Secret of Betrayal: Book Two of The Destroyer Trilogy by DelSheree Gladden Page A

him.
    “No, Lance, please don’t,” I gasp.
    “Let go of me. You don’t see who it is. It’s …”
My pleading expression begs him to stop. And then he catches on. “You know who
it is, don’t you?”
    Lance shakes his head in confusion. “Why are you
trying to stop me? That’s the guy that nearly killed Milo. He might be here for
you this time.”
    “He’s not.”
    “How do you know that?”
    “He’s just here to help Guardian Clement and
patrol the school. Braden is our new school Guardian. His Captain sent him here
to keep an eye on me, not to kill me,” I say in a rush.
    “And you know that how?”
    “He told me, okay?”
    “When?” Lance demands.
    Holding Lance back is getting even harder. My
feet slide across the slippery mat a few inches. “A few weeks
ago. He pulled me out of Spiritualism to let me know he was here.”
    Lance’s eyes fly wide. My
shoulders slump. I really shouldn’t have said that much.
    “Spiritualism?” Lance
hisses, grabbing me roughly by the shoulder. My nose is millimeters away from
his. “Those weird feelings I was getting from you that day, and ever since
then. That’s the reason? You’ve been talking to him for the last two weeks! You
were lying again?”
    “I didn’t want you and Milo to freak out.”
    Shaking his head, Lance eases his grip on me
slightly. “I don’t get it. The stuff I get from you during the day sometimes,
it isn’t you being scared, it’s … frustrated, and happy. No, more than happy.
It was like …” His hand falls from my shoulder in disbelief. “It feels like
last night, only not as intense.”
    I can’t breathe. I can’t respond or react.
    “Libby, please tell me you weren’t with him last night,” Lance begs.
    I want to deny it, lie to his face again. But I
promised. “Lance, please just listen to me for a second.”
    Lance steps forward and grabs me again. My head
snaps back at the force. The prickly feeling explodes over my body, a clear
indication that Braden is watching Lance and me very closely. If Lance gets any
rougher, I have the sickening feeling that Braden might feel the need to
intervene. Lance is completely oblivious to that fact, of course.
    “What are you doing?” Lance demands. “He tried
to take Milo, and eventually he’s going to come after you. What are you doing
even talking to him, let alone … let alone … Damn it, Libby, are you sleeping
with him?”
    “No!” I snap at him as quietly and forcefully as
possible. “I’m not doing anything with him. I promise.”
    He doesn’t believe me. I grab his left wrist and
press my first two fingers against his Guardian emblem. I’m not a Guardian, so
there’s no physical catalyst that will force me to tell him the truth, but it’s
the best I can offer. Lance knows I understand how sacred making a promise on
the Guardian emblem is. I’ll just have to hope he hasn’t lost all his trust in
me.
    “Lance, I promise. I promise I won’t lie to you
about anything, including Milo. And I promise you that I am not sleeping with
Braden. I’m not sleeping with anyone, and I don’t plan on changing that any time
soon. Braden broke into my room last night. He wanted to know what happened
with Casey. It turns out he’s also a Spiritualist, and
he thinks he can help me get over my block and reach the spirit world. It’s not
the first time I’ve talked to him, either. He found me later that night when he
attacked Milo, and he’s been bugging me at school since he got here,” I say.
    “And, yes, being around Braden does something to
me. I want to hate him for coming after Milo, but I just can’t. I have …
feelings … or something … for him that I don’t want, and I’ve told him as much.
I love Milo. I want to tell you that I’ll never speak to him again, but I can’t
because I think he can help me get to the Ciphers, and because I think he’ll
eventually change his mind about coming after me.”
    My blatant honesty rocks Lance. A good chunk