The Breaker's Promise (YA Urban Fantasy) (Fixed Points Book 2) (3 page)

Dahlia rolled her eyes and sighed audibly. “Sometimes I forget how irritatingly new to all of this you are.”

Echo came forward, his fingers tapping against the fabric his pants. “The Council doesn’t come when it comes.”

“Well, that makes sense,” I answered.

“The Council is busy. There is never a time when their presence in the Hourglass isn’t mandatory. As such, when the Council is called to investigate, they do so with the aid of a representative, or a vessel, as they call it,” he explained.

“They send a lackey?” I asked.

“Yes and no,” Echo answered, his fingers still tapping. “As I said, they send a representative, but not in the traditional sense; at least, not the traditional human sense. The representative’s brain activity is monitored. Everything they see, hear, even think is recorded and transmitted to the Council in daily intervals.”

“That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard,” I answered, my eyes narrowing from shock. “And this is coming from the girl who got kidnapped, slapped in a wedding dress, and almost married off to some crazy guy she’d never seen before.”

“That being said, you should treat the vessel as though it was the Council, as though they were standing in front of you, inspecting everything you do, say, or do not do or say; because, in every way that matters, they are.”

A jolt of fear, like ice, ran up my spine.

It’ll be okay,
Owen said directly into my head.
We can do this.

“I’m glad you think so.” In my nervousness, I said it out loud.

“I know so,” Dahlia said, and marched past me. “Now we’ve kept the Council waiting long enough. Follow me.”  Dahlia left the office, turning left toward her chambers, where the Council’s vessel sat waiting to judge us.

Sorry
, I said to Owen in our mind speak.
I slipped.

It’s okay. Just don’t do it in front of the vessel.

We followed Dahlia, with Echo behind us. Every muscle in my body tensed. My breaths came short and shallow.

Calm down
, Owen said.

I’m trying
.

It’s okay. I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise
, he answered.

How can you be so sure?

A Breaker’s promise isn’t like a normal promise
, Owen answered and, moving around me, brushed my arm ever so slightly. It was a small thing, but it was enough to let me know he was there.
A Breaker’s promise is special. It has to be kept. So, when I promise that I won’t let anything happen-

I love you
, I interrupted.
I know this isn’t the best time to-

I love you too.

I gave Owen one last look as Dahlia pushed through the doors of her chambers. I had only been in Weathersby’s master bedroom once before, and not at all since I gave Echo the ‘boundaries’ talk. The sight of it took my breath away. A sprawling area with a bed as big as a midsized Rhode Island town, it had a mini bar, minus the ‘mini’, a dresser, an armoire, a running couch, and, in the center, a hot tub.

Lucky bastards.

Owen’s declaration had actually made me feel better as I made my way to the running couch, where the Council’s vessel sat, turned away from me. I could do this. We could do this. Owen promised me, and not just any promise; a Breaker’s promise.

I could tell from the shape of her head as well as the sheet of ink black hair that ran from it, that the vessel was a woman. I wasn’t sure how to feel about this. On one hand, women were stereotypically less threatening than me. But, if my experiences so far with Breaker women were any indication, they could be twice as fearsome as any man.

I straightened myself and rounded the corner to the front of the couch. This would be okay. Regardless of whom this vessel was, Owen and I would find a way to make it through. It’s what we did. Deciding to take the offensive, I stuck my hand out to the vessel. “Cresta Karr. Nice to meet you.”

As I caught sight of the woman though, the breath caught in my throat. It took all I could do not to cry out as the vessel stood, meeting me with familiar eyes. With a familiar voice, she said, “I know who you are.”

Of course she did, and I knew her. I knew that perfect hair. I knew those perfect lips and eyes. I knew that killer body. I swallowed hard and replied,” Hello Merrin.”

Echo and Dahlia’s chambers seemed to heat up at least twenty degrees instantaneously; of course, that might have just been all the blood rushing to my face. As if having to hide the truth about who I was (or more aptly, who I was going to become) from a council of overly evolved busybodies with super powers wasn’t hard enough, they would have to pick my secret boyfriend’s irritatingly perfect ‘perfect’ as their personal investigator.

Merrin had never liked me. I mean, she had never come out and said it, but I could tell from the way she looked at me, the way she moved when she was around me. Oh, and there was that one time she threatened to stab me in the gut. Though I couldn’t prove it, I always felt like there was a part of Merrin that knew the truth about Owen and me. And, while under normal circumstances, being the other woman would make me feel seedy and wrong, I couldn’t really apply normal to Merrin and Owen’s relationship.

Yes, technically they were engaged to be married, and they had been for years.  But they weren’t in love. They had never kissed or had sex. They had never even been on a date. They were thrown together after the results of their genetic testing were revealed. What kind of relationship is that?

Still, if she did know what was going on with Owen and me, even subconsciously, then that made her even more dangerous as an agent of the Council.

A vessel with a vendetta. Lucky me.

“It can’t be you,” I muttered, staring at her disgustingly symmetrical features.

“It is,” she answered flatly.

“But it can’t be,” I countered.

“But it is,” she assured me. “I’ve been chosen as a vessel for the Council. It’s a great honor.”

I stood there, dumbstruck for a second.
Honor? Honor?!

“You did the same garbage we did, the exact same thing,” I said sharply. “How come we’re being punished while you get honored?”

“Cresta!” Dahlia shot me a withering look that reminded me that Merrin wasn’t just Merrin. She was also, for all intents and purposes, every single member of the Council.

“They were happy with the way I conducted myself,” Merrin said coolly.  “And I promise you Cresta, you won’t be punished unless it’s found that you’ve done something wrong. The Council is under the impression that your crimes were committed under justifiable duress. Now I have to ask you, are they mistaken, Cresta? Have you done something worthy of punishment?”

“You should know. You were there,” I answered. I regretted my sharp tone as soon as the words came out, but I couldn’t help myself. Regardless of who many eyes were looking out of it, it was still Merrin’s face, and I couldn’t resist being snippy with it.

“Another reason the Council thought I would be a good choice to conduct the investigation. What can I say? They like to be thorough.” Her hands tugged at her shirt. “Though, I can tell you that, in a future, a simple yes or no will work better.” Her tone was different, softer. Was she trying to be genuine?

Slowly, Merrin began walking around me in a circle, tracing me up and down with her eyes. I followed her, turning my head as she circled. “Face forward!” She snapped. “I’m sorry, but this is a necessary part of the investigation.

I straightened up. When she was done, and had settled back in front of me, I said, “No. No, I haven’t done anything worthy of being punished.”

She looked at me, as though she was trying to read inside my head, and maybe she was. But it wasn’t a lie. I hadn’t done anything wrong, at least not purposely. And maybe that would be enough to convince her.

“I haven’t,” I repeated. She didn’t answer, just kept staring into me. “Merrin…”

“Okay,” she said, and turned away. She started toward the others, who literally flinched as she neared. This couldn’t be happening. This was Merrin. Four months ago the Council sent her to be Dahlia’s lackey, and now Dahlia tensed up at the sight of her. What sort of sense did that make?

But it didn’t have to make sense. I could see it in their eyes, in the way they stood a little straighter as she settled in front of them. Merrin was a force now, someone to be afraid of.

“Hello Owen,” Merrin said in a tone that was a lifetime away from the one she used with me. It was soft and familiar, almost regretful.

“Hey Merrin. It’s good to see you,” he said, and smiled that smile that, for two years now, had almost singlehandedly made the world a livable place.

“It’s good to see you too,” she answered. And there, in the way she lit up, was proof that I wasn’t the only person that Owen’s smile affected. The vice grip tightened around my heart again. Maybe she did love him. Yes, they had never actually been in a real relationship, but not too long ago the same could have been said about Owen and me. And, after all, she was his fiancée.

Owen’s eyes flickered past her, onto me. As quickly as it tightened, the vice grip loosened. She might love Owen, but Owen loved me, and that was the important part. Wasn’t it?

“Take your shirt off,” Merrin told him.

“What did you just say?” My eyebrows shot up so high that I was sure they’d burn up on reentry.

“I need to see it,” Merrin said without looking at me.

“You need to see what?” I asked.

“The tattoo, she needs to see the tattoo,” Owen clarified. He was already undressing. Pulling his shirt up over his head, it crumpled into a nervous ball in his hands. At this point in our relationship, I had seen Owen shirtless more than a few times. So the sheer perfection of his body; the perfect rise of his torso, the way his hips curved into the covered mystery under his jeans, the faint line of dark hair that ran down from his naval, was familiar to me. It was so familiar, in fact, that I must have held some sort of unconscious ownership over it. Because the sight of Merrin standing there, drinking in Owen’s shirtless frame with her greedy Council ridden eyes lit me up like someone had thrown a torch into my gut.

“Turn around,” Merrin said softly, and the torch in my gut caught fire. Owen turned, revealing the black dragon tattoo covering his back. Time was that the dragon, with its spread wings, sharp fangs, and forked tongue, was nothing more than a blurred orb staining Owen’s otherwise perfect skin. His father made sure it was unreadable by anyone who happened to see it; the best way to keep the Breakers from finding out what he had done to save his son’s life. And it would have stayed that way if not for Allister Leeman’s machinations and my weird shade shaping abilities.

There it was; the thing that, in theory, kept Owen from succumbing to the fatal fate the seers had proclaimed for him, that the Council of Masons assured his family could not be avoided. But it was also the thing that made the Dragon; the person who Casper thought was “the absolute worst person in the entire world that you could ever think about considering going out with. Like, ever”.

I could see Casper now, his red hair blowing in the wind, his eyes full of hurt; asking me-no, begging me not to take his memories away. But did I listen? No. And I didn’t listen to him about Owen either.

Merrin stared at the ink on Owen’s bare back for a long time; so long that it took all I could do not to punch her in her stupid, gorgeous face.

She’s just perving on you
,” I communicated to Owen.

She is not
, he replied.

Shows what you know
, I answered.
She’s probably waited years for a chance to see you without your shirt on.

She’s seen me in a lot less than that
, he replied.

Excuse me
, I blustered. My face got hot again and the lit torch in my gut exploded.
What do you mean ‘a lot less’?

Owen’s face stoned up.
It’s part of the Unification ceremony. After we’re paired genetically- You know what, now’s not really a good time to talk about this.

Before I could answer, Merrin moved toward Owen.  She touched him, running her stupidly lithe fingers along his back, tracing the tattoo.

Owen…
I gritted my teeth.

It’s just an examination, Cresta. It’s for the Council,
he told me.

Her hands ran down, and then further down, resting on the small of his back; the
bottom
of the small of his back.

Examination, my ass
, I answered. “Don’t you think that’s enough?” I asked before I could stop myself. Dahlia shot me a look that could cut glass and Echo seemed equally horrified, but I didn’t care.  Merrin had always rubbed me the wrong way, and I wasn’t about to let her feel up
my
boyfriend while I watched…even if my boyfriend happened to be her fiancé.

“I have to get a full report of the offending marks,” she answered flatly, and didn’t move her hand.

“Offending marks?” Owen muttered. “They’re planning a trail?” Owen spun around, grabbing Merrin’s shoulders and pulling her close to him. “My parents did what they thought they had to do.” A pleading colored his voice that instantly ripped my heart to shreds.

“Owen. Stop this!” Echo warned.

“They meant no harm,” he continued, ignoring Echo completely. “They thought they had no other choice.”

“Owen!” Echo yelled. “Listen to me, son! This is unacceptable!”

Merrin seemed horrified; at once afraid and completely heartbroken. It took me a minute to realize that the words Owen was speaking weren’t meant for Merrin, but for the Council who would be watching this through her eyes.

“They did it to save their child, to save their son. Surely some of you can understand that.”

“Owen, you can’t do this,” Merrin said so softly that I almost didn’t make out the words.

“Have mercy on them,” he said, as tears welled up within the electric blue pools of his eyes.

“Owen,” Merrin said, still soft as a whisper.

“Have mercy!” He yelled. She lifted her hand and, without even touching him, sent him flying backward.  He slammed hard against the wall and crumpled to the floor.

“Owen!” I yelled, and rushed over to him. Dahlia and Echo met me there, crouching around to check his vital signs and make sure he was still conscious.

“I’m sorry,” Merrin said, and didn’t walk toward us. “Discussing ongoing investigations is completely forbidden, as is addressing the Council directly. I had to put a stop to it.” Her eyes flickered to Owen, still on the floor. “I-I hope you understand.”
 

“Let’s just get this over with,” I hissed. “Ask whatever questions you’ve been sent to ask, so that you can get the hell out of here.” I had scooped Owen’s head into my hands. While he wasn’t unconscious, he did look dazed. So, I wanted this to be done as quickly as possible so that I could tend to him.

“I’m afraid you’ve misunderstood,” Merrin answered. “This isn’t an inquisitive investigation; at least not in terms of you two,” she pointed to Owen and me. “The Council isn’t so much concerned with what you’ve done as it is with what you’re going to do, what you’re capable of. Cresta, you’re an unknown Breaker with an ability so rare and powerful that it hasn’t been seen in over a hundred years. It should come as no surprise that, had you not been disproven as the Bloomoon, the Counciil would have had to handle things quite differently.”

A shiver ran down my spine. I knew what the Council’s idea of ‘differently’ was, and it involved me not breathing anymore.  “Then it’s a good thing I was disproven,” I muttered and looked to the floor.

“And Owen, you’re quite possibly the Dragon; one of the most influential and important figures in all of the Seers’ Scrolls. But if you are the Dragon, it means the Bloodmoon most likely walks the earth. And that’s not something that can be ignored.”

“What are you saying?” I asked, with Owen’s head still in my arms.

“I wasn’t sent here to ask you questions; at least not exclusively. Over the course of the next few weeks I’ll be observing you. I’ll watch the way you interact with each other and the other Breakers here at Weathersby. I’ll sit in on your classes, with a special interest in how each of you uses your abilities. And each day, everything I’ve observed will be transmitted to the Council for examination. By the end of my tenure here, they’ll have a complete picture of your abilities, your physical attributes and, perhaps most importantly, your mental capacity, personality, and day to day activities.” She sighed, as though she didn’t want to say the next part. “Nothing is off limits. Nothing is sacred. If it’s in the Council’s best interest for me to watch you shower, then I’ll do that, and you’ll have no authority to stop me. I can go anywhere and, more than likely, I will be everywhere. To sum it up, if you have any secrets, it’s probably best you confess them now. Because, by the end of this thing, all will be revealed.”

A few minutes later, once Merrin had decided that enough had been done for the day and sent us back to our regularly scheduled insanity, I marched toward my room. Owen said he could walk just fine, but I figured it was best if he leaned on me. His arm lay across my shoulder, and I braced his waist with my hand; though honestly, he was doing a pretty good job of keeping himself standing.

“Can you believe this?” I muttered. “I mean, as if things weren’t complicated enough, the stupid Council sends Merrin. Merrin?! It’s like they’re going out of their way to piss me off; which I bet is exactly what they’re doing.”