The Thorn Chronicles-Books 1-4: Kissed, Destroyed, Secrets, and Lies

by Kimberly Loth

  A lot.

  On Tuesday, I joined her.

  On Wednesday, my dad brought home two gallons of ice cream.

  We cried some more.

  On Thursday, we ate it all.

  But the tears still came.

  On Friday, we shopped from open to close.

  Finally, the tears stopped, and sorrow set in.

  The most expensive rose ever created took fifteen years and cost five million dollars. It’s called Juliet Rose. It’s a pale peach cup rose with a very light fragrance. Obviously its creator was not a Guardian, or it wouldn’t have taken as long.

  ON NEW YEAR’S EVE, I went out to visit the roses in my garden. I hadn’t been out there since Alejandro died. There would be no funeral, which was hard but understandable. A funeral like that would attract many Guardians to a single location, which would make them too large of a target. Maybe after all of this was over, we could have a ceremony, but not until then. I knew that I had stopped the murders. But I also knew that we had to find the people who did it and bring them to justice. For Alejandro.

  In the cold, most of my roses would be hibernating, but I had a feeling my Destroyer rose would still be in bloom.

  It had snowed last night and I was grateful for my boots. The snow wasn’t deep, but it covered the ground with a gorgeous, bright white coat. I followed the path through the trees. I went under the trellis and, sure enough, all of my roses had gone brown. All except the Destroyer rose.

  It had grown three feet since I had seen it last. Before, it had several different kinds of blooms. Each Destroyer’s energy that I had plugged into it had its own section. But the whole rose had now changed. All the blooms were exactly the same. A deep dark purple edged with black. They were the most beautiful roses I’d ever seen. The blooms were enormous and at least a hundred hung heavy on the thick branches. The branches had no leaves, but two-inch thorns that curved into deadly blades.

  I reached up to sniff a bloom. It smelled of secrets. Of Kai and of Puck and my love for each of them. It made my heart ache.

  I backed away from the rose, clearing my head. Footsteps crunched in the snow behind me.

  I turned and found Kai coming through the trellis, along with a creepy-looking Destroyer. He had a sharp chin and greasy hair. He followed Kai with a smirk on his face. I hated guys like him. They reminded me of Dwayne.

  “Peter says he has info on the Destroyers who killed the Guardians.”

  “Seriously man, we had to come out here and freeze our asses off so that she could be a part of this?”

  “Naomi is leading the investigation since her uncle was among those murdered. Otherwise, I wouldn’t give a damn about the Guardian murders.”

  Peter nodded. “Whatever, man. She has you whipped.”

  Kai laughed. “Maybe. But don’t piss her off too bad. You have no idea what she is capable of.”

  “The information,” I interrupted.

  The man shivered and started bouncing on the balls of his feet.

  “Last week, I was down partying in Fayetteville, and this Destroyer starts bragging about how he killed a Guardian. Said he slit the poor sucker’s throat and watched him bleed out.”

  “Does this Destroyer have a name?”

  “Yeah. Tyler. He heads up the drug trade down there.”

  I looked at Kai. He nodded. “Yeah, I know him. We can go visit him today if you want.”

  You can go. I dismissed the man in my head. He looked confused. Maybe I should have been more direct.

  “Wait, don’t I get a reward or something.”

  Kai pulled out his wallet and handed him a hundred. He scoffed.

  “I don’t want this. I want freedom to use more power, or permission to touch a few girls. Come on, give me something.”

  “What makes you think I can do that?”

  “You know the Master Destroyer. Everyone knows you are his right hand man. Rumor is that it’s her dad.” He pointed toward me.

  “Sorry, no. I’m not asking him for that. Take the cash.”

  The man turned around and muttered. “I liked it better when the old Master was in charge. At least then I could do what I wanted.”

  Without much thinking, I sent him pain. I didn’t want him to spread rumors that the old ways were better because we could lose what little control we had. Peter gripped his head and spun in circles. I stepped around him to talk to Kai. I released the pain.

  Kai wove his fingers through mine. “We are going to find the sons of bitches who did this. I promise.”

  “I know.”

  I was facing Kai when his hand stiffened in mine. He nodded toward my rose.

  Peter was approaching the rose bush. He seemed enthralled by it. I thought about stopping him, but I was curious as to other’s reactions to it.

  “That rose is gorgeous,” murmured Kai.

  “Yes it is. Weird, huh?”

  “It feels like you.”

  “You can feel it this far away?”

  “Yes.”

  Peter reached for a bloom just over his head. He brought it toward his nose and curled his finger around the branch. That was his mistake. He caught his finger on a thorn and the branch snaked around his arm and pulled him toward the bush. The man screamed.

  Without thinking, I shouted in my head. Stop.

  The rosebush shuddered and dropped Peter. Kai and I ran to him. He shuddered on the ground, clinging to his arm. It was a bloody mess, punctured from wrist to shoulder.

  Kai looked at me, his eyes wide. I shivered, unsure of what to make of it. The rose had always felt different, but never alive like this. Kai pulled Peter up by his armpits. He stood for a moment, shaking.

  “It…it took my power.”

  Holy mother of all roses. It could do the same things I could. And apparently I could control it, too.

  Kai raised his eyebrows.

  “Did the rose take all of your power?” I asked.

  He shook his head.

  “Good, then you can still be controlled,” I said.

  Kai looked at me with curiosity. He didn’t say anything as we took Peter to my father, who bandaged him up. For some reason, Dad found the whole thing comical. Which certainly didn’t diminish Peter’s belief that he was the Master. Any man who can find humor in another’s pain had to be evil.

  When he left, I asked my dad about it.

  “Why did you find that so funny?”

  “Because my little girl’s roses are taking down powerful Destroyers. The idea is a bit ludicrous.”

  I shrugged, still a little dumfounded that my rose could do such things. Kai and I left him to his animals.

  On the way back to the house, Kai finally spoke.

  “What did you mean, he could still be controlled?”

  “Are you not the Master Destroyer? You have control over the Destroyers.” I had to convince him of his place.

  “No, I don’t. I have no idea what I’m doing.”

  “Sure you are. Maybe not consciously, but he asked for permission to do bad things. If you weren’t controlling him, he’d already have that ability.” The lies were not easy, but I couldn’t tell him the truth. Not yet.

  Kai nodded.

  “I sure wish I knew how I was doing it.”

  “I’m sure you’ll figure it out soon. Come on, I want hot chocolate and I need to check on Ginny. It’s too cold out here.”

  I love white roses because they are so easy to manipulate. I can easily change the color by breeding it with any other roses. But some white roses are beautiful just as they are, like the sweet and spicy Secret’s Out.

  WE FOUND TYLER IN A RUNDOWN TOWNHOUSE in the middle of downtown Fayetteville. The whole place was filled with smoke, music blared at full volume; I knew it would be a miracle if I walked out of there without getting a headache. The party was small, maybe forty or fifty people hanging out. Judging by the energy they all put out, I’d say seventy-five percent of them were Destroyers.

  Kai had to shout over the mus
ic to be heard. He yelled Tyler’s name over and over until we found him, at the kitchen table, surrounded by others. He was short, skinny, and had a huge nose. He didn’t look like the type that could kill so many people.

  He grimaced when he saw Kai. Probably recognized him.

  “What do you want?”

  “To talk to you,” Kai yelled back.

  The kid stood up. “So talk.”

  Kai shook his head. “Not here. Somewhere quiet and private.”

  “Whatever you want to say to me, you can say in front of my homies.”

  “No, let’s go to a room where there aren’t so many people.”

  The kid smirked. “I’ll take that girl of yours to a more private room.” He wiggled his eyebrows.

  I sighed. “Let’s go. Now. Just the three of us. A quiet room please.”

  The kid immediately moved toward the door. A few of his friends moved to follow him.

  “No, stay here. I can handle this,” he said.

  They looked confused, but listened. Kai gave me a look, and we followed after Tyler. I might have just given myself away. Maybe that was for the best. I was having trouble keeping this from him anyway.

  Tyler took us to a small room on the second floor. It had a desk and a few chairs. We all sat down.

  Kai got to the point right away.

  “We had an informant tell us that you killed a few Guardians. Slit their throats and bragged about it.”

  Tyler laughed.

  “Let me guess, the informant was a creepy looking kid by the name of Peter.”

  The music from downstairs was beating in my chest. “Yes. That was him.”

  Tyler stood up. “I got news for you. The kid was lying.”

  Sit down.

  He sat and ran hand through his hair. “Why do you want to know about Guardians being killed?”

  “Because we’re trying to bring back the old ways and killing Guardians isn’t part of the plan,” said Kai.

  Tyler grinned. “The old ways, huh. My old man reminisced about those days. Told me that someday the Destroyers would rise again. Listen, Peter was pissed because I wouldn’t let him sell for me anymore. He kept stealing my money. In the old days that wouldn’t have happened, because I would be allowed to control my people. Now there is no control. Just chaos. You think you can bring that back?”

  “We’re sure trying.”

  “Good, remember me when you succeed. Listen, Peter is the one who killed the Guardians. Told me all about it, like I was supposed to be scared or something. He’s your guy, not me. That little weasel is the worst kind of Destroyer. He wouldn’t have lasted more than two hours in the old days. Now he’s the kind that gets away with whatever he wants. He’s despicable.”

  “Thank you,” I said and started to stand, but Kai stopped me.

  “What did your old man tell you about the old days? We’ve met very few Destroyers who are willing to talk about it. Most of them like the new ways.”

  “There was an order to it. A ranking, like the Guardians have now. Control was strict, tight. Only those most loyal to the Master were given freedom and if that freedom was abused, it was revoked. My old man was loyal and so I knew the Master personally. Your dad was a great man.”

  Kai stiffened and I tasted sour grapes. His father wasn’t mentioned often.

  “What I don’t understand is what changed recently.” Tyler looked at me. “Your father has been rumored to be the Master for some time. Why are things changing only now?”

  “Despite rumors, my father was not the Master for all these years,” I said.

  “Are you implying that he is now?”

  “She’s not implying anything. But there has been a change in leadership. Keep your ears open and tell us anything you hear about the Guardians being murdered. Those who are doing it are a threat to the rest of us. Do this, and I promise you’ll be well rewarded when the old ways are fully reinstated,” Kai said. He took my hand and squeezed. “Let’s talk again soon. Call us if you hear anything. Otherwise, I’ll be in touch. I’m interested in learning more about the old ways.”

  Tyler sat back in his chair. The only sound was the music blaring from the rooms below. He didn’t say anything as we walked out of the room. Kai and I snaked our way down the stairs, weaving around people smoking and couples making out.

  Once outside, I breathed in the cold air. It smelled good, after the myriad of smells inside the townhouse. None of which were good.

  Peter the weasel. How were we going to handle him? The only thing I knew how to do well was suck power out of people. But if I drained his power completely, I’d have no control over him. However, I didn’t know what else to do. I wasn’t good at this Destroyer stuff.

  Peter, meet Kai and Naomi at their house.

  The commands were coming easier.

  In the car, Kai sighed.

  “How are we going to get him to come back? I have no idea where to look for him. This was supposed to be an easy gig, you know. When I was searching for the Master Destroyer, I never thought much about this part of the job. I want to find the bastards that killed Alejandro, but I feel like I’m failing.”

  I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “Don’t worry, you’ll figure it out. We’ll find Peter, too. I’m sure of it. You’ve been building a good network of informants. I bet if we talk to Jason, he’ll find him.”

  Kai shrugged. “Maybe.”

  We drove home in silence. Kai seemed pretty depressed and I didn’t want to pry.

  “What the hell?” Kai muttered as we drove into the driveway. Peter was sitting on our front porch. I smirked.

  Kai turned to me before we got out of the car. “How did you do that?”

  “Do what?”

  “Know that he would be here. When I said I was worried about him, you seemed unconcerned, and now here he is, waiting for us. How did you do that?”

  I fumbled for the door handle. “I have no idea what you are talking about. But since he is here, we should probably go to talk to him.”

  Kai scowled and got out of the car. I wondered how much longer I could keep the truth from him. Probably not much.

  Peter stood when we approached.

  “What the hell do you want?” he asked.

  I knew Kai would see right through his question, so I countered before Kai could say anything.

  “We just got back from visiting with Tyler, he told us a different version of the story.”

  Peter visibly paled. Then he stuck his chin out. “So, he lied. I can’t help that.”

  Kai was in his face. “No, you lied. Now tell us the truth before I have to force it out of you.”

  I’d never seen Kai so angry before. He was usually so level-headed. We were all upset about Alejandro, but this a little extreme. We weren’t going to get any answers this way.

  Peter backed away and smirked. “Oh yeah, how are you going to do that?” Kai lunged for Peter, but I stopped him before things got out of hand. I pushed Kai back a few inches, then faced Peter.

  “You will tell us what you did, and what you know. Now.”

  Peter paused, then glared at me and started talking. He was flustered and he paced, occasionally waving his hands in circles around his head.

  “Look, I don’t know why I did it. There was this voice inside my head. It would tell me to do things. It started out small. Touch that girl. Punch that boy. Then, the tasks got bigger, and I had to be smarter about it so I didn’t get caught.

  “A couple months ago, I was told to kill this Guardian. I don’t know his name, but I was told to slice open his throat.”

  Kai interrupted. “Where did he live?”

  Peter stopped and appeared confused for a second. “North Carolina. In the woods.”

  I looked at Kai.

  “That would have been the southern head.”

  I nodded in silence. I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear the rest of what Peter had to say. Still, I encouraged him. “Keep going.”

  “The power,
the rush, it was amazing. I wanted to do it again. A few weeks later, the command came again. This time I had to go all the way to New York. That was harder and the man was better protected. But I still got him.”

  He grabbed his hair and a wild grin appeared on his face. Then it fell.

  “But a while ago, a new voice came. Stop killing Guardians, it said. Now I can’t kill them anymore. I want to. So bad. But I’m not allowed. This new voice. It hurts when it sends commands. I don’t like it.”

  The kid sank down on the porch and I knew we’d gotten everything out of him we could. He was not the one that killed Ale. There were more Destroyers behind the killings, and someone else was controlling them. But who? And why?

  I grabbed Kai’s arm. “What are we going to do with him? He doesn’t know anything, but he can’t get away with the murders.”

  “You could take the rest of his power.”

  “I don’t see how that would help. The rose drained most of it already, if I take the rest of it, we lose all control over him.”

  “We don’t have control over him anyway.”

  “Then how do you explain why he is here?”

  “Yeah, I’d like you to explain that one to me.”

  “Look, just tell him what to do and he’ll do it.”

  Kai laughed derisively in my face. “No, you tell him what to do and he’ll do it.”

  Kai turned and walked into the house, leaving me outside with Peter. I sighed and walked over to the man. I knelt in front of him, but he didn’t look at me.

  “You will go to the police and confess all your crimes. You will say nothing about Guardians or Destroyers. You will never tell anyone about me or Kai. You do not know anything about Guardian or Destroyer leadership.”

  Peter nodded once and walked toward his car. Tomorrow, there would be news headlines about a dangerous criminal being caught in our very own Donald County. I shivered. It was cold, but I didn’t want to go inside and face Kai.

  Instead, I went to my garden. I had neglected my roses the past few weeks. Soon, I would need to trim them all back to barest stalks, or they’d go wild next season. The purple Destroyer rose towered over me. I hadn’t tried touching it since it attacked Peter, but I expected that it would let me. It listened to me.