Free Darkening Chaos: Book Three of The Destroyer Trilogy by DelSheree Gladden Page A

friends, Kyla, I think her name
was, said she’d drive us. I’d really like to be around things that remind me of
him right now.” The corners of Helen’s mouth are twitching. She’s putting on a
brave face for me, but the grief and pain are quickly becoming unbearable for
her.
    “Of
course, Helen, just have Kyla call if you need anything. I’ll do whatever I can
to help,” I offer. She smiles gratefully and turns away to head back to the
waiting SUV.
    I
watch them leave, wishing I could do more than send them off to an empty house.
The weight of this morning begins to pull me down. Even though my house is
currently filled with people, I plan on heading directly to my room and locking
the door for a while. I turn for the house and see Lance stalking toward me.
Every bit of anguish, every regret and agonizing pain I have felt this morning
is reflected on his face. He hurries his last few steps and throws his arms
around me. I bury my head in his chest and let his intimate understanding of
everything I’m feeling calm me.
    As
soon as he knows I’m ready to talk, he pulls back and looks at me. “Are you
okay?”
    “No.”
    Lance’s
face crumbles. “I was getting so many terrible feelings from you. I was scared
out of my mind that something horrible was happening. Especially at the end.”
    “What
do you mean?”
    “There
was a lot of anger, I expected that, but a few minutes before you called me I
didn’t know what to think. Your emotions went completely blank. I thought you
were gone for a minute until something else hit. I can’t even describe it, but
my entire body went cold,” Lance says. He looks at me with such compassion.
“Was that when you found the Ciphers?”
    “No,”
I say, recognizing the exact moment he’s talking about because I felt the same
way, “that was when Milo shot that Seeker in the head half a second after I
told him not to.” I shiver at the memory. “The look on his face …” I pull
myself against Lance again and will the memory out of my head forever.
    After
a minute Lance pushes me back. “Are you going to be all right?”
    “I
will be when I have Braden back,” I say.
    “Yeah,
we need to talk about that. If he’s really out looking for you …”
    “There’s
no if , Lance. He’s coming. I just don’t know when,” I say. My gaze turns
back to my house and worry starts to gnaw at me. “I can guess where he’ll come
for me, though. He’s going to show up here. Maybe we should get everyone to
leave. They might get hurt if they’re here when he finally comes after me.”
    Lance
stares at me like I’ve lost my mind. “You might die if they aren’t here.
Everyone is staying. They’re all here to help you destroy the Guardians. That
won’t happen if you’re dead, so I’m willing to bet they won’t have a problem
facing Braden.”
    “But
maybe I do,” I argue. “You know I don’t want to hurt Braden. If he shows up
here with everyone at the house, they’ll try to kill him. I can’t let that
happen.”
    “Even
if he’s trying to kill you?” Lance asks.
    I
can’t answer him. I believe in what I’m doing, but I don’t think I could ever
kill Braden. Even at the expense of my own life, I don’t think I can do it.
Whatever he tries to do to me, I know he doesn’t want to. I know he isn’t in
control of himself. How can I kill him knowing that?
    “Libby,”
Lance says, making me look at him, “I know I said I’d help you find Braden, but
if it’s a choice between him and you, you know I’m going to choose you, right?
I won’t let him kill you.”
    “You
have to let me try and stop him first,” I say.
    He
frowns at the request, but nods. Lance isn’t the real problem, though, and not
even Dean, who worshipped Braden before he was taken. Dean will definitely
think twice before taking Braden’s life. Milo is the real issue. He won’t
hesitate. He’s probably looking for an excuse. I want to at least make him
leave the house, but he knows