Darkening Chaos: Book Three of The Destroyer Trilogy, Page 3

  I close my eyes and will my Perception into his mind. The blocks I usually keep up to filter out the constant buzz of emotional noise I get from others falls away as I focus on my task. Perception lets me open myself up to others’ emotions so I can know their true intentions, but it also gives me the ability to seek out truth and lies straight from the source. That is the limit of what an average Perceptive can do. I’m not an average Perceptive. Thanks to Braden, I discovered something else I can do with my talent.

  Once I have pushed my Perception into the Seekers’ mind, I spread it out, thin like a blanket, and drape it over his thoughts. Right away, I can feel the swirling vortex of his emotional center. His suffocating fear is satisfying, but not what I’m looking for. I leave the hurricane of terror behind and wander back to the memory centers. Short term doesn’t concern me, either. His career as a Seeker can’t have been too extensive, but it has definitely lasted more than a few hours. My focus narrows on the long term memories, and I’m immediately greeted by a half a dozen bubbles of protective warding. These are what I want. Guardian promises.

  It’s time to get to work.

  With Braden I was tentative, worried about hurting him. That’s really not a concern for me tonight. I thin my Perception to a dangerous point and start jabbing at the first bubble. My anger and determination punch through it quickly, but I turn it aside when I realize it’s only a simple promise to a friend not to reveal that he is secretly learning to crochet. The stupid things people waste an unbreakable promise on. I dive at the next one and pull back out just as quickly. Then another, this time pausing just a minute to soak up the rumor this guy was told about another uprising against President Howe that didn’t work out any better than missing Vice President Lazaro’s rebellion did. Sounds like Braden was right about how precarious the president’s reign is. The fourth bubble I burrow into finally has what I’m looking for.

  The same room I saw in Braden’s memory, a utilitarian room with a single desk and chair in it, pops up before me. The Seeker, who is apparently named Samuel, sits down at the desk. The pang of frustration that I already had the chance to gain this information when I was in Braden’s memory and ignored it as unimportant, digs under my skin and pulses. Unlike last time, I studiously store away every bit of the protocols and procedures Guardians are expected to memorize. Only when he gets to the last page, the prophecy I already have, do I realize my mistake. This was his Guardian orientation, but Guardians don’t handle truly dangerous prisoners, Seekers do. That was the whole reason we sat crouched in the forest’s undergrowth for over an hour. I need his Seeker manual.

  I yank my awareness out of that bubble and spear the next one in a single stroke. I drop into a room more luxurious than the gardens surrounding the Canadian compound. Rich colors, silky fabrics, scents and tastes seductive enough to make me stumble, suck me into the scene with grasping claws. I’m so stunned by the effect the room has on me that it takes a few moments for me to realize I’m not alone. The young not-yet-Seeker, Samuel, sits in a chair to my left with a very charismatic man sitting directly across from him. Samuel’s eyes are wide as he’s told for the first time of the secret society within the ranks of his brothers. Even more shocking for him is when the man, Henley, offers him a place in their brotherhood. He accepts eagerly, without seeing the man behind him who is holding a gleaming Guardian blade on the off chance that Samuel refuses.

  Henley explains how Samuel will remain a part of the regular Guardians, a secret ambassador in their ranks, protecting them with his ability to see the future. The young man is drunk on the idea and barely bats an eye when Henley goes on to explain about the Ciphers and the other prisoners he will be expected to oversee. My heart begins to race as I listen. I want to scream at Henley to spit it out, tell me what I want to know, but all that would do is keep me from hearing what he’s saying. Both men standing up terrifies me, making me fear I will go away from this night empty handed. There has to be more!

  They shake hands, Samuel grinning wildly, and my wish is finally answered. Henley gestures to the man who had very nearly ended Samuel’s life mere minutes ago, and asks him to show Samuel the prisoner level and show him where he will be stationed when it is his turn to take watch. The picture of hospitality, this other man leads Samuel out of the plush room and down the hall. I catalogue every turn, every door, every step of the journey deep into the compound’s belly. Two levels down, he introduces Samuel to the sleeping Ciphers who will soon be rescued, unbeknownst to them. Another level down brings them to the general holding cells, a place for criminals, run of the mill miscreants. What I am so desperate to find lies deep on the fourth sublevel.

  Samuel is shown the two foot thick solid steel walls to keep even the highest levels of Strength from breaking through them, the constant stream of noise to disrupt any Perceptive’s focusing ability, multi-colored walls that are not only horrid to look at but also make Concealment a dozen times more difficult. A defense for every talent manifests itself here. It is a place meant to keep powerful people at bay. People like me. Going after them in a place like this will negate my talents’ power. I’ll be strictly on my own. I’ve only been completely powerless once before, and it didn’t turn out so well. That was the night my dad died.

  This talent-sucking place is where the Ciphers will be kept. Possibly even Helen and her family will be here, if they aren’t on the floor above. No mention is made of traitorous Guardians being kept here. Perhaps to preserve young Samuel’s delusion in the righteousness of his work, or because there is another place for people like Braden, I am left wondering where he might be. Hope that I might find out only lasts a few more seconds until the guide leads Samuel back up the stairs and elicits his unbreakable promise never to reveal any of what he has seen or heard to anyone outside of the Seekers. Samuel agrees without reservation, and the memory ends.

  I check the last bubble just to make sure there is nothing there I can use and pull back slowly. Nothing. I came to the Guardian compound tonight with three goals. Find out where the prisoners are being held. Learn the rest of the prophecy. Discover what the Guardians are making that will break this fragile world to pieces. I worried as soon as I realized just how young my captured Seeker was that the prophecy and secret creations would be beyond his years and experience. Still, I had hoped. It isn’t an easy thing to console myself with meeting only one of those goals, and not even fully since I still don’t know where Braden is.

  I pull my Perception out of Samuel and hear his gasping breath of relief before I can force my eyes to open. Not even the painful way his face is contorted can get a reaction out of me. Telling myself that tonight could have been much worse doesn’t cheer me up, either, because knowing I’ve failed means knowing tonight will be repeated. Try, try, again. Not only do I have to kidnap another Seeker, I’m going to have to find someone like Henley, someone who knows the deepest secrets of their corruption, someone powerful and evil.

  Someone who will take my head off if I make even the smallest mistake.

  Did I mention how long my list of mistakes is?

  Chapter 4

  Human

  Getting away from the Guardian compound without being noticed requires adding to Samuel’s minimal collection of Guardian promises. He doesn’t seem very inclined to give it until I tell him the alternative is me killing him. Having already suffered at my hands more than once, with the bruises and mental scars to prove it, he gives in and makes the promise. Daniel still feels the need to blindfold him, but we drop him back off near where we found him without any other trouble.

  Trouble catches back up to us as soon as we pull up to the Cipher safe house, in the form of Lance and a cell phone.

  I stare at him through the windshield. His grimace, and the way he’s holding his phone away from his ear makes it pretty clear that whoever is on the phone isn’t being very nice. Lance waves me over eagerly. I shrink against my seat. I must be the reason behind the angry call. That can only mean Milo is on the
phone. Pressure builds behind my eyes, giving me an instant headache. Daniel looks over at me in question, but I wave it off and tell him to go inside and say goodbye to everyone if he wants to come with us back to Albuquerque. He jumps out of the car much faster than a man his age should be able to.

  My exit is quite a bit slower. I shut the door in no hurry and take my time turning away from it. Lance glares at me and starts closing the distance himself. Why did I ever tell him to call Milo and tell him what I was doing tonight? I sigh. Because I was too scared to do it myself. Milo is so angry with me right now that I can’t bear the sound of his voice so filled with venom. I am determined to prove to him that I am not the lying, deceptive, horrible person he thinks I am. I wanted him to know what I planned, just not soon enough to try and stop me. I’m sure that’s the part he’s mad about.

  Lance reaches me, and I hear him say, “You need to hear this from her, Milo.”

  I hear the angry reply, even though I can’t understand the words. I wince at the heat spilling out over the phone line. Lance was wrong, he does hate me.

  “Milo!” Lance yells. “Just let her explain, okay?”

  Another unfriendly reply.

  “Because I can’t, man. I can’t explain it like she can. Would you please just listen to her?”

  I can’t hear whatever Milo says next, which means he’s stopped yelling, but when Lance finally holds the phone out to me, I flinch away from it. Lance growls at me and mashes it into my hand. Then he simply folds his arms across his chest and waits. I put the phone to my ear and take a deep breath.

  “Milo?” I ask, my voice small and shaky.

  “Are you okay?” he demands.

  I have to move the phone away from my ear a little because of how loud he’s talking, but a small wave or relief runs through me. I expected his first words to be accusing, not anxious.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. Everything went perfectly.”

  “Good,” he says. “What the hell were you thinking? Capturing a Seeker with only Daniel to help you? Are you freaking kidding me, Libby?”

  “Daniel was the easiest to convince. I didn’t have time to fight with anyone about it. All I needed was for him to distract the Seeker, not protect me.”

  “You still should have taken Hammond.”

  I don’t say anything to his argument. Milo moves on without my response.

  “And what is this about you turning yourself in to the Guardians tomorrow? You can’t possibly be serious! There’s no way that’s going to happen!”

  “Yes,” I interrupt, “it is, Milo.”

  The steel in my voice stops his tantrum. “Excuse me?” he asks through his teeth.

  “I’m doing it, Milo. It’s the best chance to get inside and find them. Any other time, we’ll have to sneak in. It will be twice as dangerous. They’ll let me right in if I go tomorrow.”

  “Yeah, because they want to kill you! Of course they’ll let you in.”

  I can almost see him throwing up his hands in frustration like he always does.

  “What other choice do we have? I won’t let the Ciphers die. We have to get them out tomorrow. We won’t get a second chance. Me turning myself in is our best shot and you know it,” I say, “so stop arguing with me. You haven’t even given me a chance to tell you what I found out tonight.”

  The line goes quiet. In my mind, I can see him drop the phone to his side, stare up at the ceiling, and mutter something under his breath. I wait for him to push aside his very real anger at me for this and for everything else. When I hear his defeated sigh, I know he’s back. He may hate me right now, but it just isn’t Milo to stand by and let someone get hurt. He might be wishing he could do or say a few things to me after what I’ve put him through, but he’ll hold back, for now. He won’t let anything bad happen just because he’s mad. Even more important is that Milo is smart, smarter than he lets on most of the time. This is the best plan, and he knows it. Finally, he is ready to admit that.

  “You got the information then?”

  “Well, some of it, the most pressing anyway. I know where the Ciphers are being kept, and maybe even Helen, but …” I choke on my next words, not wanting to bring up Braden with him right now. That part I explicitly told Lance not to mention to him. “But, it’s going to be a little more of a challenge than I thought to get them out. The holding cells are designed to disrupt talents. We’ll have to get them out strictly on our own merit once were down there.”

  Milo laughs. I feel like I haven’t heard him laugh in years. I almost start crying right there in the driveway, it sounds so wonderful. “Why are you laughing?” I ask, nearly laughing myself.

  “Libby, us Ciphers are pretty used to having to do things without talents. I think we’ll manage. If the cells are built to subdue talents, there’s a good chance there are weaknesses the Guardians missed that people like Ciphers can exploit. We’ll figure it out.”

  Yes, we will. I know I’m still miles away from him not being angry with me, and I’m pretty sure Everest stands in his way when it comes to forgiving or trusting me again, but at least he isn’t yelling anymore. At least he is willing to work with me on this. Not wanting to lose his amiable mood, I quickly power forward and give him all the details I was able to glean from Samuel’s memory. When I finally finish, and mention the need to find another Seeker who can answer the rest of our questions, his anger returns, though not as strongly as before.

  “I’m coming with you next time.” It isn’t a request by any means.

  I can tell from the tone of his voice that he’s ready to argue this one into the ground. He doesn’t realize that isn’t necessary. “Of course, Milo. If you had been here this time, I would have taken you with me, but I couldn’t wait. I knew it was a good opportunity and I took it.”

  “I …” he says, thrown off balance by me not arguing with him. “Yeah, it was a smart move, I guess. They never would have expected you to show up in Canada.”

  “I just wish I could have grabbed someone more useful.”

  “It would have been too dangerous, Libby. You were lucky things went so well. Going after a more talented Seeker, things could have gotten bad. Whether they can see us coming, or not, they’re still an elite military strike force. Next time isn’t going to be so easy,” Milo says. “It’s going to take planning, and a lot more than just you and an old guy.”

  Daniel did great for an old guy. I know Milo’s right, but deep down his words bother me, a lot. “Milo, we will plan the next grab better, and we’ll have a whole team with us, but have a little faith in me, okay? I can do things. I do have some pretty powerful talents. I don’t need everyone constantly trying to protect me and keep me from getting hurt. I have the right to make decisions about how my destiny is going to play out. I’m the freaking Destroyer, for crying out loud!”

  “Yeah,” Milo says quietly, “but you’re still human. You aren’t perfect. You can still make mistakes.” That last word flicks off his tongue angrily. “You don’t always know what’s right. I’m not trying to take over—I know you have to make the big choices—but I’m not going to let you get yourself killed over something stupid.”

  Guilty energy builds around me, streaks through my veins. I know we aren’t talking about the Seeker anymore. He means Braden. Mistake. Stupid. Not worth dying for. A dozen excuses flit to my lips for why I had to lie. I want to spit them all out at him. I want to tell him right now that I’m going to save Braden no matter what the cost is. But I can’t say any of it.

  As much as I try to justify everything I did, I am the one who gave into Braden a few too many times, who found reasons to be around him, who could have said no and didn’t. I tried. I tried so hard to hate Braden, to keep him at a distance at first, but the more I was around him, the harder it was to see why I should, and I fell. I don’t know if I’ll ever see him again, let alone whether I could ever love him like I do Milo, but I won’t abandon Braden. And that’s not just because I’ve fallen in love with him, I wouldn’t ab
andon any of my friends to that. If I was the one taken and twisted, Milo would do the same for me, wouldn’t he?

  “Libby?” Milo asks.

  I don’t respond right away. The pressure of my guilt mixed with my hope that I will be able to save Braden won’t let me.

  “Libby, I know you’re worried about … everyone, but you can’t make decisions purely on emotion. You’ll get hurt that way,” he says. “Other people will get hurt, too, and I don’t think you want anyone else getting hurt over this. I can’t stand the thought of you getting hurt, either.”

  Then he’s quiet. I don’t know what to say. I feel so horrible about how I’ve hurt him, but I can’t say what he wants me to say. I love Milo. He was the only one willing to stick by me after my Inquest even if his motives might not have been completely unselfish. But I can’t abandon Braden. My head and heart have been ground into pulp lately. I don’t know how to respond without hurting him even more. What I do know is that I don’t want Milo to hate me. It crushes me to see him look at me with anger in his stormy grey eyes. The line is silent for a long time before I finally speak again.

  “I’m sorry, Milo. You’re right. I don’t want to hurt anyone more than I already have.”

  Silence plays over the line again. When it is broken, Milo changes the subject slightly.

  “Would you really have wanted me to go with you tonight?”

  My whole body softens in response to his vulnerability. Lance shifting away from me reminds me that he’s still there. Lance knows more about my Braden-Milo dilemma than anyone else, but I also know he doesn’t like being stuck in the middle of it. I turn away from him, giving him permission to leave me alone for a few minutes. He can still feel my emotions through the Guardian Oath he gave to protect me, but it’s easier to deal with just that than having to hear it as well.