Read Darkening Chaos: Book Three of The Destroyer Trilogy for Free Online Page B

unwilling supplication before me. That
makes me smile even more. He can’t look me in the eye with how he’s pinned, but
he glares as hard as he can at my kneecaps. I can see the veins in his neck and
head pulsating to a frantic beat, flushing his skin scarlet. His whole head
looks like a cherry tomato. Many of the other Guardians who aren’t white with
pain look similarly upset. I don’t bother with anyone but Blackwood.
    Squatting
down in front of him, I press my finger under his chin and force his head up
painfully until he is meeting my eyes fully, if not squarely. A seething desire
to see his hands around my neck burns in his eyes. Maybe one day he’ll see his
wish come true, but it won’t be today.
    “You
aren’t nearly as smart as you think you are, Blackwood,” I tell him.
    His
jaw grinds together so hard I can hear the squeal of his teeth. “You haven’t
won, yet. I’ll never tell you where they are.”
    “I
already know where the Ciphers are.”
    Blackwood
scoffs at me. Part of me wonders whether he even knows where they are. He’s
not a Seeker, but I bet he wishes he was. Something tells me he knows much more
about the secretive group than he should. Someone as driven and devoid of
conscience as him wouldn’t let information like that stay hidden for long. No,
he definitely knows where the Ciphers are, whether he’s supposed to or not. He
is the ranking Guardian of this compound, after all. I suppose he would have to
know where the prison cells are. I doubt he’s ever been down there, though.
    “Fourth
subfloor, right? Take a left at the bottom of the stairs?” I say, making his
eyes bug in disbelief. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. You Guardians aren’t as
good at keeping secrets as you think you are. And neither are Seekers.”
    I
add that last part just to see his reaction.
    The
breath he sucks in and holds make his veins throb even harder. Fear works its
way into his furious expression. He knows. He knows exactly who the Seekers
are, and now he’s trying to figure out how I could have possibly gotten a
secret out of a Seeker. And maybe he’s wondering just how much it hurt. My
smile turns wicked, just to see him shrink back a little more. Sometimes fear
can be a good thing.
    But
I’ve had enough of Blackwood.
    I
stand and turn my back on him, making it perfectly clear exactly how little I am
worried about him getting to me now, and pull out my cell phone. Milo answers
right away. Our conversation doesn’t last long. He’s too eager to get in here.
I slip the phone back in my pocket and turn back toward the doors. Reaching
them will take some careful stepping. If I cared about not hurting anyone, that
is. I don’t. I stomp through the encased Guardians stepping on more than one
pair of fingers and accidently kicking a few more as I walk by. I fling
the doors open for Milo and the others.
    Lance
was left behind on this one, too, because of the risk of the Seekers seeing him
approaching. He’s suffering through another boring school day, hating it no
doubt. My phone has been buzzing nonstop for the last few minutes. I don’t have
time to stop and answer his texts right now. I’ll get to him when I know
everyone is safe. Milo powers up the stairs looking grave and excited at the
same time. It’s an odd combination. All of that falters when he gets a look at
the lobby. The others, Dean, Daniel (despite being an old guy ), Hammond,
the only renegade Cipher not killed during the first rescue, and Kayla, another
impressive Cipher from Canada, all pile into the room. Not a one of them are
any more careful than I was as they tromp forward.
    “Dang,
Libby, you said you could do it, but I have to admit I doubted,” Dean says.
“Commanding nature like that takes some serious Naturalism. My Uncle was pretty
awesome with manipulating stuff like that, but he could only warp a small patch
of material even at his best. You did the entire floor. Where’d you learn how
to do that?”
    “My
mom.