Destroyed (15 page)

“I need these in a size eight.” The clerk smiled and disappeared into a back room. She came back with six different kinds. It didn’t take me long to try them on and pick a couple.

We were only at the store for twenty minutes, but Ginny looked like she was about to explode. As soon as we left the store and were out of earshot of the store clerk, Ginny rounded on Ricki.

“Fine, you win. Saturday, 10:00 a.m. You get exactly four hours to shop as long as you promise not to wear a wig.”

Ricki squealed and threw her arms around Ginny. Ginny grimaced.

A hand touched my shoulder. “How long are you back for?”

I turned and saw Romeo. “Not long. What are you doing here?”

“Retrieving my girlfriend. Though I’m not going anywhere with her looking like that.” Romeo was tall, with movie-star good looks, but I still didn’t like him. He was cocky and arrogant, but a good Guardian. However, his energy felt odd today. Usually, Romeo was all butterscotch and lavender. Today, he smelled of sour grapes. He was anxious.

“Where’s your sidekick?”

“Hayden? He’s with a few of the other guys tonight. I can’t be with him twenty-four-seven. He drives me crazy.” Hayden was Romeo’s recruit.

“Is he worth it?”

Romeo shrugged. “Don’t know. But he’s my best shot at making Major Guardian, so I’ll take it. How are you doing with Kai?”

“How’d you know about that?”

“Ricki.”

“Fine, I suppose. But I miss it here.”

Ricki smiled at Romeo. “Ready to go?”

He nodded. She gave me a tight hug and went off with him. He looked at me one last time and I noticed the whites of his eyes turned red. It reminded of the times when Puck was playing Destroyer. What was Romeo up to?

I played with baby dolls and Barbies until I turned eight. Then my father went crazy, and he threw them all out so that I could focus on church and on helping my mother. Of course, I just turned to my garden. I had a Baby Claire, a beautiful white rose edged with pink, and Baby Love, a pretty, little, yellow rose.

Alejandro hid at the Golden Nugget in downtown, which went against every part of his style.

“Slumming it a little, aren’t you?” asked Ginny.

“I’m not staying here,” said Alejandro, as he looked around at the cheesy hotel room. “But this seemed like a good place to meet. Unexpected.”

Ginny nodded. Her phone rang and she excused herself from the room.

I pounced. “I need to talk to you. Alone.”

Alejandro sighed. “Really? What a surprise.”

“You know something,” I said. He always knew something, and he always seemed to keep it a secret from me.

He frowned. “No, I don’t. But you’ve been with Kai for a couple months now. I expect you’ve seen things that puzzle you, and you’ve never been one to accept things without an explanation. How did you manage to grow up with your mother?”

“I’m compensating for all those years.”

He grinned and held out his arms. I went in for one of his bear hugs and he kissed me on the top of my head. “We’ve missed you. Come on, let’s see what I can tell you.” We went into the living area of the suite and sat across from each other on the gaudy couches.

Ginny came back. “I don’t know how my clients managed without me. Even for three days.” She sat next to Alejandro, leaned back and closed her eyes. I’d never seen her so tired before.

He took her hand. “I want you to stay with me. The situation is getting worse, and I miss you. I would never forgive myself if something happened to you. Your clients will still be there when you get back. I have a name of a young designer who’s looking to break into the business but finds L.A. daunting. He could take over your list while you rest with me, safe.”

Ginny nodded. I expected her to put up a fight. But the air smelled of spearmint and I could hear the faint sounds of Michael Jackson tunes.

“Why don’t you take Julio as a guard and go say goodbye to your clients? Pack some clothes and meet me back here. I need to talk to Naomi. When you get back, we’ll put her on a plane back to Arkansas and then we’ll go.”

She nodded again.

When she left, I frowned at Alejandro. “You influenced her to say yes.”

“Of course I did. I don’t normally use my powers on her. She doesn’t like it, but her safety is in jeopardy. She can’t pull any more stunts to see you. That was reckless.”

“It was good to see her though.”

“Sure it was, but what if she died while there? Would you have ever forgiven yourself?”

I shook my head.

“It wasn’t fair of her to put you in that position. She doesn’t fully understand what we are up against.”

“Neither do I, for that matter.”

He smiled a sad smile. “It is complicated. But she has other reasons for agreeing to go into hiding. I’m surprised she didn’t tell you. Now what questions do you have for me?”

“Tell me what?”

Ginny came rushing back into the room. “Forgot my purse.”

I stood up and grabbed her purse before she could. She took a few steps back. “What’s the matter?” she asked.

“Ginny, what were you supposed to tell me?”

She crossed her arms. “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

I moved toward her. “Alejandro said you had something to tell me. What was it?”

She looked at Alejandro and he looked away.

“You can’t keep any secrets, can you?” She glared at him.

At least he looked sheepish. “I thought you told her.”

Ginny sighed and sat down. “I’m pregnant.”

I gave her a big hug. “That’s fantastic.”

She grimaced. “I guess.”

I frowned, confused. “You don’t want to have a baby?”

She backtracked. “Of course I want to have a baby. I’m beyond thrilled about that. I just don’t want to be pregnant. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find maternity clothes that look good?”

I laughed. “If anyone can do it, it’s you.”

Alejandro chimed in. “The day she found out, she brought home a closetful of maternity clothes. Most of which won’t fit her for at least seven months.”

She stood up. “You two keep poking fun, I’m leaving. See you tonight.” When the door clicked shut, Alejandro looked at me.

“Now, on to business. You had questions.”

“Do you know Ruth?”

“I know a few. Who, exactly, are you referring to?”

“She was my friend in Arkansas. I thought she was dead but Kai said he turned her over to the Guardians for protection. I need to find her.”

Alejandro leaned back and tapped his chin. “I don’t recall. You know it’s rare for someone to seek individual protection. Puck usually deals with that directly. Even if he never met her, he’ll know.”

Dead end again. Now I had to wait six months to a year until I could see Puck again. I looked at the clock; time was wasting.

“I need to show you something.”

I brought out the cutting of the rose with Dwayne in it. “What do you make of this rose?”

Alejandro studied it. “What is this? You’ve done something to it.”

“You know that I can take powers from others, right?”

“Yes.”

“That power doesn’t just go away once I take it. It sits inside me. It makes me think things that I shouldn’t think and act in ways I never thought I’d act.”

Alejandro didn’t say anything for a minute. “This is new. I had no idea. What does that have to do with the rose?”

“I can’t let it stay within me, the power. This rose has Dwayne in it. Another part of it has a Destroyer that I drained. The roses seem to take their power and it changes the very essence of the rose.”

“What about your mother? Did you put her in another rose?”

“No, I haven’t gotten rid of her yet. That’s a different story altogether.”

He cocked his head. I wondered if Alejandro could help me make sense of it. He was a Guardian, after all. He knew a lot about how the Destroyers worked, but he might not know what I needed to know.

“How is power transferred from one Master Destroyer to the next?” I asked.

“It’s a bit of a mystery. From what I understand, the power is transferred upon death.” That’s what everyone kept telling me.

“But my mother’s not dead.” She was the last Master Destroyer.

“Puck and I discussed this at length. Tell me, do you think the Destroyers are obeying Kai?”

“Not by a long shot.”

“Yet, your mother has no power, so how could she influence them to do anything?”

“Have you seen her?”

“No, but I have people watching over her and reporting to me. She’s sullen and sulky, but doesn’t do much except watch TV and read books. My people have been told to watch for manifestations of power, and haven’t seen any so far.”

“She doesn’t have any power. I have it.”

Alejandro creased his eyebrows together. “What do you mean?”

“I can feel her inside of me. When I get angry or something, I can feel her power influencing me and I can do things I never could before.”

“Like what?”

“Destroyers listen to me when I tell them things.”

Alejandro opened his mouth, shut it, and opened it again. “What do you think that means?”

I leaned back and lied. “I have no idea.” I had an idea, but I didn’t want to voice it out loud.

Alejandro smiled, revealing perfectly straight pearly whites. Then he grabbed my hand and pulled me up. “Come, let’s try something. I want to see this power of yours.”

We walked down into the casino, the smoky air immediately making my eyes water.

“Casinos are always full of Destroyers. Most are minor and can’t even sense Guardians around. We are going to find a table and sit down. I will point out a Destroyer to you, although, I expect you’ll sense him before I will. I want you to force him to bet and fold his hand every turn.”

“Isn’t there an easier way to do this?”

He grinned. “Of course, but where is the fun in that?”

“I’m a little young to be here, won’t they kick me out?”

Alejandro grinned. “Not with my influence.”

We sat down at a Texas Hold ’Em table. The game was played a lot like the poker at the Destroyer meetings. The Destroyer sat three seats away from Alejandro. I knew immediately who he was. The first hand was dealt. I’d never tried to force a specific action before, it was always an accident. I’d have to experiment a little. I simply thought the word,
Fold
. I said it with force in my head and sent it to the Destroyer.

A look of confusion fell over his face, but he laid his cards down on the table. The dealer swept the cards up and continued the play with the rest of the players. Alejandro won his hand. Play continued for several more rounds. Each time I thought,
fold
, and each time the Destroyer laid down his cards. Beads of sweat appeared on his brow and each time he bet, he slammed the money down.

After eight hands, Alejandro got up from the table and I followed him. We walked back up to the hotel room in silence. When we got there, a Guardian I’d never met was waiting outside the room.

“Report,” Alejandro commanded.

“Twelve Destroyers were playing cards at various tables. During the play, eight hands in a row were folded by every Destroyer.” The man paused and hesitated. Then he forged on. “This is unusual, Alejandro. Should we be worried? That seems like a lot of influence for someone. Do you know who’s doing it?” The man didn’t even look at me. Not that he would ever suspect me anyway. I was a girl.

Alejandro smiled. “No, this is the best news I’ve received in a long time.” He clapped the man on the shoulder and entered the hotel room. We sat down and he took both of my hands in his and spoke softly.

“You know, don’t you, what this means?”

“Yes. I think it means I’m the Master Destroyer.” I must’ve taken more than just my mother’s power when I drained her.

“I hope you aren’t angry with me for this, but I’m glad you are the Master and not Kai.” He didn’t seem surprised by this information. Alejandro was always good at hiding surprise though.

“Why?”

“Because I know you’ll do the right thing.”

“So would Kai.”

Alejandro shrugged. “Maybe. You forget that I raised him and Puck. He was driven by revenge and his idea of what’s okay was tempered by the early years with his dad. But you’ve always been good. If you hadn’t been, your mother would’ve turned you into a Destroyer long ago.”

“I don’t want this. I loathe the Destroyers. How am I supposed to be one?” I paced the room.

“You’ll still be you. In spite of what you think, not all Destroyers are evil.”

I frowned and stopped pacing for a minute. “Most of them are.”

“Yes, most of them are, but not all. You’ll be the exception.”

“What if I don’t want this?” I threw my hands up and collapsed on the couch.

“You are our only hope to stop the senseless killing of Guardian leaders. Do you really want to hand that over to someone else?”

I shook my head. At least with me in charge I could have control over what happened.

“How do I stop it? Cards were easy and they were all in the same room, but how do I influence people I don’t even know exist?”

“That I don’t know. Guardians work differently than Destroyers. We don’t force our people to do anything. Most of the time, we don’t even have to tell them what to do. We just watch carefully and make sure they are still on our side. Only the Master Destroyer would know how that works.”

It dawned on me then. The safety of all the Guardian leaders lay in my hands. They were being killed off because I wasn’t doing my job. The only person in the world that could force the Destroyers to stop was me. Until I figured out how to control the lot of them, I’d never be able to stop them from killing Guardians. I had to figure it out. Fast.

“Master Destroyers don’t train people in their secrets. They kill each other to take over, so how do they learn how to control others?” I asked.

“Trial and error, I guess. You had no training and look what you were able to do in the casino.”

“That was easy. I don’t think I can influence anyone that’s not in close proximity to me. I don’t know how to do this.”

“You’ll need to find someone to practice with.”

“I don’t really want to tell Kai. I don’t want anyone to know. I don’t want to be a target.”