“Let’s go, Ronin,” she said as she grabbed me by the arm, leading me outside. I was dizzy from the loss of blood and shocked by the turn of events. “You can’t help him now.”
“I needed him alive.”
She turned back to look at the lifeless body of Haran.
“Someone needed him dead, more than you needed him alive.”
TWENTY-FIVE
Two days later, I made the call.
“Are you ready?” Delilah asked. “From what my sources tell me, you’ve had an eventful few days. You sure you’re up to this?”
“I don’t want to see another Division 13 operative for the rest of my life,” I said, letting the venom fill my voice. “Burn them all, and start with Luca.”
“I like this new dark you,” Delilah said with a laugh. “One hour. You and Luca on the Pier.”
An hour later, I drove the Cuda to the end of Pier 97, at Hudson River Park. The pier was used to hold large events and concerts. Tonight, at two in the morning, it was a deserted slab of concrete, jutting out into the water.
Perfect for a killing.
I stopped the Cuda and left the engine running. The throaty growl filled the night, like a restless animal.
“Are you sure you don’t want to be here to do this yourself?” I asked.
“I have a perfect view from where I am,” Delilah said over my brace. “Continue.”
I turned off the engine and walked to the trunk, opening it. Inside, bound and gagged, lay Luca. I pulled her out as she looked daggers at me. I removed the gag and slapped her across the face when it looked like she was about to say something.
“Let me move her away from the Cuda. Blood is a bitch to get off, and I just had it detailed.”
Delilah laughed as I walked Luca several meters away from the Cuda.
“You don’t have to do this, Ronin,” Luca said, her voice hard. “They’ll use you and then erase you when they’re done.”
“DNA confirmation,” Delilah said. “Make it…painful.”
I drew Sliver and sliced Luca across the cheek, slowly, letting the blood flow.
“How’s that?” I asked.
“Delicious,” Delilah answered. “Confirmation.”
I placed the bloody blade on Cait. A few seconds later, my techbrace chimed.
“Division 13 operative, designation 002, Luca. DNA match confirmed.”
“One second,” Delilah said, and I held my breath, staring into Luca’s eyes. “DNA confirmed on my end. Proceed.”
I unholstered Thorn.
“Ronin, consider what you’re doing,” Luca said, menacingly. “Division 13 will burn you in hell for this.”
“Didn’t you hear?” I asked. “Hell is empty and all the devils are here.”
“Fuck you, Ronin.” Luca spat in my face. “You’ve always been a coward.”
“Do it,” Delilah said. “Do it, now.”
“Goodbye Luca,” I said, placing Thorn against her forehead. She closed her eyes.
I pulled the trigger and fired a round into her head. The impact launched her body into the water where it disappeared under the surface.
“I can now say that your rogue status is successfully complete,” Delilah said. “Unfortunately, Tigris can’t employ someone who would betray their own organization in such a brutal manner and with such ease. I hope you’ll understand why we must decline your application at this time.”
“You fucking bitch.”
“Enjoy Sheol, Ronin. Thank you for erasing the Lapdog. I owe you one. Dinner on me when you get out—in a few hundred years.”
Her laughter was drowned out by the sirens as several Tac Ops vehicles swarmed the Pier.
“Drop your weapon!” screamed a familiar voice. “Do it now!”
I tossed Thorn to the side and placed both hands behind my head, slowly.
“On the ground, now!” I heard Jude’s voice yell into the night. “If you don’t comply, we will open fire in three seconds.”
I knelt on the ground to prevent the padawan from getting trigger-happy, and shooting up the Cuda by accident. I did have it recently detailed. Tac Ops swarmed me. There was no point in resisting. One of the TAC Ops came over and secured my wrists with kagome metal quantum cuffs. Impossible to pick or destroy.
Jude stepped close to me. “I respected you, looked up to you,” he said, barely containing the rage. “You betrayed the Division, you betrayed me, and you betrayed her.”
Keep it together, padawan. No matter how much rage you feel, you never lose control. Time to continue the training.
“Padawan, make sure they don’t damage the paint,” I said with a smile. “I’ll be really upset if it gets scratched.”
He came close. I saw the fists and the body language. Everything said ‘crush him now’, but he held back and maintained control.
“Get this fucking scum out of my face, and get me a dive team now!” Jude yelled at his team. “I said, now!”
It was good to see the padawan stepping into his training with confidence. He still had a ways to go, but he was making progress. They secured me, roughly I might add, in a rune-covered Tac Ops van and drove away. I was headed to Sheol for my eternal stay in the outer darkness.
TWENTY-SIX
I never made it to Sheol.
“The moving teleportation circle was a little overkill, don’t you think?” I said, rubbing my wrists as the kagome cuffs were removed. “Are you sure I won’t feel like throwing up my everything?”
Grace glared at me. “I am the leader of the transporters, Ronin. You will feel no ill effects. However, if you keep pestering me, I will teleport you in several directions at once. That should be excruciating.”
“No, thank you,” I said, holding up a hand. “Pass on the multi-directional porting.”
“Are you prepared to escort my transporter?”
I looked around Grace, at the woman standing slightly behind her. She looked young, almost too young, but even from where I stood, I could sense her energy signature. She was dressed in a black pantsuit that was almost certainly dragonscale. Her short black hair covered part of her face. Her thin frame looked like she spent most of her days in the gym and she looked strong. From the way she carried herself, I could tell she knew a thing or two about fighting.
“Of course,” I said. “Where to?”
“I need to establish a transporter in a null zone.”
I could tell already, this was just going to be never ending hilarity.
“In a null zone, not through one?”
“In a null zone. This requires one of the strongest among us.”
I looked at the kid. “Her?”
“Indeed,” Grace said with a nod. “After me, she is the strongest of the transporters.”
“Why isn’t she dressed in the usual ten layers and showcasing the classic transporter look?”
“That disguise isn’t needed where you’re going.”
Somehow those words didn’t fill me with comfort.
“Where exactly is that?”
“Beneath Sheol.”
I heard the words. The sounds were familiar, but my brain was having trouble comprehending them.
“I’m sorry,” I said with a short chuckle. “That sounded like you said Sheol.”
“I didn’t say Sheol. I said beneath Sheol,” Grace corrected. “She will facilitate the transport of some of the more notable residents of the prison, in addition to establishing a hub at the same location.”
“Does Sheol know about this? Division 13?”
Grace narrowed her eyes at me and gave me an ‘I will eviscerate you’ smile. I backed off.
“This is transporter business. Since you no longer have business with either of those entities, this should be an easy job for you.”
“I think we have different definitions of ‘easy’,” I said. “You’re telling me there’s a station under Sheol and what do I…I mean we, what do we do? Just walk into Sheol and take the stairs to the basement?”
&
nbsp; “It will be considerably harder than that.”
“No shit, really?”
“The existing station has been sealed by Division 13 and requires an Upper Echelon operative to unseal it.”
Shit. Talk about having my words come back to bite me in the ass. She had been planning this for years with me in mind.
“What’s her name,” I said with a sigh of resignation. “I should at least know the name of the person who’s going to see me die, right?”
“Don’t be so pessimistic,” Grace said. “I have every confidence in your abilities.”
“That makes one of us.”
“Her name is Taro.”
“Like the divination cards?”
“Like the plant,” Grace answered, glancing sideways at the woman.
“Is she a fortune-teller? Because I can tell you right now, my future is looking bleak.”
“She is first and foremost a transporter who will obey the assignment given to her.”
Something else was going on here. This assignment sounded like punishment. At the very least, it was a shit detail—stuck underneath the largest null zone in the city.
“What did she do?”
“I’ll let her share that with you, if she so chooses. Your mission ends when she is safely delivered to the station, not a second before.”
There was no way this was some ordinary transporter, even as powerful as she was. This Taro had pissed off Grace and was now being banished to the outer darkness.
“Who is she…to you?”
“Someone who used her ability, her power, inappropriately and is now paying the price for her actions.”
“Chronomancy is not dark magic,” Taro said, her voice firm. “You fear what you don’t understand.”
“You are a transporter, nothing more,” Grace replied, her voice steel. “That is all you will use at your new station. Is that understood?”
The menace in the air was palpable.
“Taro?”
“Completely,” Taro replied. “It’s completely clear.”
“Good,” Grace answered, ignoring the tone. “Ronin make sure she reaches her destination and this clears your debt.”
“You didn’t tell me who she was, just what she did…vaguely.”
Grace fixed me with a look that almost made me reconsider asking. It was a look of anger, pain, and sadness.
“Taro is my daughter.”
THE END
Author Notes
Thank you for stepping into Ronin’s and Division 13’s world. I hope you’ve enjoyed sharing a few hours of your time with me. After Shadowstrut, (Night Warden Novel) Ronin came across as callous and unfeeling. Division 13 is the shadow group that sees everything and tries to stop disasters before they happen. Sometimes this takes its toll on their operatives. I hope this story makes Ronin’s motivations in dealing with Grey clearer. He’s a good operative, dealing with an imperfect system, trying to make it work as best he can. As long as he has Luca, Cait, his friends, and large amounts of Deathwish coffee—he should be fine. On occasion, he can still be an ass.
My main series, Montague & Strong has produced several tangent stories, each with rich and exciting characters. This series is a direct tangent to Monty & Simon’s adventures and you will hear of them, or their exploits mentioned regularly in the Division 13 stories. Occasionally they will make cameo appearances, although Ronin & Co. aren’t fans of the destruction that seems to occur around Monty, Simon, and his infernal canine.
The influences in my writing were (and are) many, but the goal is still the same. Write a good story. Create a character you’d want to spend some time with, and join them as they deal with situations that spiral out of control as a result of the actions and choices. For me, that’s the recipe for a book that immerses me in the story, and makes it hard to put down.
It’s my sincere wish that I achieved a small measure of that with THE MAGEKILLER.
I want to thank you again for reading this story. If you would like a different type of story with large doses of magic, snark, sausages, and destruction, I’d like to suggest my Montague & Strong series. It’s the ongoing story of an immortal detective, an ever-hungry hellhound companion, and an angry mage working the cases only they can.
A reminder: if you really enjoyed this story, please take a few moments and kindly leave a review at the site you purchased it from. It doesn’t have to be long…just a line or two would be fantastic and it would really help me out.
Special Mentions
Larry & Tammy—The WOUF: whose personalities permeate every book I write whether your characters are present or not. For snarkasm, deathane and other assorted additions to the english language. Thank you for the great conversations. Working on getting you into even MORE books lol.
I still think TK is scarier than Aria btw.
Davina(and the Comma Collective) for the immense amount of commas and your execution of the Tao of the Comma. My sincerest apologies for my acute comma allergy. It never fails to amaze me how many I miss in each project. At this point, it’s becoming a chronic condition—thank you for your keen eyes!
Carrie- when you cross a thug with an ugly creature things can get…Thugly.
Orlando A. Sanchez
www.orlandoasanchez.com
Orlando has been writing ever since his teens when he was immersed in creating scenarios for playing Dungeon and Dragons with his friends, every weekend. The worlds of his books are urban settings with a twist of the paranormal lurking just behind the scenes, and generous doses of magic, martial arts, and mayhem. He currently resides in Queens, NY, with his wife and children, and can often be found lurking in the local coffee shops where most of his writing is done.
Bitten Peaches Publishing
Thanks for Reading
If you enjoyed this book, would you please leave a review at the site you purchased it from? It doesn’t have to be long… just a line or two would be fantastic and it would really help me out.
Bitten Peaches Publishing offers more books by this author. From science fiction & fantasy to adventure & mystery, we bring the best stories to adults and kids alike.
www.BittenPeachesPublishing.com
More books by Orlando A. Sanchez
The Warriors of the Way
The Karashihan*•The Spiritual Warriors•The Ascendants•The Fallen Warrior•The Warrior Ascendant•The Master Warrior
John Kane
The Deepest Cut*•Blur
Sepia Blue
The Last Dance*•Rise of the Night•Sisters•Nightmare
Chronicles of the Modern Mystics
The Dark Flame•A Dream of Ashes
Montague & Strong Detective Agency Novels
Tombyards & Butterflies•Full Moon Howl•Blood is Thicker•Silver Clouds Dirty Sky•Homecoming•Dragons & Demigods•Bullets & Blades•Hell Hath No Fury
Montague & Strong Detective Agency Stories
No God is Safe•The Date•The War Mage•A Proper Hellhound
Brew & Chew Adventures
Hellhound Blues
Night Warden Novels
Wander•ShadowStrut
Division 13
The Operative•The Magekiller
Blackjack Chronicles
The Dread Warlock
The Assassins Apprentice
The Birth of Death
*Books denoted with an asterisk are FREE via my website—www.orlandoasanchez.com
Acknowledegements
With each book, I realize that every time I learn something about this craft, it highlights so many things I still have to learn. Each book, each creative expression, has a large group of people behind it.
This book is no different.
Even though you see one name on the cover, it is with the knowledge that I am standing on the shoulders of the literary giants that informed my youth, and that I am supported by my generous readers who give up of their time to jump into the adventures of my overactive imagination.
I would like
to take a moment to express my most sincere thanks:
To my Tribe: You are the reason I have stories to tell. You cannot possibly fathom how much and how deeply I love you all.
To Lee: Because you were the first audience I ever had. I love you sis.
To the Logsdon Family: The words, Thank You are insufficient to describe the gratitude in my heart for each of you. JL, your support always demands I bring my best, my A-game, and produce the best story I can. Both you and Lorelei (my Uber Jeditor) are the reason I am where I am today. Thank you for the notes, challenges, corrections, advice, and laughter. Your patience is truly infinite. Arigatogozaimasu.
To The Montague & Strong Case Files Group-AKA The MoB (Mages of Badassery): When I wrote T&B, there were fifty-five members in The MoB. As of this release, there are over one-thousand members in the MoB. I am honored to be able to call you my MoB Family. Thank you for being part of this group and M&S. You make this possible. THANK YOU.
To the WTA-The Incorrigibles: JL, Ben Z. Eric QK. S.S.
They sound like a bunch of badass misfits, because they are. My exposure to the deranged and deviant brain trust you all represent, helped me be the author I am today. I have officially gone to the dark side, thanks to all of you. I humbly give you my thanks, and…it’s all your fault.
To The English Advisory: Aaron, Penny, Carrie and all of the UK MoB. For all things English…thank you.
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