Lance has his blade out and is about to grab Braden when everything clicks.
Desperate strength whips my hand out from under my body and grabs Braden’s shirt, rolling the both of us. I slam his body into the ground and straddle his chest before Lance can get to him. My hands are pinning him down, but when I tap my Concealment and throw it at Braden it’s as if he’s been strapped to the floor with steel bands. There’s a look of relief in his eyes. He thinks I’m about to kill him.
I’m not. But he’s going to wish he were already dead in a few seconds.
My mind dives back into my memory six years, to the night my dad nearly killed me. In a fraction of a second, I scoop up all the information I hadn’t even realized was there. My training this last year has opened my eyes to what I already knew. The force of my Concealment pressing against his body holds him, but now I put it to work seeking out his talents. There are only three. I know each of them intimately. Our connection as Spiritual Companions, teacher and student, friends, and more, all make it so simple to find and wrap each of them in my Concealment, a power meant to seek and bind the truth, temporarily twisted into something much darker, something I never imagined I would ever use.
That was the easy part.
I hold my power for just a second, terrified by what I’m about to do. Tears spill down my cheeks with abandon and I do nothing to stop them from falling. Braden is waiting for the assault that will save him from hurting me. Lance is standing in front of me, staring, confused with no clue of what I’m about to do. Milo is holding for now because he can feel me using my power, but it may not last. Milo watches, wondering what I will do, hoping I will kill Braden. I blanch at the thought. It’s the only way. Braden will never stop trying to hurt me. His Oath is unbreakable, even by me. As long as he’s a Guardian, he’s bound by it to kill me.
As long as he’s a Guardian.
Slowly, I begin pulling. Braden’s scream fills the room. My face twists in wretched guilt as his terrified eyes stare up at me. “I’m so sorry,” I whisper, and keep pulling.
His body arches in pain as I tear at his soul. It’s the only way. It’s the only way. I keep repeating it to myself as I rip apart who he is. My own power starts vibrating under the strain. The stress reaches my body, and my hands and arms start shaking as well. For a moment, I am terrified that I’m not strong enough, that I’ve just killed us both. But as I think of ending Braden’s life, I drag more deeply on my Strength than I ever have before and force one last bit of power into my straining Concealment.
Power snaps back at me in a terrible backlash, and I can feel my body being flung to the ground. Away from Braden. I try to pick myself up—I have to make sure he’s all right—but fire so intense it makes me scream sears into my left wrist. My body curls around my hand as I writhe in pain. It seems to take forever to ease. I can hear Milo mumbling something to me. I don’t understand what he’s saying. I have to get to Braden and make sure he survived. I push away from Milo and stutter when I see both Lance and Braden lying on the floor. Lance! I completely forgot about what that would do to him. I cringe, but he sits up and shakes his head, looking no worse than I probably do. He’ll be okay.
I drop next to Braden and grab his shoulders, shaking him and pulling him up to face me. His eyes roll open slowly and struggle to focus on mine. When they do finally see me, he snaps awake and grabs me with such tenacity that I am terrified it didn’t work. For a moment, he sits completely motionless, trying to figure out what just happened. I think everyone in the room is doing the exact same thing.
“I … don’t want to kill you anymore,” he says slowly. His smile grows. “I don’t want to kill you anymore!”
He sandwiches my face between his hands and kisses me hard and fast before pulling back again. Milo erupts, grabbing Braden and flinging him back. “Get away from her!”
Braden stumbles up to standing. Milo tries to grab Braden again, but this time it is Dean who steps in and blocks him. Braden stares at me in joyous disbelief. “Libby, how? Nothing could break that. What did you do?” he asks, the last of his words trailing off suddenly as he catches a glimpse of his right wrist.
My breath catches, and I can’t breathe or move or think. His hands come up in front of him as he stares at his bare wrist. He rubs his finger over the place where his diktats used to be in utter disbelief. My own hands press against my mouth in fear of his reaction. The motion draws his eyes to my hands, to the small second row of diktats ringing my left wrist. Three newly raised bars of scarred flesh slowly turning black, his talents, the ones I stole, stare back at him. His fear, loss, and confusion swirl around us like a hurricane. When he finally looks back at me, I flinch away from his haunted eyes and voice.
“What did you do?”
Chapter 9
Fair Chance
“Braden, wait,” I beg as he pulls away from me. He stares at me like I’m going to chop him into tiny pieces and serve him to my dinner guests. I don’t know what to do. He is practically all I’ve thought about for the last two days. Getting him back was all I cared about. I did it. I saved him and stopped him from killing me, but what did it cost? My throat is killing me and will probably bruise from him trying to crush it, but I know he didn’t want to do it. I’ve already forgiven him. Having him back is all that matters to me. Apparently that’s not enough for him.
“You stole my talents?” Braden asks in disbelief, and not disbelief that I was strong enough to do it, just that I actually did.
“I had to. It was the only way to stop you.” Please understand that, please.
His eyes can’t seem to leave his smooth wrist. “They’re gone. I can’t believe they’re gone.”
“Braden, I’m sorry. Please, I had to do it,” I beg. I take a step closer and he flinches away from me. My hand jumps to cover my trembling lips. Tears that want so desperately to fall sting my eyes. I hold them back and plead with him to forgive me.
Braden finally looks up. “I can’t … this isn’t right. I have to go.”
He starts forward, but I grab his arm. I can’t let him leave. He shivers and tries to pull away from me. I’m not holding him that tight, but he can’t get away. His talentless body can’t stand up against me. The grief in his features steals my hope. Braden tries to pull his arm out of my grip again. I can’t let go of him. Only when his expression suddenly darkens into pain do I realize that I’m squeezing his arm to the point of hurting him. I gasp and let go, wanting to kick myself as I watch the blood race back to his fingers. Bruises are already starting to form.
“Braden, I …”
“Please, Libby, just let me go. Just let me go,” he begs.
“Braden, don’t leave,” I cry. He can’t fight anyone off, now. He’ll be killed for sure. “It’s not safe. What if the Guardians come to check up on you? You can’t go home.”
“I can’t stay here,” he says, and stumbles toward the front door.
I react, running for the door, but Milo grabs me before I can get very far. “You’re not going after him,” he seethes. “He’s done enough damage already. Let him go.”
“But …”
Lance’s touch is much softer. He places his hand on my shoulder. “Libby, let him go.”
Yanking away from them both doesn’t get me very far. Performing the Serqet on Braden took too much out of me. All I can do is argue. “Lance, he’ll get hurt.”
“Libby,” he says, “his talents may be gone, but he still has his training. He’s not going to let them corner him. Just give him some time to calm down, okay? He’ll come back. He’ll realize you did what you had to.”
My face twists into a wry mask of contempt. That’s what he said about Milo, too. He’ll understand. He’ll forgive you, Libby. What if he’s wrong? I didn’t realize that while I was trying to stop Braden from leaving, everyone had gathered around us. Daniel speaking right behind me startles me and makes me spin around and fall back into Lance. My entire body wobbles. I feel like I’m about to collapse,
all of the sudden. Lance supports me and Daniel repeats what he just said.
“What on earth made you think to try that on him?” he asks. His eyes aren’t on me, though, but looking over at the door his surrogate grandson just disappeared through. I can tell he’s itching to go after him.
“It was what Mr. Walters said about him not being the first to betray me, and that I had to learn from it. I realized my dad was the first. All at once, I knew how he did it. It was the only thing I could do, Daniel,” I say, begging him to understand at least. Tears of confused regret and hurt pool in my eyes. I did the right thing, didn’t I?
“Not even I can break a Guardian Oath. I knew the only way to make him stop without killing him was to make him stop being a Guardian. It was the only way.”
Daniel steps forward and pulls me against his small frame. “I know, Libby. It’s okay.”
“There’s nothing we can do about him now,” Milo says gruffly. “There’s nothing we should do after what he just did. If he wants to leave and get killed by the Guardians, so be it. Why don’t we get back to figuring out what we’re going to do next?”
My face crumbles at his callousness. A look of disgust flashes in his eyes before turning and walking away from me. He’s furious at Braden for trying to kill me and for kissing me, but judging by the look he just gave me, he’s even more angry at me for letting it all happen. There is so much I regret, so much I will never be able to atone for, but sparing Braden’s life is one choice I will defend to the end.
Lance walks over to me, and quietly says, “He’ll be alright, Libby. He knows how to keep himself safe. Let’s just focus on something else for a while. Maybe Daniel can talk to him later.”
If he’ll talk to anyone at this point, it will be Daniel. Maybe he can convince him to forgive me. Everyone else is staring at me, waiting. Finally, I force myself to nod and follow Lance over to the couch. Everyone is slow to come down off the shock of what just happened, but Lance and Milo push everyone back to talking. Their reasons are vastly different, I’m sure, but it helps the room move on. The argument that had been raging before Braden’s sudden arrival reappears in no time. The clamoring voices give me an instant headache.
“Stop,” I bark at them. They all stare at me. “We’re taking a Seeker from right here in Albuquerque. No more arguing about it.”
“Libby, it’ll be safer to try somewhere else,” Lance argues.
“No, we have a better opportunity here. They’re going to be digging out Blackwood and his buddies for a while and trying to sort out what happened. They’re going to be a mess, whether they up their security or not,” I say.
Even more of a reason for me is that I refuse to leave Albuquerque while Braden is so vulnerable. He has always tried to protect me. Well, now it’s my turn, whether he wants it or not. Lance doesn’t look convinced, so I scramble to think up another reason, one I can say in front of everyone without causing another fight.
“Plus,” I say, “I’m already going to be in deep with the Concealment officers for not showing up for school the last two days. I’m surprised they haven’t already tried to drag me back.”
Without Braden to pull me out of class whenever I need to skip out, I’m going to have a much harder time sneaking away. I don’t notice the quiet for several long seconds. When I do, I realize the others are glancing over at Lance anxiously. I turn to look at him as well.
“What?”
For some reason, Lance looks over at Milo and frowns. Milo shakes his head and gestures for Lance to go ahead and tell me whatever it is. “You’ve been expelled,” Lance says. “It was all over school today and yesterday. Nobody knows why, but Milo thinks Blackwood called the principal after you unlocked the Ciphers and ordered her to kick you out.”
I hate school. I hate the kids and teachers who refuse to look at me and talk about me behind my back. I hate having no lunch hour and extra classes. Why do I feel so shocked, then? I should be happy, thrilled. Who cares? But no matter how much I hate school, it is the one normal thing about my life. I show up every morning, turn in homework, and eat gross food. Blackwood has taken that away from me, too.
“I guess … well …” I just splutter nonsense for a second. Hope is staring at me like I’m a freak, which I am, but still. I can bet school is the last thing on her frenzied mind.
“Maybe you can appeal it, if you want to,” Lance offers. “If the Guardians aren’t going to publicize everything we’ve done lately, Principal Andrews won’t have anything to use against you.”
I can’t believe I have to fight to get back into high school. “Yeah, um, sure, Lance. We can talk about it later, I guess.”
“What about the Seeker?” Milo asks. “Whether or not you go back to school can wait.”
His question stings. I am not what he wants to think about right now. I have to take a deep breath and refocus. Milo is right. I need to stay focused on the Seekers. I can’t let too many other things crowd into my head right now.
“We’re capturing a Seeker here. End of discussion.”
Lance isn’t thrilled, but he is willing to stick by me. “What first, then?”
“Surveillance,” I say wearily. “We’re going to need surveillance on the compound to find out what they’ll change, numbers, patrol schedules, everything.”
Dean and Milo already look like they’re working out schedules in their heads. Lance is still watching me closely.
“We’re not going to be able to grab some newbie on ground patrol again,” I say. It strains my already fragile mind to focus on this so hard, but I force myself to make the effort. “We need a senior Seeker, a Prime Seeker if possible, someone who will know about the prophecy and whatever they can do to Ciphers. I don’t really want to try breaking into the compound, so I want people watching where the Seekers go when they leave. Lance, you’ll have to have one of the Ciphers, or me, with you so you know which ones are Seekers. We just have to find a hole in one of their security measures, and we can grab them.”
“Those of us in school will have to take shifts before and after classes,” Milo says, reminding me that I am not a part of that group. “Hammond, Kayla, and Daniel will have to take the majority of the day shifts. I’ll get a schedule worked out.”
I just nod at him and rub my head. It’s probably not even noon yet, but I seriously want to crawl into my bed and stay there until tomorrow morning. After I find some aspirin. After that, they all start talking about how to best start training the other Ciphers, the ones that aren’t lying in body bags in the Guardians’ basement. My stomach rolls at the memory. I have to close my eyes and make myself think of something else. I throw out ideas and offer suggestions about getting everyone trained as quickly as possible.
I try to suggest we start with the Canadian Ciphers, and then send them back to the others to start working, but Lance seems determined to keep as big of a guard around me as possible. Even though Braden isn’t a threat anymore, there are still plenty of other people who want to kill me. I shoot down the idea of me travelling around to the different safe houses on the weekends. Not because I’m against seeing the world, but partly because of Braden, and partly because I know from experience that pushing myself to the breaking point doesn’t accomplish anything. I want to visit each safe house, but it has to be a reasonable schedule.
In the end, we settle on an idea that surprisingly enough comes from Hope. It’s a scaled back schedule of me visiting the other Ciphers. Our Canadian friends will stay, and we’ll send word to the other safe houses to send five of their most talented members here to Albuquerque. They can all stay at my friend, Inquisitor Moore’s, weekend house and start training with me and the rest of my team. As soon as they’re ready, we’ll send them back to help train others and bring in a new batch.
Lance isn’t thrilled that I’ve gotten rid of my house guests, all accept Hope—who absolutely refuses to leave my side until every Guardian on the planet is dead. Yikes. Milo wants to bring more people in despite the s
tir that would cause. Dean, who has only had his own talents for barely more than half a year, looks wary of trying to train other people, but he’s an incredibly fast learner. He has passed Milo in quite a few areas already. He’ll be fine.
Eventually, the objections die down. The loss of adrenaline and general mayhem starts to wear on everyone. Daniel offers to start making lunch, and I notice for the first time Hammond’s anxiety about Kayla. He pesters Dean until he agrees to drive him over to Mr. Walters’ house. No wonder he jumped at the chance to come with us. Kayla offered to come first. It makes me happy to know at least one couple hasn’t been torn apart by my chaotic destiny.
With everyone sufficiently distracted, I stand up and make for my bedroom. I guess not everyone was distracted, because Lance slips in behind me and closes the door. For a moment, I hesitate, and then I let myself fall against him. His arms slip around me and block out everything else for a few precious seconds. At least I still have one person who loves me. It’s only the love of a friend, now, but it’s whole and beautiful. He holds me like a big brother trying to comfort a hurt and lonely little sister, just the way he used to when we were small. I loved being his girlfriend when we were in that stage, but I think this is where we’ve always been meant to stay, friends that would give anything for each other and never ask for a single thing in return.
“Libby, I’m worried about you,” Lance says, pulling back a little.
“What’s so new about that?” I joke.
He smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “I’m serious. You’ve got too much on your plate with Milo and Braden. I know you. I know how much you let things like this get to you. What happened with both of them isn’t your fault. You did what you had to do. You have to put it aside for now and focus on the bigger picture.”
Darkening Chaos: Book Three of The Destroyer Trilogy Page 8