Lance eases his grip on me
slightly. “I don’t get it. The stuff I get from you during the day sometimes,
it isn’t you being scared, it’s … frustrated, and happy. No, more than happy.
It was like …” His hand falls from my shoulder in disbelief. “It feels like
last night, only not as intense.”

I can’t breathe. I can’t respond or react.

“Libby, please tell me you weren’t with
him
last night,” Lance begs.

I want to deny it, lie to his face again. But I
promised. “Lance, please just listen to me for a second.”

Lance steps forward and grabs me again. My head
snaps back at the force. The prickly feeling explodes over my body, a clear
indication that Braden is watching Lance and me very closely. If Lance gets any
rougher, I have the sickening feeling that Braden might feel the need to
intervene. Lance is completely oblivious to that fact, of course.

“What are you doing?” Lance demands. “He tried
to take Milo, and eventually he’s going to come after you. What are you doing
even talking to him, let alone … let alone … Damn it, Libby, are you sleeping
with him?”

“No!” I snap at him as quietly and forcefully as
possible. “I’m not doing anything with him. I promise.”

He doesn’t believe me. I grab his left wrist and
press my first two fingers against his Guardian emblem. I’m not a Guardian, so
there’s no physical catalyst that will force me to tell him the truth, but it’s
the best I can offer. Lance knows I understand how sacred making a promise on
the Guardian emblem is. I’ll just have to hope he hasn’t lost all his trust in
me.

“Lance, I promise. I promise I won’t lie to you
about anything, including Milo. And I promise you that I am not sleeping with
Braden. I’m not sleeping with anyone, and I don’t plan on changing that any time
soon. Braden broke into my room last night. He wanted to know what happened
with Casey. It turns out he’s also a
Spiritualist,
and
he thinks he can help me get over my block and reach the spirit world. It’s not
the first time I’ve talked to him, either. He found me later that night when he
attacked Milo, and he’s been bugging me at school since he got here,” I say.

“And, yes, being around Braden does something to
me. I want to hate him for coming after Milo, but I just can’t. I have …
feelings … or something … for him that I don’t want, and I’ve told him as much.
I love Milo. I want to tell you that I’ll never speak to him again, but I can’t
because I think he can help me get to the Ciphers, and because I think he’ll
eventually change his mind about coming after me.”

My blatant honesty rocks Lance. A good chunk of
that spiel I never planned on telling anyone, let alone him, but I had to do
it. It was the only way to restore some of Lance’s belief in me. I just hope it
works. He’s still staring at me. I hold my breath and wait.

“You have feelings for him? What kind of
feelings?” Lance asks.

“I don’t know. I like him, as a person, but
there’s something more than that, too. I can’t explain it, and I don’t want it,
but it’s there.” I know none of that makes sense, but there it is. I wait for
Lance to attack me for this whole stupid situation and tell me what an idiot I
am.

“You realize he might just be playing you to get
close to you, right?” Lance asks slowly.

“Yes,” I say with a sigh of relief, “but I think
it’s worth the risk.”

Lance’s anger dissipates. His hands, which were
trying to shake me to death a few seconds ago, rest absentmindedly on the back
of my neck. Braden doesn’t appreciate that gesture, either. I ignore Braden,
but I still knock Lance’s hands away from me. He barely even notices. He’s too
busy thinking.

“You realize you’re not just risking a broken
heart if you let Braden get close to you and help you. You’re risking your
life, Libby. If you don’t change his mind, he’ll be the one to kill you. No
matter how he feels about you personally, he’ll be the closest Guardian with
the best access. His Captain will give the order and he’ll follow it.”

“I know, but I have to do this. Milo’s mom isn’t
helping me enough. She’s a great therapist, and I have no doubt she could guide
or manipulate the heck out of anyone she meets, but getting in and out of the
spirit world isn’t her area of expertise. She has a hard enough time going by
herself, let alone teaching me how to get there,” I say. “If Braden thinks he
can help me, I have to let him try. I have to get to the Ciphers as soon as
possible.”

“I don’t like this, Libby. It’s too dangerous.”

I shake my head at him. “It’s too dangerous not
to do it. Without the Ciphers behind me, I won’t survive past my eighteenth
birthday. And you know it.”

Lance loves to argue. We spent a lot of our
childhood arguing with each other about who
was
right,
what the rules to a game were, and a million other things, but when Lance
realizes he’s wrong he knows how to let it go.
Mostly.

“I want to be there the next time you meet with
Braden.”

“No.”

“Why not?”
Lance asks.

“Because I know you too well,
Lance.
The first thing you’ll do when you see him is punch him in the
face.” And then Braden, full Guardian with complete access to his talents, will
pound Lance into the ground.

Lance grins. “And that would be a bad thing
why?”

“Because he might not help me if you hit him,
and then I’ll die,” I say.

That wipes Lance’s smile off his face. He won’t
risk my life for his pride. “I won’t do anything that would put you at risk,
including letting you meet with him alone.”

“I can’t have you in the room with me.” I shake
my head when he tries to argue. “You know how difficult it is of me to use my
Spiritualism. Knowing you’re next to me feeling my frustrations, wanting to
punch
Braden,
and everything else that will be going
through your head and heart will make it impossible for me to do anything. If
you’re right next to me, I’ll feel everything you’re feeling and get distracted.”

Lance works his jaw back and forth, his
irritation at my logic apparent in the motion. “I’ll wait outside in my car,
but that’s as far as I’m going.”

I sigh, knowing it’s the best I will be able to
get from him.
“Fine.”

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.