Free Destroyed by Kimberly Loth

That was my purpose, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to come back. That’s what Puck wanted, and what I wanted. And I was doing a crappy job of it.
    He placed his finger on my chin and forced me to look at him. “I’ll tell you what, do you want to run? Go live on an island in the Caribbean and sit on the beach every day? Live happily ever after? Say the word and I’ll change direction and head for the airport. Just you and me. Forever.”
    I forced a smile and inwardly cringed. Forever away from Puck. No way.
    I looked back at my dad. He hadn’t said a word, but I wondered what he was thinking. He smiled a sad smile. “If that’s what you want, you could do worse.”
    I shook my head. I never thought my dad would be encouraging me to run away with a boy. But Kai didn’t really want me to choose that option. He wanted me to take care of his problem.
    “I’ll go with you to see this person, but I’ll be the one to decide if it’s worth it or not.”
    Relief flooded his face. “Fair enough.”
    He kissed me on the cheek and pulled back on the road. Twenty minutes later, we turned down long dirt driveway. This could’ve been any farm in the county; they all looked the same. To my surprise, Kai drove past the house and pulled up in front of the barn instead.
    He took a deep breath. “Naomi, I have to give into the Destroyer energy. I’m one of the few Guardians that still has complete awareness of my actions when I turn Destroyer so I won’t do anything to you, but you’ll probably see me do things to others that might bother you. This is going to be different than the Destroyer meeting. There I was shielding quite a bit. I won’t do that today.”
    I nodded. It couldn’t have been any worse than when Puck tried to play Destroyer.
    He closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, I could see and feel the change immediately. There was a hunger in his eyes when he looked at me that wasn’t entirely proper. His energy was dark, electric, and a bit seductive.
    He touched my cheek. “You look way too innocent to be my girlfriend. Come on.”
    I rolled my eyes. This was not the time or the place for him to be thinking those things.
    I followed him around the back of the barn. The wind blew from the direction of the barn, and I smelled death and decay. It wasn’t an unusual smell in the country. Any slaughterhouse or deer processing plant smelled the same way.
    We found Jason there with a couple of other Destroyers. I could feel them immediately. The smell of feces and the feel of maggots on my skin. The Destroyers narrowed their eyes as we approached. Jason scowled at me, but he didn’t say anything.
    “Why’d you bring the girl?” The man to Jason’s left wore a police uniform. I recognized him from the council meeting. He and Jason both held onto another man, who struggled against them. His hands were behind his back.
    “She’s my secret weapon.”
    “What the hell can she do?” asked the cop.
    “Just wait and I’ll show you. She’s still not convinced we should do away with him.” This was interesting. Puck was intent on keeping my power a secret, and now Kai was flaunting it before these Destroyers. I wasn’t convinced this would be worth it.
    The restrained man laughed. “Come here, pretty girl, I can show you all kinds of things you can do with me instead of killing.”
    I backed away. The man continued to taunt me. “What’s the matter, little girl, you scared of me? Some weapon.”
    Kai raised his hand and punched the man in the face. I jerked, unprepared for the violence in spite of Kai’s warning.
    The man’s nose burst with blood and he fell limp.
    “Naomi!”
    My dad stumbled out of the barn. I ran to his side, and he put his hand on my shoulder. He looked pale; his breathing was heavy.
    “Are you okay?” I asked.
    He shook his head. “I’m going to kill that son of a bitch. Kai doesn’t even have to ask.”
    Kai put his hand on my Dad’s shoulder. “You may not