“Not a fan of being fried,” Destin said, staying outside the ward circle. “I thought the wards in the Park only worked on the Unholy?”
“They’ve been changed,” Pira said, pacing the perimeter of the wards. “Someone is taking the security of the Hunter’s Keep seriously.”
“I think that the individual who thought of placing a base of operations in Unholy territory would consider security an important feature of said base.”
“That would be Emiko; she was a class-one Hunter.”
“Not surprising,” Destin answered looking at the Keep. “She was either dangerous, suicidal or both.”
“She and her group were most likely equal measures of both,” Pira said. “It takes a special individual to be a class-one Hunter. I think confronting the Unholy requires the capacity to ignore the danger staring you in your face.”
“Or you just accept that you will probably find your end fighting them.”
“Agreed. Emiko was KIA.”
“That’s usually how class-ones go down,” Destin said, his voice grim. “I’ve never heard of a class-one retired somewhere taking it easy. They all fall in the line of duty—occupational hazard. They’re all a little touched.”
“Similar to those Regional Agents who decide to leap onto an angry Chamai, followed by a detonation of explosive charges,” Pira said with a nod before returning her attention to the ward circle. “This heightened security does pose a challenge, though.”
“No kidding,” Destin said, looking down at the pulsing violet wards. “Does seem to reinforce the Director’s theory, though.”
“That it does,” Pira said looking up at the Keep. “The extra security could mean they grew tired of being attacked or—”
“They have a special guest they want to protect,” Destin finished. “My guess is the latter.”
“Either way,” Pira said, crouching down and looking at the intricate wards, “we’ll need to visually confirm.”
“I’m not exactly feeling safe out here.” Destin said, standing behind her and staring into the night. “Can you bypass those wards?”
“Yes, I can,” Pira confirmed, inscribing symbols around the existing wards on the ground. “It won’t be easy, but I think I can manage a messy bypass.”
“I don’t care what kind of bypass it is,” Destin said. “We have both Chamai and Dreadwolves incoming. If you don’t get us past that circle, the only mess will be our bloody body parts all over this grass.”
“How long?” Pira said, working faster. “Do you sense them yet?”
“I’d give you three minutes on the outside,” Destin said, sniffing the air. “No pressure.”
“This isn’t as easy as I make it look, you know,” Pira said moving faster as she drew more symbols. “I’m trying not to alert whoever is in the Keep.”
“I think you should forget about that,” Destin told her, his voice low. “We have company.”
Pira glanced over her shoulder and strangled the kernel of fear that formed in her stomach. In the distance, three Chamai were moving silently in their direction. Behind them, she did a quick count of twenty Dreadwolves keeping pace. They looked angry.
Angry and hungry.
“Shit,” she said under her breath. “That was faster than I anticipated.”
“You keep bypassing the wards,” Destin said. “I’m going to go have some words with our hosts.”
“There’s too many of them, Des. Fall back.”
“It’s only three Chamai and two packs of Dreadwolves,” Destin said. “This should remain a cordial conversation.”
“You tried to blow up one of the Chamai, after you cut him,” Pira answered. “I don’t think conversation is its plan. Unless it’s a conversation consisting of ripping your arms off and beating you to death with them.”
“If it goes sideways—”
“Goes?”
“If it gets worse than it currently is, then you’re free to bring the hurt.”
“That will only make matters worse,” Pira said. “Then we’ll be facing most of the Unholy in the Park.”
“I know,” Destin said with a smile. “Now that would be exciting.”
“I worry about you sometimes,” Pira said, inscribing more symbols. “Go delay them. I’ll get these wards down. If it gets heated, fall back to my position.”
“Right, out here in the open with no cover or protection, sounds perfect,” Destin said, shrugging off his pack and removing some items. “Don’t worry. Besides, I have a few surprises for them if they want to dance. Get those wards down. Be right back.”
Destin headed off to meet the Unholy.
EIGHTEEN
Rafael followed as far as he was allowed.
Even as the Director of Regional, his position held little sway in this procedure. They afforded him an extra measure of courtesy, but he would not be allowed to be in the actual recall procedure room. The nurse wasn’t exaggerating. The risks were great, not only for Gan, but for those in the room with him.
The procedure had been modified since the early days of battling the Akitsu. Mindswipe victims were often triaged on the battlefield with disastrous results. Victims of a mindswipe exhibited abnormal displays of power as parts of their brains were erased.
It was a testament to Gan’s mental strength that he hadn’t degenerated into a mindless weapon of destruction. That risk, however, meant the Director of Regional would not be allowed into the procedure room, even the trained personnel would be performing the procedure remotely for their own safety.
Rafael headed to one of the small conference rooms close to the procedure room and closed the door. He traced a symbol in the air, securing the area around him in complete silence before pulling out his phone and dialing Anna.
“Director,” Anna said. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“Rafael, please,” Rafael said. “Let’s not rest on formality. You have my deepest sympathies for your losses at the hand of Kala and his Black Hunters.”
“I witnessed the Dreadwolves tear Kala to shreds,” Anna answered. “His death was a small comfort for Lexa and the Sisters’ lives he stole with his Black Hunters. Shanti is still recovering from Dreadwolf venom. What do you want, Director?”
“Retribution,” Rafael said. “Regional has unleashed something worse than Kala.”
“I find that unlikely,” Anna answered. “Kala was a blight on humanity that should have been purged long ago.”
“They released Retribution to Velos and sent him after Sepia and the Hunters,” Rafael said. “He’s killed two Hunters and taken their blades.”
“I stand corrected,” Anna said. “Why does this concern me? My Sisters have been decimated. We are now down to a handful. We can’t help you. This is, as you say, Regional business. It would seem your internal politics are destroying the Order. Ask them for help.”
“I don’t want their help,” Rafael said. “I want your help.”
“No,” Anna said with finality. “You have no concept of what the Sisters have lost. We need to rebuild.”
“Sepia is a Sister.”
“Do you enjoy stating the obvious?” Anna asked. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“Velos is killing Hunters, but he has a specific target.”
“Sepia,” Anna said. “He’s been tasked with eliminating her.”
“Yes,” Rafael confirmed. “After Sepia he will hunt you and the remaining Sisters, as well as the Order. He will start with the Hunters, but you will be next.”
“The Hunters and the Order are not my concern,” Anna said. “My first responsibility is to the safety of the Sisters, Sepia included. We will protect Sepia from any attack.”
“My apologies,” Rafael said, hating what he had to do next. “I was under the impression I was speaking to the leader of the Sisters. I must have dialed the wrong number, because you sound like Kala beat you. Is that what happened?”
“Director,” Anna said with thinly veiled menace. “Have you
grown tired of living?”
“I was just about to ask you the same thing,” Rafael said, letting the threat in his voice match Anna’s. “You want autonomy? I will guarantee it. You help me with Velos and the Sisters are beholden to no one. You do as you see fit.”
“With no oversight from Regional?” Anna asked, now interested. “We select our candidates from wherever we choose and we answer to no one?”
“I’ll ask that you consider the Hunter candidates who fail the training,” Rafael said. “In addition to any candidates you seek to add.”
“Of course,” Anna said. “What kind of help do you seek?”
“The help I need is two-pronged,” Rafael said. “How recovered is Shanti?”
“She will be at full operational status within the week. Why do you ask?”
“I need your assistance in dealing with Sepia.”
“Dealing with Sepia?” Anna asked. “Why are you dealing with Sepia?”
“I fear she may have begun the transformation into the Jade Demon,” Rafael said. “That threat must be dealt with.”
“What have you done?” Anna asked after a short pause. “The Jade Demon was death unleashed. Are you saying there is another?”
“There is a strong possibility of it, yes,” Rafael said. “I also need to know who inside Regional sanctioned Velos receiving a dark blade. Can Shanti be inserted into Regional?”
“A dark blade,” Anna said. “You need Shanti to infiltrate Regional?”
“Yes. Can she?”
“She is a Sister,” Anna said. “She is more than capable of getting this information. The question is, what will you do with it once you have it?”
“Regional is rotting from within,” Rafael said. “It’s time to excise the rot from the Order.”
“Others have tried and failed,” Anna said. “The corruption within the Order has deep roots. What makes you think you can succeed?”
“I’m not indebted to the Order,” Rafael replied. “There is no leverage to use against me.”
“Every Director thinks this way, until they try to implement change. Then they discover they are sadly mistaken.”
“There is one more thing,” Rafael said, knowing this was the make or break point of Anna’s involvement. “The Nameless is in play.”
“The Nameless? I was under the impression that blade was lost to time.”
“It was. Velos found it and has procured it for someone.”
“Someone? You don’t know who?”
“I have an idea,” Rafael said. “If it’s who I think it is, Velos is the least of our concerns. I’m hoping Shanti can find out more.”
“That information is liable to cost her her life,” Anna said. “Are we to intercept this blade?”
“If at all possible, yes. I’d prefer to see that blade destroyed and gone.”
“This web you weave is tangled indeed,” Anna said. “It would sadden me to have to dispatch you, Director, but I would do it without hesitation if this is subterfuge.”
“Please use your extensive resources to confirm and corroborate,” Rafael said knowing she would do so regardless. “If it is artifice, I would rightfully deserve any judgment you pass. Will you help me?”
“If we do this, Sepia remains with the Sisters,” Anna said. “She will not be folded into the Hunters again.”
“You say that like you can control her,” Rafael said. “She may not even be Sepia any longer.”
“She is a Sister,” Anna answered, her voice iron. “That would be our concern.”
“Gan may have an opinion on that,” Rafael said. “He may want her to be returned to the Hunters.”
“It was Gan who sent her to me in the first place,” Anna said. “He forfeited his life for hers in the process. Gan has no voice in this matter. I am informing you, as the Director of Regional: Sepia will remain a Sister no matter the outcome, even if it means her death. Those are the terms of my assistance. Do you accept?”
“You ask that like I have a choice,” Rafael said.
“We always have a choice,” Anna said. “It’s the outcome of our choices we must make peace with. Yes or no?”
“Yes,” Rafael said. “I will send details once I have more information.”
“That is acceptable,” Anna said. “Oh, and Director?”
“Yes?” Rafael said, wincing, knowing what was coming next.
“The next time you question my leadership of the Sisters, or my resolve to do whatever is necessary to secure their safety, I will personally make the last few hours of your life a monument to pain and agony.”
“I would expect no less from the leader of the Sisters,” Rafael said. “We will speak soon.”
Anna ended the call and Rafael let out a short sigh.
“That went better than I expected,” he said under his breath with a shudder. “Note to self: do not anger world-class assassins about their skills.”
Rafael traced another symbol and undid the area of silence around him, before heading to the procedure room where Gan was fighting for his sanity.
NINETEEN
“Wake up. We have guests,” Calisto said. “And they brought friends.”
“Guests?” I asked groggily. “What the hell happened?”
I held my hand up to my eye, but it wasn’t glowing.
“What are you doing?” Calisto asked. “Did you hear what I said?”
“What? Since when am I the welcoming committee?” I asked, confused. “No one even knows I’m here. Why would I be concerned about guests?”
“Wrong on several points,” Calisto said. “Your little exercise in stubbornness earlier probably alerted the entire Park to your presence. Considering this was your mother’s home and, by default, now yours, these are your guests— and you are the welcoming committee.”
“What?” I asked again, through the splitting headache that felt like a behemoth was using my head as a battering ram against a stone wall. “What are you talking about, my home? I thought this place belonged to the Order?”
“The Order?” Calisto asked. “You really think the Order would build a base of operations inside the Park? The place full of Unholy they helped trap inside?”
“When you put it that way, it sounds crazy,” I said. “Which only means my mother was out of her mind, putting a Hunter’s Keep in the middle of the Park.”
“Your mother, Emiko, was many things. Crazy wasn’t one of them,” Calisto told me. “The most obvious reason she located the Keep here was to find peace.”
“Peace? In the middle of the Park? I’m not seeing it.”
“Not yet you aren’t, but consider her situation,” Calisto replied, handing me a glass of liquid. “Why did she locate the Hunter’s Keep in the center of the Park, and not somewhere more strategic like its edge or one of its entrances?”
“If I had to guess as to the real reason, I would say it was the one place she could be where the Order would leave her alone,” I said. “At least temporarily.”
“Exactly. She acted as deterrent to the Unholy in the Park and the Order left her to her devices,” Calisto said. “It worked for all parties involved, until the Unholy tried to destroy the wards containing them within the Park.”
“The Jade Demon stopped them.”
“The Jade Demon sacrificed everything for her principles,” Calisto said. “For that, she was feared and cast out. Emiko didn’t care. She lived life on her terms and died the same way.”
“This smells like paint thinner mixed with alcohol,” I said, scrunching my face at the contents of the glass I was holding. It looked like blue milk and had the consistency of paste. It reminded me vaguely of milk of magnesia, except it smelled industrially horrific, like something used to dissolve rust or the iron itself. “What is this, Bantha milk?”
“I don’t know what Bantha milk is,” Calisto said. “Mercy made this medicinal drink to help you recover from the headache you must be feeling right about now. Drink it all—we need to get outside before they try t
o undo the wards around the Keep and kill themselves in the process.”
“That sounds like something we should prevent.”
“Astute of you,” Calisto said, eyeing me as I held the glass away from my face. “Are you going to drink that, or do I have to help you?”
“No help needed,” I said, holding my breath and drinking the cool blue liquid. It simultaneously destroyed all taste in my mouth, while filling my body with a sensation of calm and warmth. The headache subsided from pounding behemoth to mild irritant trying to gently squeeze my brain.
“Mmm…Whatever it is, tell Mercy it’s excellent,” I said with a grimace. “My brain doesn’t feel like it wants to explode out of my head right now. My mouth, however, may never recover.”
“You are a terrible liar,” Calisto answered. “You may not taste anything for a week, but Mercy’s drink does what it needs to do. Let’s go. Before blood is shed.”
“Whose blood?” I asked, following her up the stairs out of the lower level. “Do you know who or what is out there?”
“Yes and no,” Calisto said. “Whoever is out there is versed in wards. Enough to tamper with the circle protecting the Keep.”
“A Hunter, or one of the Unholy?”
“The Unholy would be destroyed if they attempted to cross the ward circle, much less tamper with the wards contained within,” Calisto said. “And I don’t know of any Hunter who possesses the level of knowledge required to alter this circle.”
“That doesn’t leave many options.”
“More than you would imagine.”
“Whoever it is came into the Park at night,” I said. “That means they don’t fear the Unholy. They also thought it was a great idea to mess with the wards, which means they—”
“It means they possess power,” Calisto finished. “The Unholy are attracted to power. It lures them like moths to flame and it also feeds them, augmenting their strength. Do you understand why this could be a bad thing?”
“Stronger Unholy sounds like a very bad thing,” I said. “So we have someone trying to do what—break in and power up the Unholy at the same time?”
Sepia Blue- Nameless: A Sepia Blue Novel- Book 4 Page 9
