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

by Conner Kressley

  Somewhere in front of me, a large object shone in the sky. It burned like a comet in the distance, lighting the sky and even momentarily blotting out the Blood Moon. My heart sped up, thinking it was a missile or something the Council had sent to shoot us down. I practically passed out when I saw what it actually was. A dragon made of fire soared above me, flapping its huge wings and effectively scaring me to death.

  It was here, the dragon from all those games. Except, unlike those games; this was real.

  “Echo!” I yelled. “Echo, what am I supposed to do about-”

  But the dragon darted downward and disappeared from sight.

  “Thank fate for small favors,” he answered from behind me. “And keep moving.”

  I turned to the left, seeing the Great Wall appear in the distance. Bathed in red, it was maybe the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life. This was it, my exit from the Hourglass and, because of the Blood Moon, it was wide open. Now all we had to do was get to it.

  “Cress, no pressure or anything, but Royce is starting to get pale.”

  I turned around to see that Casper had joined Dahlia in trying to keep pressure on Royce’s wound. Blood was everywhere, a pool around them. Royce was white and still, but his eyes were still open, and they were staring at me.

  “I’m- I’m peachy Sweetheart. Don’t worry your pretty little-”

  And that’s when everything went wrong.

  The pull that came along with Renner’s energy cut off. I grimaced because, this time, I knew it was for good. There was no resistance, no saving grace. I was pretty sure Renner was dead now, and he couldn’t have picked a worse time. Then dome flickered, and then disappeared.

  We fell, separating the way pebbles might after they had been thrown into the air. The Wall was still a long ways off, but the ground was close now. And getting closer.

  It seemed strange that things would end like this, so unceremoniously. I was the Blood Moon for God’s sake. I was a pretty big deal. And there wouldn’t be some great battle for my life. I wouldn’t go out in a way that people would tell stories about for years to come. I was just going to die, squashed like a bug against the windshield of a truck.

  I was-

  No. I wasn’t going out like this, not with so much more life to live. I blinked hard, letting the world turn into ribbons of ill-formed shade again. Then, looking past that-to the places Echo had begged me not to- I saw the Essence.

  It colored everything and everyone. Dahlia was bright. Her powers reached out, looking for information, for energy. Echo was cool and green. His energy flickered up and down, the way a polygraph needle might if the person strapped to it was being untruthful. Casper, because he was a normal guy, didn’t have much of a signature. But what I could see was deep and inviting, the colors of warmth; everything that I had come to expect from Casper.

  Seeing Renner put a catch in my throat. His energy, gold and green, the way his eyes looked when they were unguarded, leeched out through the knife wound. They spilled away from him, painting the red sky with his life force as he plummeted.

  Come on Cresta. Keep it together.

  I closed my eyes, trying to remember what it felt like to change the moon. Something Renner told me came to mind.

  You can change what is.

  And then what Echo told me when he saw my hand glowing that day at the cabin, the day he first must have imagined that the Essence was a part of me.

  “It’s the source of everything,” I muttered, echoing Echo.

  Something soft, like a pillow, caught me and gently nudged me to a stop. Opening my eyes, I saw everyone around me, lying on a bright red disk of energy that I must have just created.

  Blinking hard, I rid my vision of the Essence, seeing things the way they were again. Royce still poured blood; face up on the disk and clutching his gut. The fact that he was still alive, much less still awake; was a testament to the sort of badass that the Raven actually was.

  Still, he wouldn’t make it to the Great Wall. And if he did, what then? I doubted that Hourglass sat right beside an urgent care. So, even if Royce got out of here, the chances that he’d actually pull through weren’t great.

  No, if he was going to make it through this, it was down to me to make it happen.

  “Take his shirt off,” I told Dahlia, who had crawled over to him and was pressing hard against his open wound.

  “I beg your pardon?’ She asked, her blond brows arching.

  I pulled the shirt Casper gave me off, revealing the Blood Moon shirt that Royce had gifted me with.

  “I need you guys to turn around,” I told Casper and Echo. “There’s something I need to do.”

  “Cress, I’m not understanding you,” Casper answered, staring at his shirt as it fell to the floor of the disk.

  “Royce was right. Our bodies react to each other. He could help me. So it stands to reason that I can help him, too.” I shook my head, “And even if I’m wrong, I have to try. I was hurting bad the first time, so he kissed me. He’s hurt worse now.”

  “So what are you going to do?” Casper asked.

  “Whatever I have to,” I answered. “Now turn around.”

  Once he and Echo were facing the opposite direction, I walked closer to Royce. Dahlia had removed his shirt and inched far enough away to leave him laying by himself.

  Royce panted; he was as white as a sheet now. “Sweetheart, you-”

  “Close your eyes,” I said. “And trust me.”

  When he did, I removed the Blood Moon shirt, leaving me standing in my bra and pants. “No peeking,” I said as I knelt down to him.

  “No promises,” he choked out and even managed a labored smile.

  “Shh,” I said and lay on top on him. He was cold, much colder than he should have been. But I felt his muscles tense under me. The only warmth came from his wound, which poured like a hydrant turned on high.

  “What if my body tries to take your shade again?” He asked weakly. “It could take this disk away. I don’t wanna hurt you, Sweetheart. I‘d rather you just let me die.”

  “Shut up,” I told him, unsnapping my bra and wrapping my arms around his bare back. He lifted as much as he shook, inhaling sharply and hugging me. His hands rested on the small of my back.

  “Sorry,” he said, moving them. “Instinct, I guess.”

  I breathed slowly, matching his breaths with mine. In and out. In and out. I felt his heart pounding against my chest, in rhythm with my own.

  “Stay still,” I said, feeling his breath against my neck.

  “Yes ma’am,” he answered, resting his head against the place my neck met my shoulder.

  The energy- the energy that had always run from me to Royce- stilted in its tracks. Commanding it to do my bidding, I pushed it all in the other direction.

  “Still,” I muttered, feeling the energy rush through me and go into him. I writhed just a little, just enough to feel conscious of it.

  “W-wait,” he moaned, no doubt feeling overcome by the energy and the way it pulsated inside him.

  “Stay. Still,” I breathed. Tightening my already closed eyes, I focused the energy toward his wound; knitting it together, healing him from the inside out.

  Royce went limp under me, heat returning to his body. I leaned up, spying his stomach; it was now flat, tight, and unbroken.

  “Keep your eyes closed,” I said, standing up. I put my bra back on, picked up Casper’s shirt and slipped it on. “Okay, you can all turn around now.”

  I took a long, deep breath, realizing that I had been panting before.

  “Oh my God. You fixed him,” Casper said, motioning to Royce. Royce stood staring at me, bare-chested and glistening under the red light of the moon.

  Leaning down, he grabbed the Blood Moon shirt and put it on. It fit him snuggly, hugging his shoulders and biceps. ‘Thank you, Sweetheart,” he told me, leaning in and giving me a surprisingly chaste kiss on the cheek.

  “Yeah,” I answered, blinking hard.


  “I hate to follow one emergency with another,” Dahlia started. “But we are, as we speak, being held above a chasm by a sliver of energy that might disappear at any moment.”

  “Right,” I said answered, turning. “How’s about we make a beeline for that giant wall over there, then??”

  Lifting my hands, I thrust us forward. Without the walls of the dome to shield us, the wind threatened to knock me down, cold and fierce as it was. We buckled down, though. The Great Wall was close and nothing, including flying knives, bleeding quasi-fiancées, and fire dragons were going to keep me from it.

  I tilted left, lowering the disk as we neared the Great Wall. It was a huge thing, bigger than I had imagined; which was strange, given how many times I had stared at the stupid thing. Carvings covered every inch of its huge structure- the anchors that, on any day but today, would stop us from leaving this place.

  But this was today, the Blood Moon was shining in the sky, and I was getting the hell out of this place once and for all.

  I settled us on the ground, allowing the disk to dissipate and feeling the relief that came with no longer having to manifest it.

  “I can’t believe we’re actually here,” Casper said, running his hands along the mammoth thing. “Why can’t we just go over it, though?”

  “There is no over it,” Echo said. “The Hourglass is encased. Just because you can see over it, because what happens on the outside effects it, doesn’t mean you can just fly out.”

  “Which means we have to find a door,” I answered.

  “Or maybe we deal with that first,” Royce said, pointing forward. Following his hand, I saw that things were about to go from bad to worse. Breakers, countless in number, came rushing toward us. Weapons in hard and snarls in teeth, they were a mere hundred yards away and closing the gap quickly.

  “They were waiting here, probably guarding every inch of the wall and waiting for us to show up,” Dahlia answered.

  “There’s so many of them,” Casper said, inching closer to me. “What-what are going to do?”

  “We’re gonna fight,” I said.

  “There are five of us, Cress. If we fight, we’ll lose,” Casper said.

  “There ain’t five of us redbean,” Royce said, looking to his left and smiling wide. “See that girl,” he said, pointing to a tall brown haired woman running toward us with a mace in hand. “Her name’s Candace. “

  “So you know the name of one of the people who’s going to kill us. That doesn’t make things better, y’know.”

  “It ain’t just her name that I know,” Royce grinned. “She’s a Libra. She likes broccoli way more than any normal person and she taught me how to kiss.” He looked over at me and winked. “You can thank her later.”

  “She’s one of your people, one of my bio mom’s people?” I asked.

  “And I bet she ain’t alone.” Royce moved forward. Cupping his hands around his mouth, he screamed, “Now!”

  At least half the Breakers coming toward me pulled up stakes. They spun on their heels and turned their weapons on the others. Pandemonium erupted as Breakers turned on Breakers, blood spurting from the battle like paint onto a canvas.

  “Oh my God. That’s maybe the fourth coolest thing I’ve ever seen in real life,” Casper gasped.

  “We need to move!” Royce barked. “We gotta find a door.”

  “They’re fighting because of me. I won’t let them die,” I said.

  “They’re fighting for what you stand for. And if you don’t move, then they’ll be dying for nothing. I can’t fight with you about this right now, Sweetheart. We need to-”

  Royce’s body went ridged and still; which was perhaps the only way to shut him up. But it wasn’t just him. Everyone and everything went still. The world had stopped spinning, and come to a screeching halt at one of the most gruesome moments of my life. But why?

  In the distance, I saw a lone figure moving toward me. My heart skipped about ten beats. This was the Council. It had to be. Who else would have the power to do something like this? Looking around, I grabbed a knife from out of Echo’s still hand.

  “Okay!” I screamed, so extremely tired of all this nonsense. Of course it would come down to this. Of course, it would be me alone versus the Council. Well, if they wanted that, I’d show them what it really meant to be the Blood Moon. “You want me! You’re about to get me!”

  But the figure flickered and reappeared before me. And, with a gaping mouth and racing heart, I realized it wasn’t the Council.

  Owen stood before me, his hands clasped together and his electric blue eyes lighting up the dark dank world.

  “That would be just about the best thing ever,” he grinned.

  “You’re here,” I muttered, flabbergasted. “Is it you? Are they messing with me?”

  “It’s me,” he said, and I knew it was true. I could feel it in my bones, in my gut, in my heart. “But I’m not here, not really at least. Sevie’s powers; they helped me.”

  “Are you- Is everything okay? Are you hurt?”

  “I’m fine,” he answered, his eyes flickering down to the ground.

  “You got married?” I asked, though it wasn’t a question.

  “They were going to kill her if I didn’t I-”

  “Oh no,” I said, raising my hands. “I wasn’t asking for an explanation.”

  “But I want you to have one,” he said. “She would have died if I didn’t marry her.”

  “So you-”

  “I did,” he confirmed. “Would I be the man you loved if I hadn’t?”

  “I just want you to be happy,” I answered, and part of me really meant that.

  ‘I won’t be,” he said, breathing hard. “Not really; not without you. But, that’s okay. If you’re alive, then it’s okay.”

  “Come with me,” I said, with more than a little pleading in my voice.

  “You know I can’t do that, but God, do I want to.”

  “You can,” I answered, with tears in my eyes. “Leave Merrin. Leave your family. Leave it all. Just be with me.”

  “Sevie is dying,” he said, biting his bottom lip. “The Blood Moon, it’s doing something to him. I was sent here to tell you that, if you don’t take it down right now, then he won’t survive the night. I came here to ask you- to beg you-to save my brother.”

  I opened my mouth to answer.

  “But I won’t. Looking at you now, seeing you- even if this isn’t really seeing you-” He cleared his throat. “I love two things in this world more than myself, Cresta Karr. And I won’t trade one for the other. I just won’t. Leave this place and don’t ever come back. Promise me you’ll do that. Promise me a Breaker’s promise.”

  “No,” I said slowly. “I can’t let Sevie die for me.”

  “You have to. Please. You don’t have a choice.”

  “You’re right. I don’t.” I moved closer, though something told me I wouldn’t be able to touch him even if I tried. “You loving me is the most important thing in the world, more important to me than anything else. I have to save your brother. Would I be the woman you love if I didn’t?”

  He began to cry. “Please don’t do this.”

  “I love you,” I said. “And I will see you again. That’s my Breaker’s promise.”

  “Cresta please…”

  But my mind was made up. Tapping into the Essence, I pulled the Blood Moon from the sky, replacing it with what was normal and sealing the anchors that surrounded the Hourglass.

  “I’ll see you soon,” I said as Owen vanished from my sight.

  Time began to move again and, as it did, those around me began to realize that the Blood Moon was gone, that it was over.

  “What the-”Casper said.

  “I had to,” I said. “I’m sorry, but I had to. There was no other way.”

  “It’s alright,” Echo said.

  “Is it?” Dahlia balked. We can’t hide anymore, Echo. They know where the cabin is. We’re all dead. All of us!”

  “No,” h
e said. “It’s okay because Cresta’s going to get us out of here.”

  “What?” I narrowed my eyes.

  “You can do it,” he said. “You can do anything.”

  “Echo, I-“

  “He’s right,” Royce said, keeping one eye on the continued fight ahead of us. “You changed the Blood Moon; you saved me when you shouldn’t. You can change what is, Sweetheart.” He leaned into me. “Put a hole in this goddamn wall.”

  Looking forward, I saw Candace. She lay on the ground, bleeding and still. “You got it,” I said.

  Whipping around, I tapped back into the Essence. The anchors on the Great Wall shone, unlike anything I had ever seen before. They were complex things; like mazes within mazes within traps.

  I moved toward them, but I had no interest in undoing them. The knots were much too intricate for that. Nope, I’d just blast right through them.

  I put every piece of myself into the blast; all the anger, all the pain, all the fear. But I also put all the love, all the passion, all the friendship and everything I didn’t want to lose wrapped up in one fell swoop.

  “How’s this for bigger than a wrecking ball,” I said, and let loose onto the wall. It bellowed, shivered, and finally gave way. Bricks tumbled, crackling and disintegrating around me. This was it, the opening, the out.

  “Now!” I yelled and jumped through the opening in the wall. A lightness took me over. This would be okay. We were out, and I could already feel the wall stitching up behind me. They wouldn’t be able to follow until we were long gone. Maybe this would be okay. Maybe everything would be-

  Dizziness pulled at me as I jumped through the opening in the wall, and then the world went white. I left myself, became something else as voices filled the area around me.

  “Watch out!” One of them shouted.

  “What better to temper the weakness of a mother than the strength of a father,” another answered.

  “Our love will break the anchors,” a woman’s voice echoed.

  “It’s him,” one finally said. “I know you don’t want to believe it, but it’s him.”

  “Do it,” one said, at last. “Don’t think about the consequences. Just do it.”

  The world came back, and I was standing in a great field. I was dressed in a white gown that had been stained with blood, standing atop a huge stone circle. The Blood Moon was back in the sky, but that didn’t make any sense.