Secret of Betrayal: Book Two of The Destroyer Trilogy (13 page)

“Yes,” I say, “but I probably shouldn’t.”

Sitting back against the couch, Mrs. Hanover
sighs. “If you’re right about the danger the Ciphers are in, you may not have
the luxury of taking the safest path.”

Chapter 1
0

Whatever it
Takes

Have u decided what 2 do yet?
Lance asks.

I stare at his text message, unable to answer.
All day we’ve been texting back and forth as I told him about how telling Milo
about Braden went and explaining what Mrs. Hanover said. Lance’s trust in the
Guardians has taken a nosedive in the last few months, but he isn’t nearly as
reluctant as Milo. It would take an act of God to restore Milo’s trust in the
brotherhood he once idolized.

U
have
to decide
before tonight,
Lance texts.

I know.

I leave it at that when I feel the familiar
presence of Milo approaching. He rounds the corner and breaks off his
conversation with Mr. Walters to smile at me. I smile back. Mr. Walters grants
us a bit of privacy and walks past us into the classroom. Facing Milo with my
thoughts in such turmoil is torture. I want to talk to him about it, ask him
for help again, but I know doing so will only lead to another fight. I asked
him for help and he gave me his answer. I don’t blame him, but not having Milo
there tonight if I go through with the meeting tears at me.

Guilt for even considering something Milo
expressly told me he was against causes a strange effect in me. It pushes me
toward him. I wrap my arms around his waist and reach up for a kiss, trying to
make up for a choice I haven’t even made yet. Milo is more than happy to give
in to my request. Sensuous warmth works its way through me, all the way down to
my toes. I’m pressed up against the wall and out of breath by the time our lips
finally part.

“This is new,” Milo says, “but I’d be lying if I
said I didn’t like it.”

“Well, don’t get to use to it. I had a really
awful day yesterday and kissing you is the only thing that will make me feel
better. I’m not usually the kind of girl that stands around making out in
hallways.”

Milo kisses me again. “I don’t see anyone
complaining.”

“Mr. Walters is going to start if we don’t get
to his class soon,” I say.

My aging teacher has snow white hair and barely
reaches five-foot-six, but the former Seeker once pulled a knife on me and
offered to slit my throat. He’s not one to make wait. One inch at a time, Milo
pulls away from me. His sigh is echoed by mine. With my impending appointment
tonight, I want as much Milo-time as possible to keep me focused on him and not
Braden. My fingers trail down the front of his chest, drawing a groan from his
lips. I pull forward and press my mouth to his again.
Desire
to feel the same rush with him that I did with Braden pushes me further than I
intended to go.

Milo stiffens and gently presses me back against
the wall. “Libby, is everything okay?”

Too much, I groan. I forgot for a moment that I
was dealing with Milo and not the old, oblivious Lance. Milo picks up on stuff
like this way more often than Lance used to.
Although, Lance
has been much better about that lately.
Unfortunately.

“Everything’s fine, Milo.
As fine as it can be, I guess. I just feel like I don’t get very many moments
like this anymore. We’re always so busy, and I get so frustrated. It’s hard to
let go of you sometimes,” I say. And for once, I’m being completely honest with
him.

“It won’t always be like this,” Milo says.

I laugh and lay my head against his chest. “When
will it ever
not
be like this? I’m the Destroyer, Milo. My life will
always be like this.
Screwed up and dangerous.”

“No it won’t. After you rescue the Ciphers and
disintegrate the corrupt system that imprisoned them in the first place, you’ll
be able to put all of this behind you. Then it will just be you and me, and we
can make out in hallways all we want,” he says as his hands slide around my
hips. Our bodies press against each other and his kiss tries to drown me in his
optimism.

Momentarily drunk on his belief, I let myself
relish the impossible dream of having a normal life with him. What would it be like
to wake up in the morning worrying about nothing more than what we were going
to eat for breakfast? If I could actually plan my life out farther than my
eighteenth birthday, I know I would devote every daydream to a future with
Milo. I would envision him slipping a ring onto my finger, about buying our
first house. I would picture the faces of our children. That thought
momentarily weakens me. I’ll never have any of that. No future with Milo, no
children, no dreams. Even if I somehow manage to pull off everything I’m
planning, it won’t end there.

So I overthrow the military force running the
world, what then? I can’t just walk away and hope someone else will pick up the
pieces. If I tear everything down, I’m going to have to be the one to build it
back up. It will be up to me to reunite the thousands of Ciphers with their
families and to figure out how to make up for what was done to them. I have to
rebuild a whole world. This will never end. I will always be Cassia the
Destroyer no matter how much I want things to be different. My enthusiasm
drifts away. When I pull out of Milo’s grip, I don’t offer any explanation. I
just
tow
him along behind me to class and slump into
my usual chair.

To one side of me, Milo takes his seat as well
and Lance looks over at me with a questioning glance. I shake my head and turn
to find Mr. Walters shuffling through stacks of papers. One good thing about
this class is that it’s always interesting. I scan the room and stop at the
sight of a blonde ponytail to the right of me.

“Casey?”

She turns around and smiles weakly. In the two
weeks since I helped her get away from the Ciphers she hasn’t contacted me in
any way, but I know none of her friends are talking to her anymore. I guess the
pressure of being alone has finally caught up with her.

“Mr. Walters said I could join the class as long
as you don’t mind.” Her mouth turns down in worry. “You don’t, do you?”

“No, of course not.
I’m
just not sure why you’re here,” I say.

Casey’s frown deepens. “Well, no one else will
talk to me after what happened, so I thought I better learn a little more about
what you’re doing if people are going to assume I’ve joined up with you,
regardless.”

Just what I was afraid would happen. “Casey, you
don’t have to come here just because of what happened.”

“I know,” she says, “but that’s not the only
reason I’m here. I need to talk to you about the Ciphers.”

“The Ciphers?”
I ask in
a startled gasp. “How do you know about them?”

Fear flashes in her eyes. “Libby, I know you
said I should stay out of the spirit world for a while, but I was worried about
my friend Caroline. I tried to stay away, but I just couldn’t. I went back last
night to make sure she was okay. She was waiting for me. And she told me … a
lot more than she ever has before.”

“What did she tell you? And how did she tell you
without the Spiritualists finding out and stopping her?”

“How?
I shielded us.”

I stare at her. “You can shield yourself from
the Spiritualists?”

“Sure. Not everyone can do it, but I’ll teach
you if you want,” Casey offers.

“Definitely.”
If I ever figure out how to get there.
“What did your friend
tell you?”

Tucking her feet up under her, Casey looks down
at her hands. “She told me about being a Cipher, about how the Guardians took
her after her Inquest and locked her in the spirit world. She told me that once
the Spiritualists lock a person in the spirit world, there’s no way for them to
escape. ” Casey takes a deep breath and shudders. Caroline’s description of the
night she was taken must have been unpleasant.

“I met Caroline when I was five. I thought I was
dreaming for years, and that she was just part of my dreams. She was like my
big sister. We played together and she listened when I needed to talk. When I
started learning about talents, I figured out I wasn’t just dreaming. I didn’t
tell anyone, but I did start learning how to use my Spiritualism on my own. I
didn’t have a physical guide like people usually do. I was pretty comfortable
there already, and once I told Caroline that I knew I was in the spirit world
she helped me with things like getting around and communicating there.”

“When did you realize you were in the spirit
world?” I ask.

She shrugs. “Around ten years old, I think.
Everybody thinks I’m so talented in class. Really, I’ve just had a lot more
practice.”

“Because you made a wise choice and decided to
develop your Spiritualism talent as soon as you knew about it, Casey,” Mr.
Walters says, his mocking gaze falling on me for not doing the same.

I had six other talents to worry about, for
crying out loud.
Six other talents that seemed way more
useful at the time.
How was I supposed to know my chance at success was
going to hinge on whether or not I could get into the spirit world? This is an
argument we’ve been having since before Christmas. Rather than dragging it out
again, I simply ignore him and move on.

“What else did Caroline tell you?” I ask Casey.
There has to be more than just the truth of who she is. Finding out her friend
is a Cipher doomed to spend an eternity in the spirit world is a shocking
revelation, to be sure, but I can tell there’s something more. My Concealment
is vibrating with the desire to be released. I hold back, for now. I always
prefer to hear the truth from a person’s own mouth rather than by using my
talents. But either way, I’ll get the answers she’s holding back before we
leave this class.

Luckily, Casey doesn’t make me resort to devious
means. “Caroline apologized for what happened that day. She said there’s a
group of Ciphers who are so frightened and angry that none of the others can
control them anymore. They grabbed me because they knew me, and because I guess
they knew you were near me.”

“Why are the other Ciphers so scared?” Milo
speaks up suddenly.

“Because something really bad
is happening in the Spirit world.”
Casey’s eyes tear up suddenly. Her
lips start quivering, and I reach out and take her hand. “Caroline said that
some of the Ciphers have started disappearing. She doesn’t know where they’re
going, but someone will be there one second, and they’re gone the next. None of
them know what to do. She thinks some of the people who lead the Ciphers know,
but they aren’t telling anyone. Caroline’s terrified that the missing Ciphers
are dead.”

I shake my head sadly. I wanted so badly to
believe Milo’s mom about this.

“The Spiritualists can’t be outright killing
them,” Milo argues. “I know my mom is right about this. They won’t risk that.
Maybe they’re doing something else.
Locking the Ciphers away
in some secret part of the spirit world or something.”

“Caroline said they’ve searched everywhere for
the missing Ciphers. They aren’t in the spirit world anymore. There aren’t any
holes they can put them in, either. The spirit world doesn’t work like that,” Casey
says. “It has no physical substance. You can’t manipulate it. It’s a void,
that’s it.”

“Something else has to be going on,” Milo
argues.

Mrs. Hanover was so sure the Guardians wouldn’t
kill them. She promised they would leave them be. But she was obviously wrong
in some way. How exactly? The Guardians could never just gas an entire compound
because they would never make it out alive before the Sihirs found them. It
would be suicide trying to control that many. The townspeople from Mrs.
Hanover’s story only survived because they were lucky enough to find a willing
sacrifice right there in their town.

I gasp as a horrible revelation strikes me.
Everyone stares at me. “Milo, your mom’s wrong. They are killing them.”

“No, Libby, they wouldn’t …”

“Listen to me for a second. What your mom said
about the Guardians being overwhelmed before they could kill the Sihirs, she
was right about that, but only if they were stupid enough to kill the Ciphers
all at once. They would never do that. It would be suicide.”

Every face in the room pales as the others in
the room understand what I’m saying. Even Mr. Walters, who has undoubtedly seen
death many, many times, looks disturbed.

“If the Guardians planned ahead, found
a sacrifices
beforehand and brought them to the prison so
when they killed the Cipher there would be a body ready for them, they could do
it,” I say. “One by one, they could kill every single Cipher. And I bet any new
Ciphers found since my Inquest haven’t been put into the spirit world. I bet
they’re killing them as soon as they find them.”

“I … I can’t believe they would do that,” Lance
says quietly.

“I can,” Mr. Walters says. “You boys both wanted
to be Guardians. A lot of young men do. Some want the power, but some are
dedicated to the idea of protecting people. It’s just too bad that’s not what
the Guardians are about anymore. Most Guardians don’t even give their Oaths to
the people they’re serving. They don’t give their Oath to anyone, because at
any moment they might be called upon to murder one of those innocent people
for
the good of the world
. They would be killing themselves if they gave their
Oaths away like people think they do. The sole purpose of the Guardian class is
to save the world from you, Libby. They’ll sacrifice as many people as it
takes. And they won’t even bat an eye.”