Secret of Betrayal: Book Two of The Destroyer Trilogy (35 page)

We’ve reached the trailhead before I pull myself
out of my thoughts and look up at Braden. He stops and meets my gaze. I don’t
know if he lifts our hands or I do, but they become posed between us. The
silent question is plain in Braden’s expression. I don’t know what the answer
is.
Trying to help me decide, Braden’s hand presses gently
against my cheek.
I can’t stop myself from leaning into his touch. His
fingers curl and trail down my skin. The aching desire they leave in their wake
pools in my center and
refuses
to ever leave. The next
moment I am back in Braden’s arms, completely enveloped in his warmth, scent,
and unquestionable love.

It doesn’t go further than that, though I find
myself wanting very much for it to continue. Braden releases me, all but my
hand, and starts down the trail without another word. We walk through the tall
summer grasses that tickle my fingertips and bare legs. Around the marshy
ponds, we take off our shoes and wade along the banks as we watch the turtles and
fish meander through the water. Then we do some meandering of our own, through
the fields and trees. Braden never once lets go of me. Every step we take
leaves a piece of my anxiety, a drop of my fear behind.

Logically, I know it will all come back as soon
as we leave, but for a few beautiful hours I think about nothing but the sun on
my skin, the perfection and beauty of the natural world, and how happy I am. I
smile more in one day with Braden than I have in months.

Lying in the thick grasses as we watch the sun
start
it’s
descent, I close my eyes. The brilliant
oranges and purples of sunset linger behind my eyelids a moment before fading.
Then there is nothing but the feel of Braden’s spirit caressing mine as I lie
with my head on his shoulder. If I could stay in this moment all weekend, I
would.

“The park is closing soon. We should start
heading back,” Braden says quietly, my own reluctance to move echoed in his
voice.

“I don’t want to go home,” I whisper.

I feel Braden’s
breath
hitch. His arm tightens around me for just a moment. “I know,” he says.
“Neither do
I
.”

Neither of us moves. We lay silent in the grass
until only a sliver of sun is still visible above the horizon. The park doesn’t
close until an hour after sunset, but it will take us at least that long to get
back to the Bronco unless we run. It isn’t safe to wander around the Bosque
after dark. Cranes and turtles aren’t the only animals that live in the refuge.
Coyotes and bobcats prowl these marshes after dark as well.

When Braden shifts to get up, he has to push me
along with him. He consoles my pouting by draping his arm around my shoulder as
we walk back toward the trail. We are quiet as we walk. One day out of every
other day we have seen each other shouldn’t be that significant. Being so
surrounded by Braden has made this day unique. Milo was still in my thoughts
often enough today, guilt for my weakness poking at me when it could and
telling me I should have gone with him. I didn’t want to spend my time
training, but I wanted to be with him. Milo wouldn’t bend, but neither would I.

Left alone by my choice or Milo’s, when Braden
stepped in and delivered the escape I needed so badly, I know I should have
turned him away. One fight with Milo doesn’t mean I’m interested in giving him
up. I try to tell myself this day means nothing in the broad scope of my life,
but in my heart I know something has changed.

We reach the Bronco just before full dark. I
expect Braden to take me back home, but when he gets off the freeway in the
wrong section of town I realize he has other plans. “Where are we going?” I
ask, panicked that he took my complaint of not wanting to go home too
literally.

Braden looks over at me, and says, “I have a
surprise for you.”

Mr. Walters’ warning had slipped from my mind,
but now it comes back full force.

Chapter 2
7

Closer

I don’t know what to think as I stare at the
modest-sized home in front of us. Milo bought me a car, but there’s no way
Braden would go this far to try and outdo him. He doesn’t say anything as he
kills the engine. Something about this house seems very familiar, but I can’t
place it. It’s definitely not Braden’s house because he’s mentioned living in a
townhome. Braden takes the keys out of the ignition and looks over at me.

“What are we doing here?” I ask warily.

Not dissuaded by my tone, Braden says, “Why
don’t you come with me and find out?”

I don’t move when he gets out of the car. He’s
all the way to the front door before I finally give in and push my own door
open. I’m going to strangle Mr. Walters the next time I see him. My sharp
footsteps pad down the walkway to plant me right next to Braden. My scowl only
makes him smile. One unforgettable day together doesn’t mean he has any right to
surprise me like this. I hate surprises. Braden turns the key and unlocks the
door, but I’m not about to go inside with him until he explains.

“Whose house is this?”

“Afraid I’m turning you into a cat burglar?” he
teases.

He thinks this is funny? I wrinkle my nose at
him. “Well, given your background …”

“I have a key,” he says, holding it up right in
front of my crinkled nose.

“Who gave it to you?”

“You’re ruining this for me, Libby. Would you
just come inside?”

“No.”

 Braden does his best to look irritated,
but after the day we’ve had, it just isn’t possible. “You are a very
frustrating girl sometimes. Do you know that?” he asks.

“Yes.”

“I thought you said you trusted me.”

I stare at him with one eyebrow raised
mockingly. “Hmm, you, who
has
hounded me for the past
eight months, doing everything you can to convince me to give in to you, have
now brought me in the middle of the night to a house I have never seen before.
Do I trust you? No, I don’t think so.”

Braden sweeps me into his arm before I can blink
and starts moving.

“Braden!”
I screech.

Walls and furniture whip past me. Everything
around me tilts as I’m spun back to standing and plopped standing on the floor.
Good grief, he’s fast! I have to brush my hair out of my face to see anything.
I’m so going to get him for that. Blinking away the last of my disorientation,
I finally see it. I think I’m going to faint as I take in the meager collection
of all my earthly possessions. It’s my room, my little, cramped motel room, but
it’s not in the motel anymore.

Oh no, he didn’t. I can hear my voice shaking as
I speak. “Braden, what is all of my stuff doing here? And whose house is this?”

Either he doesn’t hear the panic coloring my words,
or he simply chooses to ignore it. Braden’s hands slip around my waist,
bringing his mouth closer to my ear. “You’re no fun at all to surprise, I hope
you know.”

“Braden …”

He sighs and spins me around to face him. “Your
stuff is here, because if you want to, you can live here. I’ll move everything
back if you don’t. And quit freaking out, because I did not pull a
Milo
and try to buy your affection.”

“That’s not what he did!” I object, shoving him
away from me.

“This house,” Braden says, talking right over
me, “belongs to your friend, Inquisitor Moore. He said his daughter and her
family used to use it when her kids were little.
Something
about not wanting to ruin his nice house.”

That’s why this house looked so familiar! I
haven’t been here since I was six or seven when I came to play with Inquisitor
Moore’s grandkids. The extra house became a must for his daughter when her son,
Tony, knocked over a
Murano
crystal vase worth
thousands of dollars. It smashed into a million pieces when he ran around a
corner too fast and bumped it. Inquisitor Moore wasn’t mad about it, but his
daughter was terrified her kids were going to destroy the whole place. He
bought them a guest house before their next visit.

Feeling much better that Braden didn’t do
anything quite as stupid as I originally
thought,
I’m
still not thrilled about what he did do. “Braden, couldn’t you have asked me
about this first? I liked my motel room just fine. It was out of the way, and I
don’t like imposing on people. I’m fine at the motel.”

“This is a better neighborhood, closer to the
school, closer to everyone else in our little group of insurgents, and most
important, it’s closer to me,” he says.

“Really?”
I ask too
quickly.

He nods. “I only live a few minutes away. I can
be here the moment you need me instead of having to drive clear across town to
get to you. And for me, at least, that makes me feel a lot better. If I hadn’t
already been on your side of town when Saia attacked you, I might not have
gotten there in time and you could have been hurt. I’d like to avoid that if at
all possible, especially after seeing how awful you are when it comes to going
to the hospital.”

I have good reason not to like hospitals, but I
can’t stop the blush from forming on my cheeks. “I never did thank you for
helping me out that day,” I say, remembering how the slightest touch of his
hand took away all my fear.

He repeats the gesture, lightly running his
fingers across my skin. “Any time,” he says. His voice is soft and tempting. I
want to close my eyes and revel in it. When I try to argue with him again, I
can’t make myself sound very forceful.

“Braden, I don’t want to stay here. It’s going
to get Inquisitor Moore in trouble if anyone finds out he’s helping me. He’ll
be removed.”

Braden’s fingers close around mine once again.
“Libby, after Wednesday, when hundreds of Ciphers show up at one of his houses,
it’s going to be pretty clear to everyone what side he’s chosen. Either he’ll
be removed or he won’t. The Cipher families are gaining a lot of influence
nationwide. They’ll definitely support him. Either way, he’s made peace with
his decision. I don’t know what Lance said to him, but he regrets not helping
you from the beginning. He wants you to be here.”

“I don’t, Braden.”

“Libby, please. Things have been relatively calm
for you so far … minus the broken ankle, Lazaro’s attack, me coming after Milo,
and Saia.” He pauses to appreciate just how un-calm it has really been. “After
we get the Ciphers out, things are going to get a lot worse. It will be all
over the news. Everyone will know you’ve collected your army. Everyone you know
is going to be forced to choose sides, and I’m sorry to say I don’t think
you’re going to get very many eager volunteers. As soon as the Ciphers are
free, you’ll be in danger constantly, not just the ever-present threat of the
Guardians, either. Please don’t argue with me on this. You need to be here with
everyone else. You can’t be alone anymore.”

“I’ll still be alone,” I say quietly, “just
closer.”

The pressure of Braden’s hand cupping my chin
forces me to look up at him. “Libby, you aren’t alone. You won’t ever be
alone.”

“You don’t understand …”

His other hand moves to my lower back and pulls
me in. “I don’t understand? I understand
alone
. I understand it very
well. I know
alone
better than anything else, and you are not alone, not
anymore. And neither am I. I won’t leave you.”

The frantic
way
my
heart and mind are racing completely scramble my talents, but I don’t need
them. I can’t even trick myself into believing he’s only saying this because
we’re Companions. I know too well that bone-deep longing, of wanting to have
someone love you. He’s spent so much of his life with no one to really care
about him. Feeling his pulse race under his skin makes me desperately want to
be the one person he knows will never let him be alone again.

Help, help! I have to distract myself. Peeling
my eyes away from Braden, I glance back at my new room.
“When
…” I squeak.
I have to pause to get a grip of my voice. “When did you
move all this stuff here? I was only at the cemetery for a few hours.”

Knowing that I’m giving in to the idea of living
here, Braden relaxes. “I’m fast, and I’m strong. It wasn’t very hard. If I
hadn’t been recruited by the Guardians I could have become a professional
mover.”

“A mover, huh?
I would
have guessed race car driver, or wheel man for some bank robbers.”

“Those are pretty high on the list, too,” he
says.

I finally manage to push myself away from Braden
and turn to stare at my stuff. He was sweet enough set everything up for me. My
bed is made. The DVD tower is filled with my favorite movies, and he even hung
up the artwork I’ve done over the past year. I wander over to the far wall and
stare at the drawings and paintings. This is the only thing that has kept me
sane since my Inquest. Every time I feel as if I’m losing control of my life, I
pull out my charcoals or paints and let the insanity slip away. Images of
everything from me and my dad to Southwestern landscapes and desert roses fill
the back wall. I know the next images I’ll add will be of the Bosque.

It’s the first time I’ve seen them all laid out.
It’s the first time anyone besides me has seen them all. Milo knows I love to
draw and paint, and he’s seen some of my pieces, but I usually prefer to work
alone. It’s my escape from everything going on in my life.

Braden comes up behind me and stares at the
collection over my shoulder. “I had no idea you were such a wonderful artist.
Finding these slowed me down considerably,” he says.

I smirk at him over my shoulder. “Don’t you know
it’s rude to go through other people’s things without permission? These were
private.”