The Breakers Ultimatum (YA Urban Fantasy) (Fixed Points Book 3) (20 page)

The sun went down slowly that night. For as much as I was dreading what tomorrow would bring, I was equally hesitant to think about the nocturnal activities likely going on in the Main Square.

By now, Owen was no doubt a married man, and married men had specific…obligations. The idea of it, of Owen and Merrin doing all the things that married people did, made me sick to my stomach. Was he enjoying it? Was he happy? Had he already forgotten about me?

A month ago the idea of Owen having sex with another woman, even a woman as infuriating perfect as his perfect would have been as foreign as French toast on Mars. But life moved quickly, and in unexpected directions.

I couldn’t help but think about Wendy, about something she told me last year.

The future is like puzzle pieces floating in the water.

I finally understood what that meant.  And more than that, I felt like one of those pieces; floating freely, pushed around by waves and ripples that were completely beyond my control.

If she were here, she’d know what to do. She probably wouldn’t tell me, opting instead to drop just enough cryptic Intel to make me want to pull my hair out. But she’d know, and somewhere in the back of my mind, I’d know she had my best interests at heart. Now all we had left of her, or any seer, were age-old anchors keeping us safe and a series of letters that led us to a ‘Damnatus’ shaped suicide mission.

I hated this. I wanted to be back in Crestview with Casper, and Owen, and Mom. I didn’t want to think about war, or escape routes, or gorgeous women who were, at this very moment, probably squealing with delight while lying underneath the man I loved.

I wonder if I could try not being the Blood Moon.

“You look like you have a lot on your mind.”

The voice shook me from my pity party. Looking back, I saw Renner. He was in a wheelchair, pushing himself toward me. The light of the setting sun made him look even weaker somehow, and I began to wonder if he had enough energy even to sit there.

“I always have a lot on my mind,” I answered.

“It’s a rather spectacular mind,” he answered. He came onto a pretty stubborn root sticking out of the ground and couldn’t quite clear it.

“Let me help you,” I said and circled him. Placing hands on the chair’s handles, I pushed him over the root easily.

“Much obliged,” he said, giving me a small nod. “How would you feel about talking an old man for a walk?”

“Sure,” I said, “But you’re not old.”

“I feel old,” he answered as I pushed him toward a worn path.

“Me too,” I said.

“It won’t be long now,” he said in a hoarse voice.

“One day,” I said, looking up at the quickly setting sun.

“Not that, Cresta. I’m talking about the rest of it. I’m talking about the end.”

I jerked to a stop. A shiver ran up my spine. “That’s-That’s not going to happen,” I said.

“Of course, it is, Cresta. The people chasing you are going to make sure it does. Even the gentlest of dogs can only be cornered for so long before she starts to bite.”

“I’m not a dog,” I snapped.

“No. You’re much more dangerous than that,” he answered.

“I thought you were on my side,” I said, circling him again and meeting his gray eyes with my own.

“I am, Cresta. You have no idea how much I am. You have a lot of people talking at you right now, and some of them aren’t telling you half of what you need to hear. I thought Royce could be the voice of reason once I was gone, but things have become so muddled for him. His feelings for you are stopping him from seeing things clearly. I want to make sure I tell you everything you need to know while I still can.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” I asked, furrowing my brow.

“Don’t be naïve, Cresta,” he answered. “Tomorrow, all of you are going to run for your lives. I’m a sick man who’s confined to a wheelchair. Royce doesn’t want to believe it, but I’m not going to make it.”

“Don’t say that,” I said as a sharp intake of breath threatened my stability.

“It’s true, Cresta. And hiding from truths won’t do any of us any good; not here or going forward.” He grabbed my hand from his seat. “The coming days will be difficult for all of you; Royce most of all. He’s already lost Flora. Losing me will hit him hard. He’s like a son to me, Cresta. I gave my life away to get him to safety when he was a baby. And if I could do it again tomorrow, none of you would have anything to worry about. But I can’t. Still, I have no doubt you two will make it out of here. You still have a lot of life to live together, you and Royce. And I’m thankful for that, even if I won’t get to see it. He’s a proud boy, and while that can be a strength, it could also be his undoing. I know you have a lot on your plate, much more than a girl your age ever should. But I’m afraid it falls on me to add to that.”

Tears pricked at his gray eyes. “You need to take care of him, Cresta. And what’s more, you need to let him take care of you. Life is hard, and yours will be downright impossible. Don’t let it destroy you. Don’t let it destroy either of you.”

“Renner,” I said, near breathless. “I’m afraid you’ve got the wrong idea about Royce and me.”

“Sure I do, Sweetheart,” he said, and I heard an echo of Royce in his voice. I guess now I knew where he got it from. “Just promise me, okay. Promise me you won’t give up on him.”

Owen’s voice flashed through my mind.

“A Breaker’s promise,” I muttered.

“A Breaker’s promise,” Royce answered. “I like your shirt,” he added, looking down at the moon marked red and black gift that Royce had now presented me with twice.

“I-I think I want to be alone for a bit, maybe finish this walk on my own,” I said, turning away from Renner.

I scuttled away, trying hard not to think about the undeniable truth that I was basically abandoning an invalid in the middle of the woods. He’d be fine. This place was protected by anchors. And besides, I really needed to get out of here. I didn’t want to think about the fact that Renner had pretty much come to terms with his own death in front of me and, as a last wish, tried to bond me with Royce forever. Talk about a guilt trip.

I pushed into the woods, getting as close as I could to the edge of the grounds without having to worry about setting off the anchors. Everything seemed to be coming to a head and, as much as I hated to admit it, the pieces of fate’s puzzle looked like they were falling into place before my eyes. Owen and I were on different sides of things; both literally and figuratively, now he was married. I was the proud owner of a new power set that threatened to break both the entire world and my fragile teenage psyche. And the person who knew me best in the world just told me that he was sure I had developed feelings for the guy the prophecies told me I would end up with. Only a giant Blood Moon floating in the sky could have painted a clearer picture, and we were only a day away from that.

I leaned against the trunk of a tree, letting my body rest even if my mind wouldn’t. My eyes fluttered closed as I let my mind drift to simpler days. A couple of years ago, just after we moved to Crestview, Mom took Casper and I on a conference trip to Savannah, Georgia. She wasn’t really keen on letting him tag along since we were all going to have to share a room and he was a guy (well, technically anyway). But after I explained the thoroughly platonic nature of our relationship and after watching Casper eat chili in front of me (no guy would ever eat chili the way Casper did in front of a girl he was trying to seduce), she decided it was okay.

During the day, while Mom was at the conference, Casper and I walked through downtown. We settled at this huge cemetery right in the middle of downtown, apparently it’s pretty famous and supposedly haunted. It was full of weeping willows and faded headstones marking people who had passed away a hundred years ago; kids who had died from yellow fever or soldiers who had given everything for what they believed in.

I wasn’t sure why, but I felt sort of at home there; like there was a piece of me that connected with those kids and soldiers. And maybe there was. I hadn’t died, of course. But Dad had. He had died right in front of me. And maybe that did make me more like these people than I could fully understand.

We were leaning against the willow, Casper and I, when I told him how much I dreaded the idea of going back to Crestview. I still hadn’t gotten used to the idea of living in a town that was half the size of my old closet, and being somewhere that had both a north and a south Starbucks made me long for the life I had left behind.

“I don’t want to leave,” I had told him solemnly.

“Then let’s stay forever,” he answered, pulling a switchblade from his back pocket. “At least a little.”

Digging into the willow’s trunk, he carved  ‘C + C ‘ and, under it, carved a lightning bolt because “lightning bolts are badass”.

I wasn’t sure why my mind picked that memory to drift back to. Maybe a piece of me wished I could be back there, when things were simpler, because how I wish I was there now... looking at that tree. Maybe some symbolism about the faded headstones and our impending doom had mingled in my head. Or maybe I just wanted to think about a good time I had had with a great friend. Either way, it brought me some strange comfort to know that, no matter how tomorrow played out; our initials would still be on that tree. C and C existed somewhere in the world and, so long as that tree stood, there was nothing the Council could do about it.

When I opened my eyes, the sun had set fully behind the great wall of the Hourglass. I wasn’t sure how long I had been standing there, but it was long enough so that my mind was settled and the pattering of my heart had slowed to a more manageable beat.

Sure, nothing was better. The end of the world was still coming, and the Council was sure as hell still coming. But I felt a bit better, a bit like the events of the world might one day be smaller than me again. And that counted for something didn’t it?

I pushed myself off the tree, feeling a little rested and wondering just how long I had been standing there. One way or another, this would be my last night inside the Hourglass. It would more than likely be my last night alive, but there was little need in letting that truth bog down my mind; not when the night was so peaceful and I had finally stumbled onto an ounce of inner peace.

Leaves crunched underfoot as I continued my walk around the anchor laden boundary. Like before, I could feel their energy calling to me, begging me to soak it up and leave us exposed and defenseless. Royce wasn’t around to siphon it off, and neither was the weird figment girl who had unloaded me before. But I was pretty sure I could handle this little bit of energy. And if it got to be too much for me, I’d throw myself at Royce for a little bit of release. Something told me he wouldn’t protest too hard.

A song came to mind and I started humming along with the tune stuck in my head.

“Dooont wooorrryyyy baaabbyyyy,” I mumbled out of tune. Dad loved the Beach Boys.

“Pure genius,” he used to call them. “The way their harmonies lift right up into the air.”

Part of me felt like he was here with me now, watching over me the way a normal dad might if his daughter was on the way to her prom or going off to college. I wasn’t normal, of course. And I guess neither was he. He knew what I was; that I was the Blood Moon. But we never got a chance to talk about. What would he have said to me if he was still alive? Would I even be here now, or would he have been able to save me from this; from what’s to come?

“Everythiiiing will be aaalllriiiggghhtt. Dooon’t wooorrryyy baa-“

My mindless singing was cut short by the sound of rustling in the nearby leaves. Stopping short, I remembered how my powers had messed with the anchors before and cursed my proximity to them now. My fingers began to tingle, and I balled my fist up, as if that might somehow stifle my abilities and keep me hidden.

Slowly, I made my way to a nearby tree and settled behind it. If my abilities did render the anchors useless then maybe I could hide the old fashioned way. I cringed, knowing better than that. Breakers were trained to hunt. They were pretty much trained to do everything. And with only a day or so of preparation under my belt, if this took a turn for the worse, I was going to be in real trouble.

I crouched as low as I could to the ground and still have a clear view of everything, wrapping my hands around the tree for dear life.  The rustling grew louder, finally producing a pair of booted feet from the darkness. I followed them up, absolutely sure that they belonged to a Breaker who wanted me dead. Dahlia had warned about this. The Council knew that the Blood Moon phenomenon would weaken the anchors and, as such, they’d know that it would be the only time we’d be able to reasonably make a break or it. It didn’t surprise me that extra troops had been deployed.

I traced up the Breaker. Stylish jeans followed the boots, followed by a black belt and fitted white tee shirt. As I made it upwards of the Breaker’s chest though, something curious tugged at me. There was something very familiar about this person, about the shape of him and the way he moved. My eyes jolted up to his face as he fully cleared the shadows, exposing his features to the pale moonlight.

A lump the size of a boulder formed instantly in my throat as I took the Breaker in. Of course he was familiar. I’d know that face anywhere. Those enticing lips, that swirl of mud-colored hair, those eyes that were electric blue; it was the face that filled my every dream. It was the face I never thought I would see again.