“And did they?” Casper asked, his eyes sitting stalwart on the floral print comforter that covered Sarah’s uber pregnant belly.
“They said that I was important, that the world was changing and that I was going to play a crucial part in all of it.”
“And you just believed them?” Casper’s voice was emotionless now.
“About Breakers, and seers, and prophecies, and all that?” Sarah asked. “Sort of. I mean, I couldn’t explain anything that was happening to me. At least they had some sort of answers, even if they did seem ridiculous at first. Besides, they offered me a safe place to stay and plenty of food. I’m a psych major who’s two credits shy of graduating. My parents already disowned me for getting knocked up in the first place. This seemed like a better option than a woman’s shelter.”
“I’m sorry,” Casper said, and I could feel his heart breaking. “I’m so, so sorry that you had to go through that alone. I shouldn’t have left.”
“It’s not your fault,” she shook her head. “I’m not even sure you did anything. Laurel’s been helping me. She told me the actual truth, and we’ve been doing these exercises, trying to see beyond the shade, or whatever you guys call it. And the thing is, the memories I have with you, they aren’t the only ones in my head anymore.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, chiming in from behind Casper.
“There are other things layered over them, like I was living two lives at once. I don’t have any specifics and I can’t make sense of most of it. But it there, like an itch in the back of my head.” She looked up at me. “Who are you anyway?”
“I’m Cresta Karr. I’m this guy’s best friend and the reason the world is ‘changing’. Though that isn’t the word most people I’ve met have used for it.” I said.
“She’s also my daughter,” Laurel said, and the words poked at me like a stick.
“I’m not through with you,” I sneered, looking over at Laurel.
“Stop!” Casper screamed. “Just stop it. Sarah, you said that Laurel told you the actual truth. What was that?”
“That the people here want to kill me,” she answered flatly, as if she was asking for more root beer. “That I’m some big overture for everything that’s coming. It seems sort of farfetched to me, but I had already jumped off the deep end, and Cresta’s mom is very convincing,” Sarah answered.
The verbal stick jammed into my side again.
“Why would the Taggers want to kill her?” I asked turning to Laurel.
“Isn’t it obvious? Because they want the world to end. Killing the Damnatus is a huge piece of making that happen.”
“These people are such lunatics,” I scoffed. “It’s like I jumped from the self-righteous cult baby frying pan into the masochistic moron fire.” Shaking my head, I asked, “If that’s true, then why haven’t they killed her already? Couldn’t they have just shot her in the head or something and been done with it?”
“Thanks for the visual,” Casper murmured.
“Sorry, but it’s true. Why would they go the long way around on this one?”
“Because they didn’t have you,” Laurel answered. “Killing the Damnatus ushers in the apocalypse, but without you, they can’t focus it in the direction they need it to go in. That’s why I sent you to the other side of the country, to keep you way from them. And it’s why I came here, to help Sarah fake her own disappearance and save her life. And because you asked me to.”
“I did not,” I balked.
“Both of you did,” she said, turning from me to Casper. “You told me to find the woman and her ‘little bean’ and keep them safe.”
“Well, that does sound like something I would say,” Casper relented.
“But when I got here, I saw that things didn’t line up. Something else was going on and, before I could get her out of here, you came.”
“They just let you in here?” I asked. “You’re a Breaker. They hate Breakers.”
“I’m also the Bloodmoon’s mother. Like it or not, I’m a big piece of this puzzle. They figured, if they had me, you wouldn’t be far behind.” She sighed. “I wish they would have been wrong.”
“We didn’t know,” I responded.
“Yes we did,” Casper nodded. “Jiqui tried to tell us and we didn’t listen to him.”
“He’s a killer,” I shot back.
“A killer with a note from your mother,” he said.
“She’s not my mother!” I said before thinking. I shut my eyes and breathed heavy as I turned to her. “Look,” I started.
“No, it’s alright,” Laurel said, putting her hands out on front of her. “I didn’t do any of this so that you would like me. I did it to keep you safe, and that’s the same reason I’m doing it now.” She looked around the room. “I want to keep all of you safe.”
“And how do we do that?” I asked, feeling an unusual pang of guilt.
“There’s a field in this place, one that disrupts Breaker energy. I’m able to get around it, thanks to the specifics of my ability. And apparently so are you.” She smiled a little and I couldn’t help but think there might be a little pride in her voice. “The people here don’t know that though, and that puts them at a serious disadvantage. Right now, my people are launching a full scale assault inside of the Hourglass.”
“What?!” I started, and Owen’s face instantly flashed through my mind.
“My intel says they know we’re here. They’re sending the Dragon and a fleet of Breakers to end you.”
“It doesn’t matter what they do. Owen won’t kill me,” I assured her.
“That’s what I thought too. Your relationship with him has been the one bright spot in all of this. It gives him pause and stifles the Council from being as effective as they’d like,” Laurel said. She was all business suddenly and it was easy for me to picture as the amazing Breaker woman that everyone told me she had been.
“I agree,” I answered. “For different reasons obviously, but it’s definitely been a bright spot.”
Laurel looked at me, smiling again. “Falling in love with the one person in the world you shouldn’t. We have more in common than you’d like to admit, I think.”
“Is he safe, Owen I mean?” I asked.
“Honestly? I don’t know,” laurel said, sending my heart to pounding. “He is the Dragon, so my people won’t go to any lengths to keep him out of harm’s way. But he’s the biggest gun the Council has, so I imagine they’re keeping him safe.”
“You have to get him!” I pounded my fist against the wall. “Make you’re people extract him, bring him here.”
“What are you talking about?” She asked. “They wouldn’t listen to me. I’m not some leader. They’re doing this because they believe it’s the right thing, and not all of them are on the same page as me about the Dragon continuing to breath. Besides, there is no extraction. S you know, breaking out of the Hourglass is a near impossible feat. Even your father couldn’t do it. The people revolting are doing it for one reason, to buy us enough time to disappear again. And they’re likely giving their lives for that.”
It felt like stone landed right on my chest. More people dying for me. More people dying because of me.
“A plan,” I cleared my throat. “You have one?”
“Always,” she answered. “News of what’s happening in the Hourglass will drift back here pretty soon. The Taggers have people in the inside too.”
“Really?” Casper asked. “That place has more holes in it than my dad’s boat.” He looked back at Sarah. “He liked to get drunk and try to shoot fish out of the lake. It’s probably for the best that I’m not passing any of those genes on.”
He winced as he finished the sentence and my heart leapt out for him. He was devastated obviously, and his humor as a coping mechanism. I wanted more than anything to try to help him through this. But there was so much going on. There was always so much going on, dammit.
“Can Echo’s new wife be trusted,” Laurel asked me. “She had always
been a bit of a stuffy loyalist, but she seems to have loosened up a bit.”
“I trust Dahlia with my life,” I said, without a hint of hesitation. “She’s saved me more than once. And she lost her daughter. It changed her.”
“It does that,” Laurel answered. She took a beat and then continued. “We need to get her, Royce, and Jiqui and make a break for it with Sarah. The Taggers will be preoccupied with news of the Hourglass rebellion as well as a little surprise I have in store for them.”
“We have to take Jiqui?” I asked, my distaste for him bubbling up to the surface.
“I made a deal with him. I’m not going to leave him here. Besides, he has more than a few bits of crucial information about our operation.” Laurel answered.
“I wanna bring Liv too,” Casper chimed in. “She’s not like the rest of them. I mean, I guess. Personally, I like the rest of them. But then again, they’re not trying to stab me through the heart or coerce me into ending the world. But either way, I want Liv to come.”
“I don’t know about that, Casper,” Laurel said. “That girl is a Rivers. Her grandfather is the Commissioner of this entre place. I know you have feelings for her. You told me as much in the desert. And maybe she even has feelings for you too. But will they be enough to convince her to turn her back on her family, friends, home, and upbringing. You’d be asking her to leave behind everything she’s ever known. I’m just not sure you can trust her to do that.”
“I don’t have feeling s for her. I love her, and she loves me too. I know she does. Shouldn’t she at least get the chance to decide?” He looked to me for help.
“Not when deciding against it could put us all in more danger, Casper,” Laurel answered. “We have to be practical and, practically speaking, this isn’t the smartest move.”
“You’re not a leader,” I said, looking from Casper, to the woman and unborn baby he just found out weren’t part of his family, and finally back to Laurel. “You just told me you weren’t a leader. Well, somebody has to be. And since I’m the one with a gun to my head, I vote myself.” I looked back at Casper. “And I say we see what the girl has to say for herself.”
A smile lit Casper’s face.
“That’s not a good idea.” Laurel said. “If she says no-”
“Then I’ll wipe her mind.”
“Isn’t that what got you in this mess in the first place?” Laurel challenged.
“You want me to go along with this plan?” I asked. “This is the only way it happens.”
“I don’t like it. Wiping minds is never reliable and it wastes precious time.”
“But you’ll do it,” I said.
“But I’ll do it,” she answered. Looking around the room, Laurel started. “We need to move quickly. Get Royce and the others here, and then we can move on to-”
A loud noise sounded through the room and Laurel collapsed, spraying red all over me. It was warm and metallic. It was-it was blood.
She crumpled to the ground, and I looked at her in horror, my mouth agape.
A motor revved from ahead. Looking up, I saw a figure on a motorcycle, sitting in the living room. He was dressed in black leather with a white helmet and a black shade that covered his face entirely. A drawing of an open eye sat above the visor. He had a pistol in his hand.
Instinctively, the shade poured out of me, throwing up a shield to protect us.
“That’s interesting.” The rider said. “I’ll be back soon, and next time I won’t miss.”
He revved the engine and tore out of the house, leaving skid marks on the living carpet and my biological mother bleeding to death in the bedroom.
Chapter 27
Great Options
Owen
“Why are you still here?!’ The visage of Chant yelled at me, striking his cane against the ground of wherever it was he was actually standing. “Have your ears stopped working along with your head? I told you to take cover!”
I moved toward him. ”No,” I said plainly.
“Is this purposeful?” He asked with a quizzical look on his wrinkled face. “Are you actually so vindictive and petty that you’d risk your own life and the lives of all the people in the entire world just to get a rise out of us?”
“Not at all,” I answered. “But I’m not running. If what you’re saying is true, then there are people out there fighting each other, hurting each other, and maybe even killing each other all because of me. If I run, what does that tell them?”
“That you’re not a complete imbecile,” Chant grunted. “And that what they’re fighting for isn’t foolish enough to throw himself in harm’s way when he has much bigger issues to tend to.”
“It says I’m a coward,” I answered. “That I won’t fight with them, and who’d fight for someone who won’t stand alongside them?”
“Those who were raised to do just that,” Chant answered. “Now we have allowed your ridiculousness for far too long. You may be the Dragon, but we are the Council and, as such, are not without powers of our own.” He looked from one member of the Council to the other, nodding as if some unspoken conversation had been going on between them the entire time. “Half of our population has turned against us. Do you not understand that, Dragon? See for yourself.” The visage of the Council was replaced by visions of the Hourglass. The Main Area was in chaos. Houses were on fire, people found in the streets, and blood stained the walls. I couldn’t leave, not with things like this. If I did, then it would never end.
“This is our darkest hour, Dragon,” Ilsa piped up from beside Chant, reappearing before me. “Our entire way of life is being threatened and, regardless of the outcome here, things will never be the same.”
I knew she was right. Treachery like this had never been seen inside of the Hourglass. Half the Breakers in the Hourglass- half the Breakers in the world- had been lying this entire time. There was no normal after this, not ever.
“So if you refuse to adhere to our commands in this time of war, it will be considered a fatal crime against your own race. And you will be punished as such.”
“You can’t threaten me, Ilsa. I have to go out there. Maybe I can stop this.”
“Your family will be eradicated, their lands will be redistributed, and their names will be stricken from the Great Record. It will be as if the Lightfoot bloodline never existed. If that’s what you want, then by all means, run into the fray. But if not, then head westward into the forest. We’ve sent reinforcements to help you.”
And with that, the Council disappeared.
“Those jackasses,” I gritted my teeth. “Can you believe them?”
“It is you that I cannot believe,” Sevie said, turning toward me. “Have you lost your mind?”
“You really think I care about the family name. I can’t let people die because of me.”
“People die because of what they do, because of the choices they make. You’re no more responsible for that than I am for it. What I can’t believe is how shortsighted you’re being. When you die out there- and trust me, I’ve seen enough to know that you will, regardless of what some dead little seer girl told you- what do you think will happen after that? Do you think the people fighting for you now will just give up and turn over a new leaf?” He shook his head. “They know where she is, Owen. The only thing stopping every single person out there from rushing over to try and kill Cresta, is there belief that you’re going to do it. Once you’re gone, it’ll be a free for all. How long do you think she’ll last with that?”
My brows knitted together nervously. I had never considered that. Would throwing myself on the sword for some ideal actually put Cresta in more danger? And what about Merrin? Our life forces were tied together. If I died, then she died. What was I thinking? I couldn’t afford to be so selfless anymore.
“When did you get smarter than me?” I asked, worry coloring my words.
“When I remembered who I was,” he said. “Don’t worry. I won’t be for much longer.”
“You won’t be smar
ter, or you won’t be who you were?” I asked, staring at him incredulously.
“Take your pick, but that doesn’t matter right now. Regardless of who I am, who I was, or who I’m going to be in the future, you’re my brother. And the fact of the matter is, I’d rather not see you dead. So my suggestion, pride and good intentions aside, is for you to head westward like the Council said and wait for those reinforcements.”
“I can’t do that,” I said.
“You can. You have to,” Sevie answered. “Cresta depends on it, and so much more.”
“Cresta’s not the only woman in my life,” I answered, and though the words seemed foreign on my tongue, I knew they were true. “I have to protect Merrin. They’ll come for her. Especially since our energies are connected. If she dies, I die. They’re try to get to her to kill me. She’s in as much danger as I am. And she’s weak, Sevie. She’s still sick. If I don’t get to her, she won’t stand a-”
A man jumped out from behind the barn. He had a knife in his hand and he charged me, screaming something I didn’t take bother to try and understand. My hands instinctively went to my face, but it didn’t matter.
A dagger came flying through the air, striking the man in the chest and knocking him down. He collapsed onto the ground and started shaking.
Quickly, I turned to find the source of the dagger.
Merrin stood before us, dressed in her Breaker uniform; a skintight black leather number that hugged her in all the right places. She was bright. She was vibrant. She was badass.
“Go ahead dear, “she smiled. “Finish your sentence. She won’t be able to what?”
“Point taken,” I grinned.
“Hell broke loose in the Main Area quicker. As soon as it started, I left. I knew I had to get to you.” Merrin advanced on us, leaning over and pulling her dagger out of the now still man’s chest.
“How did you find me? Did you follow the energy that comes from our connection?” I asked.
“You’re at your mother’s house, Owen. It’s not exactly off the beaten path as far as hideouts go. It’s also why we have to move now. People will undoubtedly come here looking for us.”
The Breaker's Resolution: (YA Paranormal Romance) (Fixed Points Book 4) Page 22