Darkening Chaos: Book Three of The Destroyer Trilogy (43 page)

“Sorry,”
he mumbles to Celia, who is pushing herself back to a sitting position.

I
think I’m missing something. “Uh, guys? What was that?”

Celia
lifts her hand, and shockingly, Braden’s comes up as well, held firmly in hers.
Jealous, shocked confusion tries to bubble up. Angry words freeze on my lips. I
know these two. Celia goes dopey at the mere mention of Alex. Braden dang near
started undressing me in his excitement, totally not caring who was watching.
There isn’t anything going on between them. I swallow any rash reactions.

“Um,
care to explain that?” I ask as I slide of Braden’s lap.

“Sorry,”
Celia says, “I meant to tell you right away, but you, uh, didn’t really give me
a chance. It was the only way I could get Braden here. He can’t let go of my
hand or he’ll go back. Kind of ruins the moment, I know, but at least he’s
here.”

I
look over at Braden and smile. “I can’t believe you’re here. I wasn’t sure I’d
ever see you again.” In my excitement, I barely even considered how he got
here. The fact the he
was
here overpowered everything else.

“Celia
and I have been working hard to figure this out,” Braden says.

Celia
grins. “Braden more than anyone. He’s the one that finally came up with it.”

“Completely
by accident,” he grimaces. His emotions turn guilty, making me curious.

“What
happened?” I ask.

A
disapproving shake of Celia’s head is thrown in Braden’s direction. He rolls
his eyes, and says, “Lance and I were giving a Capoeira demonstration …”

“You
were showing off,” Celia corrects.

He
shushes her and continues. “It may have gotten a little rough. Lance has some
freakishly sharp toenails and he cut my finger when I swatted away one of his
kicks. I got him on the cheek with a kick. That pretty much ended the fight.
When he got up, I tried to check his cut, and I guess I touched him with my
injured finger.”

“Their
blood mixed, and suddenly they were both unconscious on the floor,” Celia
finishes in an excited rush. “That’s how you combine power. Through blood. It’s
so simple!”

My
gaze goes to their interlocked hands. “You both had to cut yourself? You had to
hurt yourselves to get Braden here?” I suddenly feel very selfish having asked
them to do something that harmed them.

Braden
cups my face in his free hand. “It was worth it, Libby. I missed you so badly.”

His
longing melts me from the inside out. He wasn't the only one hurt, though. I
look over at Celia. She smiles and nods her agreement. “It really didn’t take
very much, just a small scratch on our palms. Don’t worry about it, Libby.”

My
guilt doesn’t erode, but it does lessen some. “Thank you,” I say to both of
them.

“Not
only did this help us get Braden to the spirit world, it also answered another
one of our questions, Libby. This is how the Guardians made the Dorotabos,”
Celia says. “They shared their blood and amped their power up by six.”

“Wait,”
I say, shaking my head, “but the Guardians I saw weren’t holding hands. They
were all standing apart from each other.”

Celia
and Braden both grimace. Braden is the first to speak. “Open wounds aren’t the
only way to share blood.”

“What
do you mean?” I ask slowly.

“You
can also drink it,” Celia says.

My
stomach flips. “Please tell me you didn’t.”

“Braden
remembered you said the Guardians weren’t touching during the ritual. Unless
there were two secret ways of sharing power, we figured there had to be another
way blood could combine talents,” Celia says. She shivers. “We only used a few
drops. The combining didn’t last very long. We’re guessing it depends on the
amount of blood you drink as to how long the connection lasts. Once the blood
is digested, the link dissolves. Those Guardians must have guzzled a lot of
blood.”

“That’s
disgusting,” I mutter. They both nod their agreement. “But at least we know how
they did it, now. If we need to, we can use it against them. Have you figured
out how they’re staying connected to the Dorotabos? Was I right about the
Spiritualism?”

Braden
nods. “Yes. We tried every talent, and only Spiritualism is capable of
maintaining a solid link. Naturalism was close, but it took way too much
effort.”

“So
we’ll have to target the Spiritualists first. They should be easy enough to
identify.”

All
we’ll have to do is tap our own Spiritualism and look for the trails of
spiritual energy drifting away from the Guardians. It’s one of the simplest
talents to identify, so even our newest Ciphers and Spiritualists should be
able to do it easily. Our plans are finally starting to take shape. The only
thing left to figure out is how to give Braden back his talents so we can work
together as Companions to bring down the Guardians and save the world from
their creations.

Thinking
about being Companions, and what my dad told me, I make myself let go of
Braden’s hand. He looks over at me in panic.

“It’s
not time to go already, is it?” Braden asks.

“No,”
I say, “but look.”

I
take his hand and hold it about six inches away from mine. The thin slivery
filament drifting between our palms lights up his entire face. “He was right,”
Braden says.

“Yes,
he was.” My joy at seeing the filament doubles as I grab Braden’s hand and pull
him up to standing. Celia follows out of need and curiosity. When I drag Braden
up to the edge of the gateway, he looks at me questioningly. I grin at him and
say, “You’ve gotten out of a very important step in our relationship for too
long, Braden.”

“What
are you talking about?” Braden asks warily.

I
kiss him lightly. “It’s time for you to meet my dad.”

Chapter
33

Trust

It’s been over a week
since I’ve seen Braden. Ever since the first day Celia brought him to the
spirit world, it has been torture not being able to see him every day. But no
matter how much I want to see him, I can’t ask him to keep cutting himself just
so we can be together. It’s been just over three months since then. If he had
to slice his hand open every day, there wouldn’t be anywhere left to cut after
a while. We settled for once a week that first day. Braden’s weekly visits have
been the only thing that’s kept me sane over the last few months. I twist the
white cord braided into a bracelet around my wrist, which is oddly enough the
only clothing or accessory I’ve ever seen consistently show up in the spirit
world, as I wait for Braden impatiently.

Flexing
my wrist carefully, I try to ward off the stiffness I know is going to set in
when I get back to my body. When Thomas kicked at me today, aiming for my ribs,
I made the mistake of trying to protect my bruised body and caught his foot right
on my wrist. He actually broke it in two places, but I didn’t let on how much
pain I was in. Lying about the severity of my injuries lets me heal myself at
least a little once Milo and his enforcer leave. My Strength can withstand a
lot, but it has its limits.

After
baiting Milo with taunts that Howe is going to kill him—which I think are
totally true—he laid off for a while. I supposed he was trying to find out
whether or not I was right. Well, whatever answer he came up with only made him
angrier. He still can’t hurt me himself, but Thomas has been let off his leash
despite the pain it causes Milo. I’ve had to heal cracked ribs, deep muscle
bruises, concussions, and now broken bones. Thank goodness this will all end
tomorrow. One way or another.

I
pace around the rim of the gateway as I wait for Celia and Braden. Alex said it
would take a little while, but I’m still impatient. The team is busy setting up
for tomorrow. It takes a lot of preparation to assassinate an evil president. I
was moved to Washington, D.C., two days ago, but my army has been here for a
week. It wasn’t any secret that I’d be taken to the capital to face Howe on my
birthday, so Lance didn’t even have to track me. They are working to get
everyone into position tonight and set with weapons and supplies. Thankfully,
we have some very talented scouts and tacticians on our side that helped choose
the best locations to start the attack. The only thing my army is still
wondering about is how I’m going to use Braden to kill the Guardians.

Knowing
that it might still be a little while before Celia can collect Braden from
wherever he’s working and find a safe spot to come see me, I lie down in the
mists and clear my mind of plans and death. I want to think about something
happy. Happy means Braden, and the happiest memory of him lately was the first
time Braden met my dad. Tapping my Concealment, I delve into my own memories
and bring that day into vivid reality.

***

The
mists sweep away from the gateway as soon as my energy touches it. A few seconds
later, spirits start pouring out. Most are disappointed it’s only me again, but
my dad sweeps me into his arms as soon as he sees me. He doesn’t even notice
Braden at first. Not until I pull away from him and gesture for Braden to join
me do his eyes narrow and focus in on him.

His
arms fold across his chest severely, and he asks, “Is this him?”

“Dad,
this is Braden. Please be nice.”

You
would think his first question would be about why Braden was holding Celia’s
hand, or how we got him here in the first place. They aren’t. His first
question makes me groan. “Braden, what on earth do you think you’re doing
dating a seventeen year old?”

Braden’s
eyes sparkle as he returns my dad’s glare. I just want to melt into the mists,
but Braden instinctively knows exactly what my Dad is really asking. “Mr.
Sparks, your daughter and I aren’t sleeping together, but I do love her very
much. More than I ever thought I would be able to love someone.”

My
dad’s eyes flash over to me in question. I roll my eyes at him. “He’s telling
the truth, Dad.” No matter how much I wish he wasn’t, I add to myself.

“Fine,”
my dad says, “but I’m still not sure I approve of this. You’re six years older
than she is.”

“Sir,
I can tell you in complete honesty that I never planned on trying to date your
daughter or any other sixteen year old before we met. Libby completely caught
me off guard,” Braden says.

Finally,
my dad smiles. “She does have a habit of doing that.”

“Once
I met her …” Braden smiles at me guiltily, which my dad catches, making both of
them frown. “After meeting Libby, there just wasn’t anything that was going to
keep me away from her. I know some of that was the Companion link, but it
wasn’t all of it.”

Braden
drags Celia along with him as he steps over and puts his arm around my waist.
Brave move in front of my dad. He pushes the limit even more by kissing me on
the cheek. My dad watches the display without commenting.

“I’d
read everything in Libby’s file,” Braden says. “I thought I was prepared to
meet her, but I was wrong. Nothing could have prepared me for her fire and
fearlessness. She jumped up on stage with only one shoe on and a broken ankle.
She was determined to save Milo no matter what the cost was. Not only did I
realize right away that there was no way she was the evil creature she’d been
painted as, but I also realized that she was the most amazing person I had ever
met before. Destroyer or not, she was going to do something incredible.”

My
body grows warm in the face of Braden’s reasons for hounding me so relentlessly
those first few months. He drove me crazy at first, but now I’m so incredibly
thankful he didn’t give up.

“That
was something I knew the moment I saw her as well,” my dad says. “Libby was
special from the moment she was born.”

I
barely even hear what my dad says. Caught up in Braden’s adoration, I look up
at him coyly, and ask, “Those weren’t the only reasons you hung around were
they?”

Braden
grins and strokes my cheek gently. “Oh yeah, did I forget to say that I also
thought you were the most gorgeous woman I’d ever met?”

“Yes,
I think you did.”

“How
silly of me,” Braden says, dropping a kiss on my upturned lips.

“Ahem,”
my dad says.

Surprisingly,
Braden doesn’t blush like he usually does when he feels like he’s been caught
doing something he shouldn’t with me. He just pulls back and faces my dad
squarely. I stay wrapped in Braden’s arm and wait for my dad to say something.
I’m not sure what to expect at this point.

“So,
Braden, I understand that when the Guardians found out you were helping Libby
you lost your job. I know you’re helping Libby with the resistance right now,
but once she destroys them and their demon Ciphers,” he says, buoying my
confidence with his optimism, “what do you plan on doing?”

In
other words … are you going to get a job after all this is over and support my
daughter like she deserves. Typical Dad. Who cares that I have plenty of money,
he still expects the guy professing his love for his daughter to be well
employed and respectable. Again, I roll my eyes at him. Braden takes a more
mature approach.