Secret of Betrayal: Book Two of The Destroyer Trilogy (28 page)

“If you don’t stop whining I’m going to double
your workout load for today.”

I sneer at him, and say, “You can’t. Braden’s
orders, remember? So there.” I refrain from sticking my tongue out at him like
I want to because I’m afraid of accidentally biting it off while I’m running.

Now it’s Lance’s turn to throw me a dirty look.
Neither he nor Milo were very thrilled when after picking up Dean a few months
ago Braden demanded they revamp my training schedule. They didn’t like him
telling them what to do, but what they really took offense to was his telling
them their training methods were putting me at risk. Milo was instantly
defensive, claiming he would never do anything to hurt me. Lance mainly seemed
irritated that Braden was criticizing his methods. Lance still enjoys holding
it over Milo’s head that he’s been training as a Guardian for longer than he
has. Braden handled the whole issue with the air of a captain speaking to his
men, serious and unbending. He’s been my savior this summer.

The second Braden brought up the topic, I was
sure his emotions were going to get the better of him and screw everything up
for me. Amazingly enough, Braden’s calm dressing down of Lance and Milo not
only got me a much more realistic schedule, but seemed to gain Braden a little
more respect in their eyes. After they got over their hurt feelings, that is.
It helps, too, that Lance and Milo have Dean to worry about now. Not to mention
Cole and his little band of Miniatures. They’ve all had way too much fun
training together. I was worried summer break would be a tormenting two months
of nonstop training, but with so much energy being put into getting Dean ready
to help rescue the Ciphers it’s actually been a relatively nice couple of
months since school let out. I’m back to being firmly opposed to the whole idea
of going back to school in a few weeks.

At least it’s been nice and hot all summer long,
record temperatures even. I might be the only one happy about that in the
entire state. I felt as if I had been shivering since January before it finally
warmed up. Every once in a while when there’s a rainy day I wake up shivering
and have to pull out a sweatshirt, but most of the time I’m fine. Running
through the warm afternoon feels great despite my complaining.

“So, have you guys gotten any further on the
escape plans?” I ask Lance. “I know you were working on them last night while I
was in the spirit world.”

Their initial plan seemed promising. They were
so hopeful when they were discussing it at our last meeting. Unfortunately, the
Guardians are a little smarter than I would like. They’ve been scouring every
inch of the compound for weeks trying to cement a route that works with the
guard rotations and everything else that’s causing
them
problems.

“We’re getting close. We’re still going through
the nutrient lines like Mr. Walters suggested, but we hit a new dead end at the
supply bunker. We’re back-tracking now, but I’m sure we’ll have a route soon,”
Lance assures me. “How is the planning going for getting everybody to the safe
houses?”

A sudden urge to tear my hair out assails me.
“The plans are ready. That was the easy part. The actual houses are the
problem. A few of the Inquisitors we were counting on are being difficult. Two
have backed out altogether. And that means we can’t use their trainees as
handlers to round up the Ciphers when they escape. We’ve got to find alternate
locations, but Milo’s mom is working on it. A few of the Cipher families have
offered up buildings and people. She’s checking to see if any of those will
actually work.”

“And Milo’s training? Is he anywhere close to
being able to do an Inquest?”

“No,” I say with a frustrated sigh. “You would
think having a Spiritualist for a mom would have given him a boost in subtle
use of his power, but he’s just so forceful. He can shield himself almost as
well as I can, which is great, but trying to get him to understand the delicate
nature of pushing your own awareness into someone just isn’t clicking with him.
He thinks he can just jump into things head first and everything will work.
He’s so eager to get the Ciphers out that he’s pushing too hard. I don’t know.
I’m going to have him work with Casey tonight. Maybe she can make him
understand.”

Lance shrugs. “If anyone can, it’s her. I’ve
never met a more patient, calm, quiet person. I constantly feel like she’s
sneaking up on me.”

“That’s just because you can be like Milo at
times—brash and impatient.
At least when it comes to stuff
like this.”
That’s really what’s most frustrating about not being able
to make Milo understand how to use his power better. With everything else, Milo
can be very sweet and thoughtful. He used to spend hours just stroking my hair
or running his fingers across my skin. He can be soft and delicate.
Just not when it comes to destroying the Guardians and freeing the
Ciphers.
There’s too much anger in him when he uses his talents.

“Libby, if Milo can’t help you when it’s time to
free the Ciphers …” Lance stops when I glare at him.

If he tells me one more time that I need to let
Braden give me his Oath, I’m going to slap him. It was bad enough before with
the sudden, unexpected bursts of desire I had for Braden every time we were
together. Now, I find myself thinking about him even when we aren’t together,
feeling the dull beat of his life force every second of the day. Every time I
fall asleep, I wish he were with me, mostly because I still can’t seem to sleep
decently without him around, but I’d be lying if I said that was the only
reason. The way he seems to find ways to take my hand or touch my skin whenever
no one else is around doesn’t help either.

A sudden vibration on my hip nearly makes me
stumble. I slow to a stop and pull my phone out. Speak of the devil. I can feel
my face flushing with pleasure. Lance can, too, and he smirks at me. I turn
away, and say, “Braden, what’s up?”

“Libby!” he says, the panic in his voice
instantly putting me on edge, “I know who they’re going to take! The Guardians
are going after Saia. Can you get to her? I’m driving, I’m on my way to you, or
I’d do it myself.”

“Yeah, of course.
I’ll
go right now.”

“Give the phone to Lance so he can tell me
what’s going on.”

I toss the phone to Lance and sit down on the
crinkly summer grass.

Inhale.

Exhale.

I feel my spirit lift away from my body and open
my eyes. The swirling beauty of the spirit world lies ahead of me. I leap
forward and pass through the barrier with barely a thought. Spirits surround me
as soon as I enter their realm. I scan their faces desperately.

“Saia?
Where’s Saia?” I
ask the crowd. “I need to talk to Saia. Somebody find her, please. I can’t
wait.”

Braden’s old friend Daniel, as well as a few
others who have been integral in preparing the Ciphers, push up next to me as I
try to find Saia.

“Libby, what’s wrong?” Daniel asks.

“They’re going to take Saia! We have to find her
and warn her.”

Daniel’s eyes widen. Everyone around me picks up
the pace, a few even jumping away from me to travel faster, a task I still
haven’t mastered. Daniel, however, stays by my side. “She was in the Central
Expanse just a few minutes ago.”

That’s not far from here. I’m about to ask Daniel
to take me there when I see her. Someone else must have gotten to her first.
Her normally angelic face is wrinkled with concern. I speed up and try to reach
her. We’ve never before been able to find out who was going to be taken before
they disappeared. I don’t know what to do now. How can I stop this from
happening? There must be a way. I am two steps short of being able to reach my
friend when her spirit ripples. Terror paints her face as her body freezes and
distorts again. I can hear myself screaming as I lunge for her.

My hands swipe through empty air as I topple to
the ground.

“No,” I cry, “no, she can’t be gone already. No.
No. Daniel, I have to get her back!”

His wizened hands grab me firmly as panic starts
to take over. I try to pull away from him but he yanks me around to face him.
“She’s gone, Libby. There’s no getting her back now.”

“No, there has to be a way. I can’t do this
without her.”

Grief colors his voice, but he doesn’t give in.
“You have to, Libby. She’s gone. She’s dead.”

Dead.
A crazy thought
hits me. Only her body is dead. Her spirit is still alive. What if there’s
still a chance to save her? If she finds a new body before the madness of
becoming a Sihir sets in, can I save her? “Daniel, where was Saia being held?”
I ask.

“In Albuquerque.
Why?”

“Maybe there’s enough time …”

He’s already shaking his head. He opens his
mouth to say something, but pauses. For some reason he touches my hair, my
cheek. “You look like her,” he says slowly, “not exact, but close enough for a
Sihir to make a mistake if it’s pointed in the right direction. She’s with you
in Albuquerque, Libby. She’s close enough to kill you. That’s why the Guardians
chose her.”

No. My heart lashes out at the idea of it. Not
even the twisted minds of the Guardians would kill my friend just so her crazed
spirit would do the same for me. Would they? I know they would, but I hate
admitting it. Concern for my body sitting back on the grass unprotected pushes
aside my grief. Then my body goes cold as I remember my body isn’t
unprotected—not with Lance there—but it might be better if it were. Lance’s
protection of me has put him in danger. If Saia’s Sihir shows up, she’ll kill
him to get to me. And Braden is on his way! I don’t even say goodbye. My spirit
flies back into my body in such a rush that it physically knocks me to the
ground. I scramble up off the dry grass and scream.

Lance’s eyes are wild. He can’t see what’s going
on around him. Only I can see the deranged spirit scrabbling at him and trying
to rip out his life. Saia’s beautiful face is twisted in madness, her dark hair
flying around her head like a halo of death. For a moment, Lance tries to fight
her off before her hands plunge into his chest and he stumbles. I don’t know what
to do. The only way to kill a Sihir is to let it have a new body and destroy
the body once it’s inside. Lance slumps to the ground.

Terrified of watching him die, I race forward
and fling myself at her. My body alone won’t stop her, but my spirit connects
with her and rips her away from Lance. I hear the sound of squealing tires
somewhere behind me. I can’t stop to look. The shock of me attacking her has
worn off. The Sihir turns on me. Her dead eyes lock with mine. A shiver runs
through my entire body as the recognition the Guardians were hoping for
blossoms in her mind. Delirious glee spreads through her expression as she
mistakenly thinks she has found her prize. She dives forward to claim my body
for her own. Prophecy calls me the most powerful person in the world, but I
freeze at her attack, sure I will never be able to stop her.

The icy plunge of her spirit hands into my chest
finally pushes me to action. I fight with savage spiritual slashing against her
efforts to tear my spirit out. I force her hands off and out of reach, but I
know I can’t keep this up for long. The
Sihir’s
hands
push closer to me and honest terror that I am about to die sinks into me. She
won’t stop with me, either. Lance and Braden are screaming at me somewhere
nearby. They won’t be spared if I fail.

I have to do something.

Desperate, I try to speak to her spirit. The
frenzied nature of her state won’t let me, but it reminds me of something. It
reminds me of rescuing Casey. Her hands are now inches away from my chest.
Using every ounce of Strength I have, I wrench my body away from her. I have
barely a second to dredge up my frazzled spirit and take hold. On the verge of
abandoning my body, something I’m not even sure is possible outside of the
spirit world, I pause and pray to whoever will listen that I’m not about to
kill us both.

Inhale.

Exhale.

My spirit leaps out of my body as I open my
eyes. My physical body has collapsed, sending Lance into a panic. Braden seems
momentarily stunned that I managed to leave my body and bypass the spirit world
completely. I don’t think it’s supposed to work that way. The shock wears off
and he too rushes over to my body. My body isn’t in nearly as much danger as my
spirit is right now. I see through my spirit, but I’m not in the spirit world
this time. I’m facing the being that used to be Saia. She falters at the sudden
change, and I don’t let her hesitation go to waste. My spirit springs forward
and wraps around hers.

“Libby, no!”
Braden
screams. He knows exactly what I’m about to attempt. He screams it again, but I
don’t listen.

If I don’t try, we’ll all be dead in a matter of
seconds. Saia fights me viciously, clawing and pushing to get me off of her.
Pain electrifies me from head to toe. I push harder, stretching my spirit to
try and cover every inch of her. My vision and strength begin to falter under
her barrage. One hand lurches away from me and latches onto my physical body.
Desperate, I fling myself backward, away from Lance and Braden, pulling her
along with me. Tapping every ounce of power I have, I throw myself around her.
I’m so close to wrapping her up completely! My power beats against her spirit.
Braden is still screaming at me to stop. I push harder, stretch further.
Suddenly, she is completely under my control, all but her last trailing link to
the spirit world. I have to break the connection. One more
slice
with my Spiritualism, and the link snaps.

Agony rips through me. I can feel my spirit
being torn apart. I can’t take it.

I’ve just killed myself.

Then all at once … the pain vanishes.