The Breaker's Promise (YA Urban Fantasy) (Fixed Points Book 2) (22 page)

“Such a shame,” Ezra said. He flicked his finger again and the metal piece fell, clanging against the floor. “He used to be such an inspiration.”

“What the hell?” I muttered, still cradling Allister Leeman’s head in my lap.

“The tide turned,” Ezra shrugged. “It happens, Bloodmoon. Still, there’s something to be said for what he accomplished. Sure, in the end, he lost. But he bet on himself, and that demands respect.”

The way he talked about him, with admiration, made what he had just done even worse.

“You killed him,” I said.

“Well yeah, but it was nothing personal. Allister Leeman was a pretender. We know that now. He needed to be cleared so we could make room for the genuine article.”

“He’s not the Raven,” I muttered to myself.

“It really is a bummer, isn’t it?” Ezra made a clicking noise with his tongue. “He was so sure, after all.” Smiling, Ezra started to float closer.

“Cresta, you need to run. Now!” Merrin said, crouched beside me on the floor. “Push the megalomaniac’s corpse off of you, and go.”

I gritted my teeth and stood, placing Allister Leeman gently off to the side. Yes, he was an insane bastard who deserved to die painfully. But he was a person, and no good would come from me treating him like anything less now.

“Cresta, run!” Merrin yelled.

“Not gonna happen,” I muttered. I was tired of running. I had run here, away from my wedding, and this is where it had left me. Besides, I had no idea where I would even go. The door disappeared behind me when the lights went orange. Still, there must have been a way into his cell, or else wouldn’t be levitating here in front of me.

Ezra stretched his arm out in front of him, extending his fingers so that his hand was a flat palm. I tensed, half expecting a metal beam to plow through me too. Maybe Ezra was going to kill me too. Maybe whoever that chick he was talking about, Isis, had tasked him with clearing the board of all its major players. I could only imagine what that meant for Owen. But the metal never came. Instead, a light blue flicker danced across his fingertips and disappeared. I felt dizzy for a second, but it was nothing I couldn’t handle.

“There,” he smiled. “It’s done.”

“You got that right, partner,” a low voice from behind growled. I spun. Royce was standing behind me. His hands were in his pockets and there was a playful look on his face. Even now he wasn’t taking things seriously. Or wait; maybe he was part of this too.

“Don’t make me hurt you, little Breaker,” Ezra growled.

“You won’t get that far,” Royce promised, his low voice picking up a little at the end.

Okay, so they’re not on the same team.

Ezra’s finger started to twitch, threatening to move.

“You sure you wanna do that, Big Man?” Royce asked, eyeing the finger. “Better make sure you can beat me to the trigger.”

“I’m not worried,” Ezra answered. “I’ve had a lot of practice.” His eyes slid over to Allister Leeman, lying lifeless on the floor.

“Your funeral,” Royce chuckled. In a flash, Ezra’s finger moved. But before he could do whatever it was his awful mind was plotting, he went stiff. Looking to Royce, I saw that his eyes were glowing bright red. There was a devilish smile on his face as the light pulsated like the blinking 12 on an unset alarm clock. Ezra started coughing, which made Royce laugh almost uncontrollably. “Told ya you wouldn’t clear leather, Boy.”

Ezra threw his hands back and forth, trying to move things. But it was no use. Whatever mojo Royce had cooking up behind his eyeballs seemed to be taking precedent. Then Ezra’s coughing turned to hacking and, just as I thought Ezra was going to choke on his own tongue or something, his eyeballs started building.

“Royce, what are you doing to him?” I choked out.

“What I have to, Sweetheart. He’s not on your side.”

And you are?
I thought, watching Ezra drop to the floor across from Allister Leeman. It seemed my old enemies were dropping like flies. Luckily for me, I had a whole new batch to worry about.

“I didn’t kill him,” I told Royce, glancing from Ezra’s body to Allister Leeman’s.

“I know,” Royce said. Looking up at me, I saw that his eyes had evened out, returning to their brown green combo. He flinched, pursed his lips, and asked, “How’d you get here?”

“I just sorta jumped down,” I answered shakily.

“Not you, Sweetheart. I’m talking to the tired looking mess next to you,” he said, pointing. I turned. Merrin was standing there, as she had been since I entered this place. And yes, she was tired looking (Though for Merrin, tired looking was still breathtakingly gorgeous…the bitch). But he couldn’t be talking about her. Merrin was literally trapped inside my mind. He couldn’t see her. Could he?

“Cresta, I don’t feel right,” Merrin said, and I noticed sweat collecting on her forehead.

“You know her?” Royce asked. He could. He could see her.

“She-She’s not here,” I muttered.

“Cresta,” Merrin grabbed her gut and faltered a little. “Cresta,something’s happening.”

This is it. She’s going to die right in front of me too
, I thought. I wanted to reach out and touch her, but as I tried, my hand slipped right through her.

“This is a trip,” Royce muttered, staring at us.

“Merrin, what can I do?” I asked, starting to panic.

Her eyes went wide and she wretched, as if hit by another wave of pain. “Cresta, I-Fate’s hand! Cresta, I think I’m waking up!” She started to flicker in and out, disappearing and reappearing before my eyes. “Cresta.” She wretched again, and her face got white and calm. “I’m waking up.” She looked at me; a million emotions rushing across her eyes. “Cresta, they know.”

Merrin vanished completely, and before I could even blink, an alarm; the loudest most piercing right I had ever heard in my life, sounded throughout the Allister Leeman’s cell; throughout the woods; throughout the whole of the Hourglass.

My heart seemed to burst in my chest as I repeated what Merrin said, now that I understood exactly what it meant. “Oh God, they know.”
 

The noise was deafening. I tried to cover my ears, but even muffling them with my hands did nothing to stop the spear of sound. I fell to my knees, sure that my ears were bleeding. The Council knew that I was the Bloodmoon now, and they were making sure that everyone in the Hourglass was in on the secret.

I thought about Sevie, standing there on that platform in his coupling guise. I had already missed the ceremony. No doubt he was crushed by my refusal to marry him. Now, knowing that I was destined to destroy the world, he probably felt relieved about the whole thing. I thought about Owen. We had tried for so long to keep this secret, to stop this very moment from coming to pass. A few well-intentioned missteps later, and all that effort had been for nothing. What would they do to him now? If I was the Bloodmoon, then he was the Dragon; no doubt about it. They’d likely lock him in some room and start training him for the foretold day when he’d stick a sword through me or something. The thought of that, and of the pain he was likely in, almost hurt more than the noise knocking at my eardrums. Almost.

“Stay still, Sweetheart,” I heard Royce say from somewhere over me. I felt his arms on my shoulders. He pulled me up off my knees. “Open your eyes,” he barked. It was weird; the noise was the by far the loudest thing I had ever heard, but I still had no trouble listening to Royce. It was like the noise was inside of me. “Open your eyes!” He repeated.

Slowly (cause it hurt like hell) I pried my eyelids apart. “I…”

“Don’t try to talk,” he said. “Just look at me.” Royce was not a bad looking guy. I mean, he was no Owen. But with auburn hair, a strong chin, and dimple that indented his right cheek (I wonder what happened to the other one), it definitely wasn’t hard to follow his instructions. “Stay still,” he said, as I wriggled. “Just keep looking at me.”

So I did, and as I looked at him, the noise started to decrease. The longer I looked, the quieter things got. By the time the nose went away completely, I had studied every line, bump, and curve on Royce’s face. And I was happy to do it. I would have stared at him for eternity if it kept the pain away.

“What happened?” I said once I was able to talk.

“The first thing was an A class alarm, letting everyone know that something is very wrong. The second thing-and I can’t be sure about this, because I couldn’t hear it- was probably the Council’s attempt to neutralize you.”

“And you stopped them?” I asked, steadying myself. “Why?”

“I’ve always had a thing for unavailable girls.” He looked me up and down again. “You don’t get more unavailable than the Bloodmoon on her wedding day.”

“You know who I am?” I asked, which was probably the stupidest thing I could have said at the moment, because Royce replied, “Sweetheart, everyone knows who you are now.”

My heart started to race. What was I going to do? I was trapped in the Hourglass, everyone knew who and what I was, and Owen-my only real ally in this whole place, was probably, at this moment, surrounded by people who wanted me dead. I was, as the kids say these days, epically screwed.

“We need to get moving,” Royce said, in a tone that was as close to serious as he seemed to get.

“We?” I asked, instinctively stepping away. Was he going to turn me in? There was probably a lot of glory in bringing in the Bloodmoon. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“You wanna reconsider that, Darlin’?” He asked. Then, digging around in his pocket, he pulled out a faded old picture. He threw it at me like it was on fire. Catching it, the image took my breath away. It was my mom and my dad…and my mom and my dad. Both sets of parents; the one I grew up with and the one that actually gave me life, were smiling, circled around a boy. And that boy was standing in front of me.

“You knew my parents?” I asked, looking from the picture to Royce.

“Still know half of ‘em,” he said. “Your momma sent me to get you, to bring you to her. And I always do what your momma tells me. Trust me, otherwise I’d never set foot in this awful place.”

He knew my mother. He
knows
my mother. I felt like I was gonna laugh, or cry; maybe both. What my mother told me when my locket opened; that she was going to save me, it was true. It was happening right now. But wait. How could I be sure that Royce was telling the truth? Was a picture enough? No, not in a place like this.

“This could be shade. You could be trying to trick me so that you could deliver me to the Council yourself.”

He scoffed. “The only thing I wanna deliver to the Council is a death blow. As for that picture, I’ve had it since I came here. Looking at it is the only thing that’s kept me from losing my mind down here.” Royce nodded in the picture’s direction. “But look at the damn thing if that’s what it’ll take. Really look at it. You’re the freaking Bloodmoon. If there’s shade there, you’ll see it.” His jaw set. “But do it quick. My guess is that the Council is pinpointing your location as we speak. So, the quicker we get the hell out of here, the safer we’ll be.”

I looked down at the photo, trying hard to look deep enough to see if it was the genuine article. “Screw it,” I said, shaking my head. “It’s not like I’ve got much of a choice anyway, do I?”

“Smart girl,” Royce grinned. Kneeling down, he pulled the shoes off of Allister Leeman’s corpse and began putting them on himself.

“You’re stealing from the dead?” I asked, appalled.

“He ain’t gonna use ‘em,” Royce said, lacing them up. “Besides, I need shoes, and I sure as hell ain’t gonna find them on that son of a bitch.” He motioned toward Ezra’s lifeless (and legless) body. “Now let’s get the hell outta dodge. Whatcha say?” He stood, grabbed my hand and pulled me forward. I jerked it away.

“I say that you use way more pop culture references than any Breaker I’ve ever met, and that I’m more than capable of running away without you holding my hand.”

Royce raised his eyebrows and his mouth stretched into a smile. “You’re something else, aren’t you? Whatever you say then. Hope you can keep up.”  Royce darted off. I flinched; sure he was going to run smack dab into the metal wall ahead. But, as he neared it, the metal dissipated, revealing a long hall behind it.

I started behind him, with flashes of the endless hall from before flashing in my head. But, for some reason, the hall wasn’t near as long now. By the time I made my way through the disappearing wall, Royce was already halfway up a previously unseen ladder.

That would have handy on the way down.

“Get some fire under you, Sweetcheeks,” Royce said, popping open a lid at the top of the ladder. As he pushed it, light poured into the hallway. He was off the ladder, looking down at me. I could see the sky behind him. He was at the surface. The sunlight made him looked different than he did under the orange lights in his bunker. His hair, once thought auburn, was actually closer to a sandy color. And his eyes were even brighter; greener. He smiled, and the dimple on his right cheek creased, making him look younger. He was actually kind of cute. “Damn, if I’d have been thinking I’d have let you come up first. I bet the view would have better from the other end.”

Okay, so I was quick with the cute thing.

I kicked my heels off and started up the ladder. My feet were hurting way too much to try to climb with them and, if I was gonna have to keep running-which seemed more than likely seeing as that was all I ever did anymore-I would rather do it barefoot.

I made it up the ladder without issue, pulling myself onto the ground. It was warm out, warmer than I remembered, and the grass was wet. Had it been raining?

“I’d have helped you up, but seeing as how you’re a self-sufficient woman, I figured-“

“Bite me,” I muttered, standing and brushing myself off.

“Maybe later,” Royce shrugged. “We’ve got stuff to do at the moment.” He eyed me up and down. “Get out of that dress.”

“Excuse me?” Heat rose in my face.

“You can’t be in that dress. Number one: It’s ridiculous.”

“Number two: people will be looking for me?” I asked. “Well, let me remind you that everyone in the Hourglass knows who I am. It won’t matter what I’m wearing. I’ll still be recognized.”

“Probably,” Royce conceded. He walked behind a nearby bush, disappearing behind it; he came back out, pushing a motorcycle. It was red and yellow with a tiny black bag tied to the seat. “But you can’t get on my hog like that.” He grabbed the black bag and threw it to me. It hit hard against my chest, but I caught it. “You’ll find some clothes in there. They’re your size; don’t worry.”

I opened the bag and found a purple shirt and pair of jeans complete with a pair of really comfortable looking Sketchers. “I-how did you know my size?”

“This isn’t some last minute decision, Cresta. We’ve been working on this since long before you ever came to the Hourglass,” Royce said. Slowly, he turned around; his back facing me.

“How did you know I was ever going to have to come here?” I asked, unzipping my dress. It fell to the ground and I started changing into my new clothes. I slid the jeans on first. It felt weird being in normal, ‘non Council appointed’ garb.

“You don’t think these people are the only ones who have Seers at their disposal, do you? This thing is a lot bigger than you think. And I know you don’t really know her, but your momma’s not someone who takes chances. She makes sure every possible circumstance is prepared for; especially when it comes to something she cares about.”

“She-She cares about me?” I asked sheepishly, almost like a kid.

I watched the back of Royce’s head shake. “Don’t be stupid, Sweetheart. There’s nothing in this whole world she cares about more than you. Everything she’s ever done proves that. Now get your clothes on. We got miles to cover.”

I unfolded the purple tee to find a picture of a big red moon plastered across the front. “Very funny,” I muttered.

“I figured it was either that or a bullseye, and I didn’t wanna be predictable,” Royce chuckled.

“You can turn around,” I told him as I pulled the shirt over my head.

“Not bad,” Royce said when he turned around, eying me up and down again (which I was really getting sick of).

“You’re a pig,” I said instinctively. Sure, I had bigger things to worry about-like the throngs of bloodthirsty Breakers who were very likely making their way toward me at this very moment- but that wasn’t any reason to let Royce off the hook. Unfortunately for me, it turned out Royce wasn’t the type who cared about my reaction. He just smiled and shrugged. “That motorcycle isn’t very covert,” I said, changing the subject. “Especially here. I haven’t seen as much as a dune buggy in this God awful place; let alone, a Harley.”

“You know your bikes,” he grinned.

“My dad,” I explained.

“Well, covert or not, it’ll get us where we need to go. The Hourglass is a perfect square; 534.7 miles any direction you wanna go. That leaves a lot of ground to cover; for us and them both.” He glared at me, looking over his eyebrows as if to tell me what he was about to say was serious. “They’ve got hundreds and hundreds of people to do their looking. Edgar’s the only thing you got going for you,” he said, patting the seat of his motorcycle. “Well, Edgar and the guy that’ll be driving him.”

“You named your bike?” I asked, my nose scrunching up. “Of course you did.”

“Of course I did,” he agreed, with enough grease in his smile to keep his hair slicked back for a year. “Now get your perky world shattering ass on the bike.”

“No can do,” I shook my head. “You wanna take me to my mom.”

“That’s the endgame,” Royce said.

“There’s the problem. I’m not leaving this place without Owen.”

“The Dragon?!” Royce narrowed his green and brown flecked eyes. “You got a death wish, don’t cha, Sweetheart? The Dragon; he ain’t somebody you wanna be spending much time around.” He pursed his lips. “For obvious reasons.”

“I don’t put much stock in that nonsense,” I answered.

“You might not, but that nonsense is the reason all this garbage is happening, and it’s the thing that’ll get you killed if you’re not careful; especially where the Dragon is concerned.”

“His name is Owen,” I scoffed.

“I don’t give a warmed over damn what his name is, and neither should you.” He walked closer, so that our noses were almost touching. “It’d do you well not to look at him like he’s a person. He ain’t. He’s the product of your destruction, plain and simple- nothing more.”

I walked even closer, so that our noses were actually touching. “I’ll do what I want. Now I’m not leaving without Owen.” I stepped back and shoved both of my hands into my pockets. Looking down at my hands and then back up to him, I said, “I know you don’t know it, but this is sort of the thing I do when I mean business.”

“It’s a good thing you’re pretty, Sweetheart,” Royce said, raising his hand and bending it into a weird, but familiar shape. “Cause you sure are a pain in the ass.” By the time I realized what he was doing with his hand, the same thing Dahlia did the first time I ever saw her, I was on my back, unconscious on the ground.

When I woke, the wind was in my hair. My hands were wrapped around something hard and my head was pressed against a sheen of leather. I was on a bike-Edgar actually- rolling up and down hills at breakneck speed.