Darkening Chaos: Book Three of The Destroyer Trilogy (41 page)

Like
everyone else seems to have done, I find myself liking the nickname quite a
bit. I quickly decide to adopt it. It sounds way better than saying we were
trying to find a way to kill zombies like a pack of B-movie characters. I’m
sure Lance is the only one who might not appreciate the change. Given his
fascination with the undead, he always loved the idea of becoming a zombie
slayer.

My
dad’s fingers start tapping against his leg like they always used to do when he
got excited. The movement draws my attention back to him. His tapping always
promised something interesting. “Ever since Celia mentioned the problem with
the Dorotabos creatures, I’ve been thinking about them and asking some of the
other spirits about it.”

“And?”

“Your
idea about the Guardians bypassing the need to unlock the Cipher’s talents is
wrong,” he says bluntly.

He
never was one to sugarcoat things. Every time I broke a bone or screwed
something up, he would first make sure I was okay, and then say something like,
“Libby, that was a very foolish thing to do.” Then he would usually go on to
explain why whatever I had done was not a good idea. Knowing that, I wait for
him to continue.

“If
there’s one thing the Guardians haven’t lied about, it’s the impossibility of
hijacking talents before they’re unlocked. Every class and faction in the world
has tried with no success. Even Inquisitor Moore and I experimented with it
because he thought that with my power I might be able to do it,” he says. “I
couldn’t do a thing.”

“So,
do you have any insight about what the Guardians did do?” I ask, trusting his
assessment. I tried to get at Celia’s talents for quite a while before her
Inquest and failed. And let’s face it, if I can’t do it, it probably really is
impossible.

“Actually,”
my dad says, “I do. You can’t hijack talents, but what you can do is force your
own talents into someone else. It has to be someone whose talents haven’t been
unlocked and it takes an incredible amount of power, which I’m still not sure
how they acquired. The people I talked to said it was pretty much impossible,
but that’s what people said about the Serqet, too.”

Which
brings me back to the question Braden asked me when I first told him about the Dorotabos.
How did the Guardians get that much power? I still don’t believe there are
seven Guardians more powerful than me. They have to be combining their power.
My dad hasn’t figured that out yet, so I leave it alone for now. I’ll have
plenty of time to think about it back in my cell.

“Could
we do something like that with Braden to get him into the spirit world?” I ask.
“Without hurting him?”

He
grimaces. “I don’t know if you even could, since his talents are gone, not simply
unlocked. There has to be a talent pool in the person for someone to connect
with for control. For example, you couldn’t force Naturalism into a person without
any Naturalism to start with. Their body isn’t equipped to use it. But based on
what happened to the Ciphers, I wouldn’t risk trying it on Braden anyway,
Libby. You’re better off trying to combine power with him.”

“Is
there really a difference?”

“Of
course. Doing what the Guardians did involves overtaking the person and
controlling their ability to access their talents, even the small amount most
people can use before they’re unlocked. Combining power should work similar to
a Companion link. It will amplify the other person’s talents. For Braden it
would simply give him access to a talent,” my dad explains.

Huh,
good to know if only we could figure out how to combine power. I’ll keep
thinking on it, but I need to get back to the real reason for this discussion.

“When
the Guardians put their power into the Dorotabos, does it just stay there, or
do they have to stay in contact somehow?” I ask.

“They
have to stay in contact. I know for a fact that it is impossible to leave your
power inside of someone else,” he says. An air of guilt spreads out from him in
waves. He doesn’t keep the reason behind it secret. “I tried once to force my
Concealment on you, Libby, to bind some of your talents and hide them. I
thought I could keep the Inquisitor from seeing everything. Not only was it so
physically draining to do it in the first place, I couldn’t simply do the
binding and then leave it. I would have had to maintain contact the entire
time.”

I
believe what he’s saying, but I still shake my head. “But the power dropped
away as soon as they finished with the Cipher. If they were maintaining contact
it had to be minimal.”

He
thinks about that, and says, “I was trying to completely hide one of your
talents. Hiding something is always harder than exposing it. That’s why
Concealers get what they’re after so often. Very few people have the strength
to resist them. Perhaps after they embed their power in the Cipher, who can no
longer resist once they’re done, it doesn’t take much power to keep the link.
They might even be able to link with more than one Dorotabos.”

“So
getting rid of the Dorotabos means getting rid of the Guardians controlling
them first,” I muse. “We were planning on doing that anyway. We’ll just have to
try and figure out where they are and target them first. I’d like to leave as
many Ciphers alive as possible, just in case they can be revived later.”

I
start making a list in my head of things the team needs to start working on. Maybe
they can test out how far away the controller can get from the controlee.
Knowing how far away the Guardians are from the Dorotabos will help us locate
them when the real battle starts. We will have to take them out as soon as
possible. As the list starts forming in my mind, another list comes with it, a
list of questions that have been bugging me. One in particular sticks in my
mind. I don’t really know if my dad will have the answer, but I decide to ask
him anyway.

“Do
you have any idea why the Ciphers don’t have Vision? It’s the only talent they
don’t have, but I do. I keep thinking there should be some obvious reason, one
that will help me, but I can’t figure it out. I try to use my Vision on the
Ciphers, but it isn’t any more reliable directed at them than anyone else. It’s
been particularly unreliable lately which so many variables up in the air.”

My
dad smiles. “I can’t say I know for sure, but I have a guess, if you want to
hear it.” I nod eagerly. “Celia told me about how Seekers can’t see you or the
Ciphers. Normally, whether or not you have Vision makes no difference in a
Visionary’s ability to see you, but Vision is unique among talents in that it
is granted certain governance. Vision can only see people in the same caste.”

“Caste?
What do you mean? There’s no caste named at an Inquest.”

“Your
caste isn’t named. It’s shown.” He gestures at my arm and the black diktats
looping my wrist. “Castes aren’t me guessing, though. Castes are a known fact,
well, known to Inquisitors anyway. They never mention the caste because people
are supposed to believe there is only one caste. My guess about why Ciphers
don’t have Vision is that you took it all.”

“No
I didn’t,” I argue. “They’d be imprinted on my arm if I’d somehow stolen their
talents without meaning to.”

Laughing,
my dad says, “That’s not how I meant it. Like I said, Vision can only see
within its caste, but you can see both castes. You can also use your Vision
much more than anyone else, from what I’ve heard. You needed a lot of power to
cross that barrier. All of the Vision in your caste was consolidated in you, so
you can keep your members safe and help them win this war.”

“Huh.”
That’s all I can say to him. It makes perfect sense. I guess. It makes me feel
a little bad that I may have sucked up everyone else’s ability to glimpse the
future or get premonitions and insights, but even more, it settles a heavy
mantle of responsibility on my shoulders. I already knew I had to protect the
Ciphers, but now I feel their dependence even more. Instinct tells me my dad is
right about this, but it does bring up another question.

“I
always thought you figured out who I was because you saw a vision of me. I
remember sitting on the couch with you that day. Your body went stiff, and when
I tried to call for mom you wouldn’t let me.”

Pain
etches itself deep into my dad’s expression. “I did see a vision that day, and
it confirmed who you were to me.”

“But
how?” I argue. “You said Visionaries can only see their own caste, and we’re
not in the same one.”

“I
didn’t see you, but just like the Seekers could only see your coming by the
effects you had on members of their caste, I saw the effect you would have on
me,” he says quietly.

Years
of fear coalesce in this one moment of understanding. “You saw me kill you. Why
did you go through with it if you knew you would die?”

He
shakes his head. “I didn’t see you kill me, Libby. I only saw my death, and the
vision gave me the impression that I would die if I didn’t help you. I made the
wrong choice about how to protect you and it cost me. I didn’t understand at
the time that supporting you as the Destroyer would be helping you. I thought
the only help I could offer was to change who you were.”

“Dad,
I’m so sorry,” I say as I hug him. He hugs me back, whispering the same apology
to me.

A
rush of air next to me announces Celia’s arrival.

Turning
around to face her, my disappointment wells. “It’s time to go already?”

“I
came back a little early to see if you or your dad had any messages for me, but
we probably only have about fifteen minutes before time’s up,” Celia says.

As
quickly as I can, I summarize everything me and my dad talked about. My
instructions for what I want everyone to do next follows. It doesn’t take more
than five minutes. The next few minutes are for saying goodbye to my dad and
closing the gateway with Celia’s help. Standing alone with Celia in the now
empty Central Expanse, her face turns giddy and embarrassed at the same time.

“What?”
I ask, stepping back a step.

She
laughs at my wariness. “I mentioned to Braden that I you finally made it to the
spirit world as soon as I got to the training house. Poor guy. I’ve never seen
him so frustrated. He was practically bouncing off the walls trying to figure
out a way to get here. Lance almost had to punch him to get him to calm down.”

My
whole chest seizes up. I want to see him so badly. I’ve been able to sleep
through most of our separation. It’s saved me from going crazy missing him.
Braden has been forced to slog through every moment we’ve been apart.

“Did
you tell him how much I miss him?” I ask, trying not to cry.

“I
did,” Celia says, “and he had a message for you, too. He said to tell you, the
next time you’re together, you won’t have to ask. He didn’t say what you
wouldn’t have to ask for, but I’m assuming you do.”

A
slow smile creeps onto my lips. I absolutely do. Not that I didn’t already
assume he would be as incapable as I’ll be to stay away from him for even a
second when we finally get back together, knowing he’ll stay with me every
night makes going back to my cell much more bearable.

“He
also wanted me to kiss you for him, but hopefully knowing he’s dying to get his
hands on you again is enough, ‘cause that’s just not going to happen. Sorry.”

I
just laugh. Then my giggling melts into sniffling. The last night I had with
Braden before all this happened was so filled with party prep and craziness
that we hardly spent any time together. Him catching me in my room and helping
with my dress …hmm. Remembering how we left things makes me want to give in to
Milo’s drugs so I won’t have to miss him for so long. I still have seven months
until my birthday. That thought insights tears.

“Celia,”
I say, “I know you’ve got a ton of stuff to do already, but finding out how to
get Braden here … well, I …”

She
smiles and pats my shoulder. “I’ll do my best.”

Blinking
back tears, I hug her tightly. As soon as I let go, we make plans to meet again
and she disappears. I start pulling my spirit back to my body as well, hoping
Celia will figure out how to get Braden to the spirit world. I am desperate to
see him again, but as I think of everything that happened here today, another
reason to have Braden come to the spirit world pops into my mind. Nobody can
argue with the fact that being friends with me often means delving into the
dangerous and bizarre. Braden has been through a lot with me already. Meeting
my dead father is definitely going to be the strangest thing I’ve ever asked
him to do.

Chapter
32

Combining

Milo doesn’t bat an eye as
Thomas backhands me. I guess he’s desensitized himself to my pain at this
point. After five months of holding me captive and pestering me for answers,
you would think Milo would realize I wasn’t going to tell him anything. It’s
especially infuriating that he’s still trying to get me to tell him my plans,
since as far as he knows I haven’t been in contact with anyone from my team since
he took me. I guess I lied to him often enough that it doesn’t matter. He’s
convinced I’m hiding something.