Inquest (40 page)

“Mrs. Hanover,
I’m going to do everything I can to help the other Ciphers,” I say,
“but this still doesn’t help me figure out what I’m supposed to be
doing as the Destroyer. I feel like I’m just wandering around lost
most of the time. When we first started this conversation I hoped I
was finally going to figure out my purpose in life. Freeing the
Ciphers will be great, of course, but how does that really help me
as Cassia?”

“Freeing the
Ciphers has everything to do with your purpose,” Mr. Hanover says.
“You won’t be able to do anything as Cassia without them.”

“Why not?” I
ask.

“Because
they’re your army.”

Chapter 31

Planning

The icy air of
late December stings my throat and lungs as I breathe, but I need
its pure, clean essence to clear my mind. The absolute madness of
everything that has happened tonight was just too much. I needed to
escape the still volatile air inside the Hanover home for at least
a few minutes. So I snuck out onto the deck, afraid, confused, and
in need of some serious alone time. I just wish I had some
chocolate. Chocolate always makes me feel better.

All I can feel
right now is the tip of my nose going numb. My ears will be next.
Numb is fine with me. The vast ocean of emotions, ideas, and
thoughts that have been slamming against me for…I don’t even know
how long anymore, they just need to be frozen until I can sort them
out. The absurd mental image of tiny snowflakes, each one
containing an emotion or thought, lying on a table in front of me,
that I can calmly organize into their proper categories, makes me
laugh.

“It’s too cold
out here for anything to be funny,” says a voice from behind
me.

I spin around
and freeze, like one of the snowflakes I was just imagining. My
skin prickles with goose bumps as soon as I see him. “Guardian
Braden,” I gasp.

“You can just
call me Braden.”

My eyes narrow
despite his politeness. “What are you doing here?”

“I told you
I’d see you again,” he says. He leans casually against the railing
that surrounds the deck, but there is still a leonine readiness to
his posture. His expression is warm, though, showing no hint of
anything but amusement.

“How did you
find me?”

Braden scoffs
at my question. “It wasn’t that hard. Your friend and his family
didn’t even change their names when they ran. I had their
information in my files. Tracking down their address was
simple.”

My mouth
twists into an angry sneer. “Yeah, I suppose the Guardians
would
have resources like that.”

“Actually,”
Braden says, pushing away from the baluster and taking a step
toward me, which sends a warning shiver down my spine, “the only
resource I needed was a phone book. Their number was listed right
there in the white pages.”

“Seriously?” I
ask. What were they thinking? Yes, his dad is a doctor who likes to
make sure his patients can always get a hold of him in an
emergency, but they were supposed to be in hiding.

Braden takes
another step toward me. “I’ve seen elephants that were better at
hiding than your friend.”

“Shut up,” I
snap. “You don’t know anything about Milo.”

“I’m pretty
sure I know more than you do,” he says.

I hate that
he’s probably right. No doubt his
files
hold every detail of
Milo’s life. No matter how much a person is willing to share,
there’s almost always more that they aren’t.

“What do you
want?”

“Besides
standing out here freezing with you in the middle of the
night?”

He’s not even
a foot away from me, now. My flesh is humming, which is beyond
strange and more than a little scary. He’s staring at me intently
again. That same look of trying very hard to figure something out
is back. I wish I knew what it meant.

“Why are you
really here?” I ask. “The Guardians aren’t coming back for Milo,
are they?”

Is he out here
distracting me while his brothers sneak in and grab my boyfriend?
My heart rate spikes, and I start for the patio door. Braden grabs
my arm, not forcefully, but hard enough to stop me and keep me from
running. Even under my jacket, the skin of my arm tingles violently
at his touch.

“Nobody’s
coming after your friend. I’m not here because of him,” Braden
says.

“You’re here
for me?” I squeak, fear squeezing my throat. I just found out what
I’m supposed to do. They can’t take me yet!

“No. I’m not
here for you. I’m a Cipher Hunter, that’s it. They’ll send someone
else for you.”

“I won’t go
without a fight. I hope Howe or Lazaro—whichever one is
coming—knows that. I’m not ready to die.”

Braden watches
me, for what I don’t know, but his eyes take me in very seriously.
“You’re not going to die,” he says, “not yet anyway.”

“What do you
mean?” I broke my deal with Howe. Everyone knows now that I really
do have the talents of the Destroyer.

“Howe is a
monster of order. Technically, Milo was no longer a Cipher, so I
had no authority to arrest him. You were in the right.
Technically.”

I shake my
head. “No way that’s enough to keep Howe from coming after me.
Lazaro would never swallow that reasoning without a fight.”

Braden
cringes. “Well, unfortunately for both of them, what happened
tonight is already being played around the world. It went viral on
the internet about ten seconds after it aired. Milo isn’t the first
Cipher. Plenty of other families have lost children because of
Guardians like me. When they saw what happened, saw you protecting
a Cipher, they started a campaign to protect you. If Howe and
Lazaro go against them, it will be a fight that will end both their
careers. Permanently.”

“Other
Ciphers’ families?” I ask in disbelief.

“Turns out you
have a few more supporters than anyone realized,” Braden says.

It’s
encouraging, but Braden said the Guardians weren’t coming to kill
me, not that they weren’t coming at all. “What do the Guardians
want with me then?”

He pulls me
away from the door where someone might see us. My foot is still in
an elastic bandage rather than a cast, and so sore and bruised that
I don’t think I could run from him even if my life depended on it.
But I know it doesn’t, somehow. It isn’t Vision or any other talent
reassuring me. It’s something else, something I don’t understand,
but I find myself trusting it easily. Braden isn’t here to hurt me.
We are stowed away in a dark corner of the deck before he speaks
again.

“Look, Libby,
when I got the file on your friend, it was just another assignment.
Track down the Cipher, bring him in. Simple.” His hand comes up to
my shoulder firmly. “You've changed that. I did what you asked. I
told Captain Blackwood that your friend isn’t a Cipher anymore. He
agreed that there wasn’t any point in bringing him in now, but
there was something behind what he was saying. I could see the way
his whole body tightened up like a piano wire. He dismissed me
after that, but the whole compound started jumping.

But not
killing. Milo’s parents have to be right about the killing. I can’t
handle having that on my conscience.

“They’re
sending someone to come get you for questioning. They want to know
how you unlocked Milo’s talents and what you plan on doing with him
now.”

Braden’s other
hand comes up to my shoulder and he leans closer to me. “Libby, do
you have any idea what you’re getting yourself into? Whatever
spooked the Captain, it’s not good. Are you really planning
something? Something that has to do with the Ciphers?”

Now it’s my
turn to scoff at him. “You really think I would tell you if I were?
You’re on the wrong team, Braden.”

He shrugs with
a hopeful expression, but his mouth slips back into a frown
quickly. “If you are planning on coming after the Ciphers, you’re
going to get hurt.”

“Shouldn’t
that make you happy?”

“Maybe,” he
says, moving closer, “but it doesn’t.”

I can hardly
breathe with him so close to me. I can’t explain it, but his
presence seems to wrap itself around me. It’s a strangely
comforting feeling, but it freaks me out regardless. I try to back
away from him. The rail behind me keeps me from getting very far.
I’m way too strung out to be dealing with this right now, but my
voice comes out strong and fierce when I finally pull myself
together enough to use it.

“You really
want to know what I’m planning?” I ask.

Braden nods,
his nose bobbing much too close mine.

I came out
here to figure things out on my own and failed. Strange that being
faced with Braden is the catalyst that brings me to a decision.

“I am Cassia.
And I’m going to do exactly what I was meant to do, Braden. I’m
going to destroy the kind of people who lock up innocent citizens
in the name of protecting people. I am going to come after your
Captain and anyone else who thinks they can stop me.”

I expect him
to pull back, demand I change my mind, arrest me maybe, but he
simply holds very still. When he speaks, the laughter in his voice
surprises me. “I suppose that should scare me more than it
does.”

“You think I
can’t do it?” I demand.

He shakes his
head grimly, grief edging into his expression. When he speaks his
voice is soft and haunted. “Not at all. You took out my entire
strike force tonight. I’m sure you can do anything you want.”

“Then why
aren’t you scared?”

“Maybe because
I’m not so sure I see what you’re planning as wrong.” He finally
steps back from me and lets his hands slide from my shoulders,
slowly, thoughtfully. I can’t believe he’s telling me the truth,
but he’s no Perceptive. He can’t hide the honesty of his thoughts
from me.

“Just try to
be careful, okay?” he asks. Braden turns away then, ready to sprint
back into the darkness he appeared from.

It’s stupid,
very stupid, but I can’t let him go like that. There is something
about him that affects me, and I find myself completely unable to
ignore the sensation. “Braden,” I call out quietly.

He turns back
with a curious expression. “Yeah?”

“If you ever
want to change teams,” I say, “I’d be happy to have you.” I want to
die for even suggesting it, but I had to. He would be an
indispensible asset. That’s the only reason. Really.

He smiles
lightly, and says, “I’ll think about it.”

Gone before I
can blink again, Braden’s smile and answer linger with me. As do my
own words. Guardians are on their way to drag me off for
questioning, but I feel a sense of peace settle over me. I have a
plan. I’m really going to go through with it. Milo was the first to
suggest attacking the Guardians. Saying I was hesitant then would
be an understatement, but now I am absolutely committed. I meant
what I told Braden. No matter what happens, I’m going to rescue the
Ciphers.

All my life I
have feared there is something dark and deadly inside of me. After
tonight, after all the dead Guardians lying at my feet, I don’t
wonder anymore. I know. The power and ability to take life and
destroy is inside of me if I choose to use it. I’ve made my
choice.

I am Cassia.
And I
am
the Destroyer.

###

Keep reading
for a sneak peek of Book Two of The Destroyer Trilogy

Chapter 1

My life has
been about betrayal from the moment I first drew breath. I should
be used to it, expect it. But I never see it coming.

The plan to
convince everyone I wasn't going to destroy the world unfortunately
didn’t work out very well. My little episode a couple of weeks ago
where I took out a Guardian strike team almost single-handedly
dashed that idea to pieces. The whole thing was televised on
national TV. The only thing that saved me from a swift death was a
surprising rally from allies I didn’t even know I had. They saved
me once, but that was a small miracle. I knew I had to come up with
another plan if I wanted to stay alive. I just didn’t expect it to
be actually destroying the world. But that’s exactly what I’m going
to do. If I can survive my first day back at school, that is.

Things were
going so well back when I had a broken ankle and the wary sympathy
of everyone who saw me. Now everyone has returned to cringing away
from my presence and whispering about me. I don’t know why I
expected this day to not be positively horrible. School is always a
terrible experience for me. Ms. Sanchez, my Spiritualism teacher,
is trembling at the front of the room. She’s trying very hard to
give her lecture without ever glancing in my direction. Her
normally sharp, staccato voice is barely more than a whisper right
now. Which is too bad, because even with my boyfriend’s mom helping
me develop my Spiritualism talent, I’m still struggling.

How long have
I been in this class? It’s got to be almost over, but I’m pretty
sure I only sat down a few minutes ago. It feels like years. Just
to be sure, I let my eyes wander away from my terrified teacher to
find the clock. I know it hangs above the exit sign, but my gaze
only makes it as far as the rectangular viewing window in the door
below it. My body goes rigid with shock at the curious face staring
back at me. His green eyes brighten when he sees my reaction.

I’ve already
got my boyfriend, Milo, and my ex-boyfriend, Lance, irritating me
to death with their suspicions of each other. I don’t need this
right now.

Suddenly he
turns away from the door, making me lose sight of him. I bolt up
from my chair, fearing that he is going to…I don’t know what he
might do, but I doubt I’ll like it. Ms. Sanchez yelps and drops her
book in response. It slaps against the ground and wakes up the rest
of the class with a start. Nobody says anything. They just
stare.