Secret of Betrayal: Book Two of The Destroyer Trilogy (37 page)

“Libby, you don’t understand. If they take me,
I’m gone to you, forever. You can’t come after me. It will only get you
killed,” he argues.

“No it won’t.”

“Yes,” he says, “it will.”

The absolute certainty in his voice frightens
me. “What are you talking about, Braden?”

Neither of us has finished our breakfast, but
Braden stands and holds his hand out for mine. I feel as if I’m suddenly
floundering, so I take his hand and let him pull me up from my chair. He leads
me away from the kitchen. Together we sit down on the couch in front of a
laptop, which I assume must be his since it isn’t mine. Mine is hot pink. The
screen is dark, but a quick tap from Braden lights it up. I don’t know what to
think when I see a picture of Braden and me standing in front of the trailhead.

I remember the moment clearly. It was the moment
I gave in. I am in Braden’s arms, staring up at him, looking very much as if we
are about to kiss. My heart shudders and breaks. All I wanted in that moment
was to be surrounded by someone who loved me and wanted to be with me. I wasn’t
thinking about how much I was hurting Milo, but I am now. If he were ever to
see this picture, it would crush him. What was I thinking? How could I have
been so cruel? I should never have stayed here. I should have gone with him
even if it meant only more training and being on the sidelines of his thoughts.
At least my weakness couldn’t have hurt him if I had just gone with him.

The presence of arrows at the bottom of the
photo viewing program makes me sick. I tap the screen and watch the photos
slide across the screen. Image after image of us holding hands as we walk
through the reserve assaults me. My guilt is attempting to strangle me, and I
deserve it without a doubt, but along with that knowledge
comes
the realization that Milo isn’t my only concern.

“Who took these? Was it your captain? Why would
he do that? You’ve been giving him reports about me just like you’re supposed to.
The last one was frighteningly revealing. I thought for sure he’d be glad about
what you gave him. Why is he following us around?” I ask.

Braden sighs and drops his head into his hands.
His voice sounds muffled when he speaks. “I thought it was the Guardians at
first, too. I thought I had been careful enough about my reasons for being
around you and my interest in you, but I assumed I didn’t do a good enough job
and Captain Blackwood had
us
followed yesterday when I
saw these. It turns out I was wrong.”

“What do you mean?”

With his head hanging, he says, “The written
reports I’ve been turning in have actually helped me get back into good graces
with my captain … sort of, anyway. He’s been happy to give me permission to be
around you whenever I ask. And he’s been incredibly eager for more information.
My in-person reports have worked exactly as I’ve
planned,
keeping him scared enough to hold off coming after you while still letting him
believe he has a chance to kill you.
But when he got these
pictures this morning, nothing else mattered.”

“Where did these pictures come from?” I ask
quietly. My eyes close against the answer I fear is coming.

“An outside source.”

“Who.”

Braden sighs.
“Your friend,
Jen.
Apparently she followed us yesterday and emailed the pictures to
Captain Blackwood late last night.”

My head drops into my hands. Why did I have to
be right? Jen, what were you thinking? I want to throttle her, grab her and
shake out everything my mom has taught her and turn her back into the friend I
once knew. Why would she do this to me? It’s a question I honestly want an
answer to. This doesn’t make sense. If she was really looking for a story, why
didn’t she sell it to the news? Why send it to Captain Blackwood? If my mom had
her hand in this there has to be a reason, something she herself will gain from
this.

“Libby?” Braden says, breaking my concentration.
I’ll have to figure out the motive behind this later. Right now I need to know
what our next step is.

“What does this mean?”

He grimaces and sinks back into the couch. “It
means things have gotten a lot more complicated.”

“Are they going to come after us?” Panic seizes
me. My fingers start shaking as I wonder when they will try to kill me next.
With Lazaro out of action since his attempt on my life at the mall, and the
Cipher families going to bat for me, the Guardians haven’t been brave enough to
try anything yet. I’m not the only one at risk anymore. My heart threatens to
break at the idea of Braden being hurt again. I can’t stand the thought of any
more scars marring his body just because he was unlucky enough to meet me. The
worst feeling is that I doubt scars will be enough for them this time. I can’t
see them letting him live. When will they come? I need Braden to rescue the
Ciphers, but even more, I just can’t bear to lose him.

Braden’s hand closes around my shaking fingers.
“Libby, they’re not coming after us.
At least not yet.
But we’re going to have to walk a fine line to keep it that way.”

“What do you mean?”

His movements are sluggish as he reaches back to
the computer and changes the display. His work email pops up on the screen.
The way he grips the side of the laptop, but then doesn’t pull it
over for me to look at, makes me worry.
What am I about to see? After an
excruciating pause, Braden finally drags the laptop off the table and sets it
in my lap. He still doesn’t let me see it.

“Libby, these photos were forwarded to me in an
email from my captain, demanding I explain them. I’m supposed to be watching
you for him, not
screwing around
, as he put it. I could tell Captain
Blackwood was livid and I was afraid he was going to do something rash.” He
pauses and stares at me so intently I can’t even seem to breathe. “Libby, I
told him the only thing I could that would get him to back down. If you’re ever
confronted with him, I don’t want him to tell you what I said without me
showing you first.”

Slowly, he turns the laptop and pulls his hand
away so I can see it. My eyes flit across the words and soak up every awful
detail.

“Captain Blackwood,

“I apologize for you finding out about this in
such a manner. I know I didn’t clear this tactic with you, but it was only
because the opportunity presented itself before I could discuss it with you,
and to be honest, I wasn’t sure how you would react. After all, I’m supposed to
be gathering
intel
so we can
kill her, not trying to seduce her. But when she made her interest in me
obvious during one of my sessions with her I knew this might be the best way to
find out what she’s really doing and to gain her trust. It’s been slow progress
since she doesn’t trust me, but yesterday her traitorous friends were gone for
the day and I was finally able to convince her to spend some time with me. It
worked perfectly.

“She still is pretty far from trusting me, but
the more she falls for me, the harder it will be to keep secrets. She’s just a
sixteen-year-old girl with abandonment issues, after all. She’ll crack before
too long. I know seduction isn’t usually something I employ in my work, but I
wasn’t getting very far with her any other way. I’ll make her believe I’m in
love with her and watch her break when I finally betray her. In fact, I’ll be
close enough to her that as soon as you’re ready to give the order I’ll be able
to end her threat within seconds. This is the only way to get what we want.

“Guardian Braden Hunter”

The absolute coldness of the email makes me
shiver. Braden’s hands press against my face and force me to look at him. My
own numbness blocked out his emotions as I read, but I can clearly see the pain
in his eyes. “Libby, you know I didn’t mean any of it, right? I had to convince
him that this was all some sort of plan of mine. I would never hurt you or
betray you. I hope you know that.”

Betray me? Mr. Walters’ words slip back into my
mind. Either Braden or Milo, those were his guesses on who would lead me to my
death. I shake my head lightly. No, I trust Braden. I trust them both, but what
I feel from Braden isn’t
fake
. I can feel the
sincerity of every word, every emotion,
every
desire. He
isn’t going to betray me any more than Milo is. What was he supposed to tell
his Captain, that he fell in love with me and has decided to turn his back on
his brothers? Of course he had to tell him he was using me.

“I know,” I say quietly. “I know you had to tell
him that, Braden.”

Relief shudders around him. “I’m so sorry,
Libby. I thought going out to the Bosque would be remote enough, and taking
your car would keep anyone from realizing I was with you. I thought it was
safe. I’m so sorry.”  

“It’s not your fault. Jen was my friend. I know
she’s been shadowing me around school, but I never even thought about it
yesterday. She’s never followed me off school grounds before. I should have
been more careful.”

“You can’t do everything, Libby.”

“What happens now, though? Do we have to stay
away from each other so she can’t take any more pictures?” I ask.

A weak, crumpled half smile twists Braden’s
mouth.
“Uh, no.
It’s actually kind of the opposite.
The Captain was pretty upset I didn’t tell him about this sooner, but he’s
letting me pursue it. The problem is that I don’t think he’s totally convinced.
We’re going to have to find at least a few opportunities now and then to
convince the Captain I’m really trying to worm my way into your trust.”

Maybe saying I trusted him was a little
premature. Not really, but I can’t help notice how this works out in his favor.
His embarrassment outweighing his optimistic pleasure convinces me this is just
a happy, unintentional benefit for him. That doesn’t mean I’m not worried.
Yesterday was so intoxicating. I can’t put myself in situations like that again
without losing control completely.

“What do you have in mind?” I ask warily.

“Please just hear me out on this,” Braden says.
I immediately get that sick feeling in my stomach. I’m not going to like this.
He powers on with his plan regardless. “After getting the photos, Captain
Blackwood will probably keep tighter tabs on me from now on. I don’t want any
tail following me to find out about this house. If we’re going to give
Blackwood chances to check up on us it has to be in a place that isn’t going to
compromise anyone else in the group. It has to be at my house.”

I want to be irritated, demand he choose
somewhere else, but doing that turns out to be much harder than I expect. I
close my eyes and berate myself. I’ve lost more ground with him than I thought.
I want to see his house even though I shouldn’t. I try to tell myself that the
logical sense it makes to use his townhome is the biggest reason I’m not freaking
out.

“Fine,” I say, trying to sound as businesslike
as possible.

Braden pauses, unsure how to react to my giving
in so easily. “Are you sure? After last night I expected you to fight me more.”

“It makes sense,” I say. “We can spend the day
at your house today, but I want something in return.”

“What?” Now it’s his turn to be wary.

“Teach me how to pick locks,” I say.

He just stares at me. “What? Why do you want to
learn that?”

“You never know when I might need it. Maybe you
can even teach me how to break into a car. With the situations I get myself
into, that’s probably going to be a useful skill to have.”

“Not cars,” Braden says shaking his head. “I’ll
teach you about locks, for emergencies only, but not breaking into cars. Not
yet, at least.”

“Okay,” I agree, knowing I’ll change his mind
about the cars soon enough.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.
Besides, is this
even going to matter after we rescue the Ciphers? Braden, you said they’re
going to find out you helped us. I mean, I hope they don’t, because I don’t
want you to get in trouble. They’re going to find out, though, aren’t they?” I
hate the idea of lying to Milo about this, but it’s only a couple of days, and
if I don’t play along it will put everything we’ve worked for in danger. That,
at least, is something I know Milo wouldn’t want. It will only be until
Wednesday, and then everything can go back to normal.
Hopefully.

“Most likely, as soon as the Ciphers are rescued
Blackwood will know I helped you,” he says with a slow nod. “That’s why I want
you to promise me you won’t come after me if I’m captured. After lying to
Blackwood about why I was with you, and him realizing I’ve betrayed them,
they’re going to come after me at some point.”

I come back to my earlier frustration. I had
completely forgotten about what brought us to this whole conversation in the
first place. What he’s asking me is just ridiculous. “Braden, I won’t promise
you that.”

“Libby, please! You don’t understand. It’s too
dangerous.”

“It’s too dangerous to leave you in their hands!
I won’t do it. I’ll come get you.”

“No, you can’t,” he argues.

“You’ll be in jail. How are you going to stop
me?” I snap.

Braden grabs my shoulders roughly and forces me
to face him. “I’m not trying to be some self-sacrificing idiot. You can’t come
after me. You don’t know what the Guardians can do.”

“Then tell me!” I say. “Don’t ask me to make
stupid promises without giving me any good reason.”

His hands tighten around my shoulders. I watch
as his eyes close for one, two, three seconds before opening again. When they
do, the hardness in them startles me. “You told me how your mom put a binding
on you once to make you tell her the truth. Well, the Guardians can do
something similar. It isn’t an easy thing, and they only use it in extreme
situations. What they can do is force you into an Oath, one they make, usually
for a specific purpose. Instead of promising to protect someone, the Oath is
manipulated and turned into something terrible. This is what they’ll do to me,
Libby. They’ll force me into an Oath, and it will probably be something that
will hurt you, kill you most likely. If I’m taken, I won’t be part of your team
anymore. I’ll be the worst kind of Guardian. I’ll be your enemy.”