Secret of Betrayal: Book Two of The Destroyer Trilogy (12 page)

Milo turns off the car he looks over at me. “Are
you ready for this?”

He’s talking about working with his mom again,
but it’s an appropriate question for what is on my mind right now. Either way,
my answer is the same. “Not really.”

“You’re going to be fine. Come on.”

“Actually,” I say, holding him back when he
moves to get out, “I need to talk to you about something first.”

Milo settles back into his seat. The seriousness
in my voice is hard to miss, but I am sure he’s picked up on the slight tremor
of fear as well. “What do you need to talk to me about? Does it have something
to do with why you sent Lance off today? Usually he’s pretty determined to stay
glued to your side.”

“Lance is watching my motel room.”

“Why?”

“I think Guardians are watching it. Apparently
they have been for a while. They’ve left me alone so far, but I’d like to know
exactly who is keeping tabs on me. I only sent Lance because he might recognize
some of them since he knows a lot of the local Guardians.”

Milo doesn’t seem to appreciate Lance’s
usefulness, but he seems to sense this isn’t the something I wanted to discuss
with him. “How did you find out Guardians are watching your apartment? If
neither of us spotted them before now, someone must have told you. Who was it?”

I try very hard to keep my breathing slow and
steady. The effort makes my Naturalism hum. “Last night when you dropped me
off, I ran back out for you because there was someone in my room.
A Guardian.”

“What!” Milo exclaims. “Why didn’t you get me?
Call me? Why did you wait so long to even tell me what happened?”

“You were already gone when I ran back out, and
before I could call you my phone was taken.”

“You could have done something!”

“Once he told me why he was there, I realized I
didn’t need to.”

Milo stares at me. The utter disbelief in his
eyes that I could ever say something so ridiculous makes me wilt. “What reason
could there possibly for you to be okay with a Guardian breaking into your
motel room?”

“He wasn’t there to hurt me. He just wanted
answers about what happened to Casey.”

“Casey?” Milo asks, completely confused. “How
would the Guardians know anything about Casey unless they were there that day?”
Milo frowns, his expression becoming even more muddled as he thinks he’s
figured it out. “The school Guardian was in your room last night? What was
Guardian
Cogburn
thinking?”

Despite my Naturalism, my heart starts racing. I
have never wanted to lie to someone so badly before. “
Cogburn
isn’t our school Guardian anymore. Braden is.”

He seems to recognize the name, but not why it
is so familiar. I can hardly blame him. Braden’s name was mentioned once at the
theater. Milo had suffered a blow to the head and various other injuries. If he
were to see Braden, I have no doubt he would recognize him in an instant, but
his name takes a full thirty seconds to place. When Milo does make the
connection his entire body goes rigid.

“Braden,” he says through his teeth. “That’s the
guy that attacked me at the theater. What the hell is he doing at our school!
What was he doing in your room last night?”

I wait for the sound of Milo’s perfectly
justified yelling to die away before answering.

“His punishment for letting you go was to be
assigned to our school so he could keep track of me. He was in my room last
night because I’ve refused to answer his questions about what happened to Casey
at school.”

“And breaking into your room was going to fix
that?” Milo explodes.

I bite the inside of my cheeks, drawing blood.
My hands are gripping the sides of my seat so hard I fear I’m going to ruin the
upholstery. I don’t think I can tell Milo that it worked, that I told Braden
the details of saving Casey. He’ll think I’ve lost my mind. I can’t bear the
idea of him looking at me like that. My silence betrays me. When I brave
looking up, I see the disbelief and confusion bordering on disgust that shines
in his eyes.

“You told him?” he asks. “Why?”

“Because … Milo he swore a Guardian promise
before I told him anything, I promise. And I didn’t tell him why the Ciphers
wanted to talk to me. He still has no idea about that.”

“Why did you tell him anything?” Milo demands.

“I told him because he already knew some of what
happened. He’s a Spiritualist. If I didn’t, he was going to invent his own
explanation and maybe tell his captain.”

“So?”

The words that form in my mind stick there and
refuse to leave. Thank goodness they finally do. There is no way I can tell
Milo about the strange familiarity I feel around Braden, or about the feelings
of safety he inspires. I can’t tell him that I trust Braden way more than I
should despite knowing I have little reason to. I can’t explain any of that to
him. I don’t understand it myself and all I would be accomplishing would be
hurting Milo.

Milo waits for my answer, and all I can offer
is, “Milo, I know what Braden did, but he’s offering to help us.”

“And you’re actually considering it? Are you
crazy?”

I stare at Milo, my hands tightening in
frustration. “Crazy? No, I’m not crazy. I’m desperate! Your mom isn’t helping
me enough. It’s not her fault, but she has hardly any experience in the spirit
world. I need another teacher, but not even Mr. Walters could find someone
willing to work with me.”

“And it just so happens that this Braden guy
can? Doesn’t that seem a little too convenient? You can’t possibly see this as
anything other than a trap!”

“I see it as my only chance to get into the
spirit world. I don’t know what else to do!”

Pure frustration buzzes over Milo’s skin. It
feels like sitting next to a ball of static electricity. I understand his
response, I honestly do, but what other choice do I have at this point? No one
else will help me. I have to take the risk with Braden.

“Milo,” I say softly, “I know this isn’t an easy
thing for you to accept. I wouldn’t ask you if I didn’t feel like it was the
only way. Braden says I have a spiritual block. He says he knows how to help
me.”

“Again, too convenient to be
believable,” Milo growls.
“Why would a Cipher hunter know more about
this than my mom, who actually practices her Spiritualism every day? There is
really  no
way he can help you.”

“Your mom hasn’t been able to figure out why I
can’t get to the spirit world. Believe
me,
I know this
is a huge risk. You can be there when I meet with him. I know you’ll protect me
from anything he might try. I don’t want to turn to someone like Braden for
help, but I
have
to get into the spirit world soon. Everything we’re
doing will be for nothing if the Guardians kill all the Ciphers before I can
even get there. Please, Milo. I need you to trust me on this. I think the risk
is worth taking.”

Fury slams against me. “Well I don’t!”

Closing my eyes, I focus on my emotional blocks.
As close as I am to him, there’s no way I can block everything. Even dulled, I
can feel every exquisite emotion that runs through him. I practically relive
the hatred he feels for the Guardians attacking Celia, chasing him, hurting me,
trying to arrest him. Even the hurt it caused him to discover his idols were
nothing more than mercenaries, spirals through the car. My body sinks into the
seat under the weight of it. I don’t think I can overcome something so
consuming. Maybe it’s wrong of me to even try, but I have to.

“I have no other options,” I say firmly, my
frustration slipping into my voice. “I
have
to do this. I know it’s hard
for you to accept, but I need you to back me up on this.”

“No. I don’t trust the Guardians. I never will.
And I won’t turn to them for help. No matter what promises this guy made to
you, he’s lying. All the Guardians want is to destroy you before you can do the
same to them. There is no way
we’re trusting
them.”

“That’s it? You say no, like it’s all your
decision,
and I just have to live with it?” I demand. “I’m
asking you to support me on this because I care about you, but this isn’t your
decision alone. I want us to make this choice together.”

“I can’t believe you’re even thinking about
this! He tried to
kill
me.”

Milo has every right to be resistant, but I
can’t stop the irritation that builds under my skin. “How am I supposed to
figure this out without a guide? I need his help!”

“You’re the Destroyer,” Milo says. “You can do
anything you want, on your own. You’ll be able to push through this thing
without anyone else.”

“And what if I can’t?”

The anger humming around the car is still very
present, but it does lessen some when Milo reaches over and takes my hand. “You
used to get mad at me if I doubted you were capable of doing something on your
own, but now you’re doing the same thing. You can do this without taking
dangerous risks like trusting a Guardian.”

Forcing a smile onto my face is difficult, but I
manage a small one for him. His belief in me was one of the things that drew me
to Milo when we first started hanging out. I love it that he trusts my power to
overcome anything. It’s nice to have someone believe in you so completely. But
this time Milo believes in me too much. I can’t do this on my own.

I looked up what little I could find about
spiritual blocks. There wasn’t much research, but I did find out there is
literally no way for a person to independently break a block. Breaking the
block can only be accomplished by first getting into the spirit world.
Unfortunately, having a block means you can’t get to the spirit world. You need
a guide to get the process started. After that, I have no idea. The
explanations were very vague, because apparently it’s completely different for
each person.

I need help.

“Look,” Milo says, “why don’t we go inside and
talk to my mom about this. Maybe once she knows what the problem is she’ll be
able to help. And if she can’t, I promise we’ll find someone who can, someone
we can actually trust not to try and kill you in the process.”

Again, I turn the corners of my mouth up by
force and nod my head. I have absolutely no faith in this plan, but I go along
with it because I can think of no other options. When we reach the house, Milo
calls out for his mom. After the dismal session we had yesterday, she walks
into the living room without her usual bubbly smile. Subdued, but not ready to
give up, she settles herself on the couch.

“Mom, we think we might know why Libby can’t
reach the spirit world,” Milo says.

Surprise makes Mrs. Hanover scoot forward on the
couch cushion. I can see the hope that our never-ending rounds of failure will
soon be put to an end. For a moment I think maybe Milo is right. Maybe she can
help me. “What’s your idea?” she asks.

“We think Libby may have a spiritual block.”

The corner of Mrs. Hanover’s eye twitches. I
don’t think Milo notices because he’s looking at me instead of his mom. I do
notice, and my last grain of hope dies in a flash of despair. Milo looks over
at his mom. All signs of doubt disappear from her expression.

“We’re not completely sure, but if it is the
problem, you can help her with that, right?”

She smiles at her son. “I’ve never done
something like this before, but I will certainly try.” She switches her gaze to
me. “I’m sure we’ll be able to figure it out, Libby. Don’t worry.”

“Great,” I say with more enthusiasm than I feel.
Her words are confident, but she isn’t. The emotions I’m getting from her are
confirmed for me when she turns back to Milo.

“Milo, your dad is in the back yard waiting for
you. He asked me to send you out to him as soon as you got home. He has some
agility exercises for you to practice today.” She holds up a hand when he
starts to object. “It will be easier for Libby and me to work if we’re alone.
Fewer distractions.”

The scowl on his face shows how much Milo
appreciates the idea, but he knows I need to be
very
focused when I train with Spiritualism. Leaning over, he kisses me. I hold onto
him for a little longer than necessary. I try to let his optimism and belief
rub off on me. When he finally pulls back, his hand trails softly down my
cheek. He smiles.

“This is going to work,” he says. “I believe in
you. You don’t have to trust anyone but yourself, okay?”

I nod, but I don’t make any promises. He walks
away to find his dad, leaving me to face Mrs. Hanover. The casual, calm
demeanor she held onto while Milo was in the room has vanished. My shoulders
sag.  “You can’t help me, can you?”

She shakes her head. “My spiritualism is
powerful, but you already know my talent for using it runs rather one-sided.
Anything to do with the spirit world itself is incredibly difficult for me. I
know very little about spiritual blocks. As I’m sure you’ve already discovered
,
I would have to be able to lead you to the barrier between
this world and the spirit world to even get you started. The fact that I
haven’t been able to do that for you in the last month should make it clear
that I am incapable of helping you with this. Even if I could, I have no idea
what it would take after that.”

I nod slowly. “That’s what I thought.”

“I didn’t want to disappoint Milo again, so I said
I would try,” she says, “but if you have anyone else that could help you …”

“Even if it’s someone who’s
supposed to be my enemy?”

Looking at the doorway where she watched Milo
walk away only a few minutes earlier, Mrs. Hanover twists her hands together.
“You can’t do this on your own, and I can’t help you.”

“But …”

She looks up. The steady gaze she pins on me is
unnerving. “Do you trust this person?”