“The conversation will start with a bullet in you,” Wake said as she pulled out a length of rope and tied it across her waist. Once done, she tied the slack around Jas, making sure they were secure and attached to one another.
“The last time I tried this, Sepia was taking us across a pit full of spikes,” Jas said, looking down at the rope. “Can’t say it’s much better this time.”
“It’s much better this time because of two things,” Wake said, holding up two fingers. “One, no spikes; and two we have gravity on our side.”
“Do you even know what you’re doing?” Jas asked. “Sepia is a Hunter. You know, heightened strength, speed, and all that. What do we have?”
“Who do you think I learned this from?” Wake answered. “We have my experience on our side.”
“Well, that makes me feel all confident now,” Jas said.
“Time to go,” Wake said as the door burst open behind them. Gray agents spilled out onto the roof with guns drawn. They fired as soon as they saw the pair. Wake turned and fired Jas’s gun into the wall behind the Agents. The explosion created a cloud of dust and debris that hid them from view.
“Still want to talk to them?” Wake asked. “They seem real chatty.”
“Maybe if I explain that we’re with Gan?” Jas said.
“They won’t listen and we don’t have time to convince them,” Wake said as she grabbed Jas by the waist and jumped. “Relax, this will be over soon.”
“You mean we’ll be dead?” Jas said as Wake fired her gun again, this time ahead of them at the quickly approaching window below them. The explosive rounds shattered it and they fell through the opening and rolled to a stop next to a column.
Wake undid the rope and lifted Jas to her feet.
“I never want to do something like that in my life ever again,” Jas said as her voice trembled and she stood shakily. “You and Sepia—both of you are insane.”
“You call me insane, but I’ve only done that once in my life,” Wake said and smiled.
“Hilarious, that is the last time in my life,” Jas said. “That jump sucks.”
“I agree,” Wake said. “Let’s go where we won’t be followed, at least not by these Agents.”
“You have another hideout?” Jas said. “I hope it’s more secure than this one. As far as being neutral, I think someone didn’t get the memo.”
Wake walked by the elevator bank, pressed the call button, and kept walking. She headed to the stairs and began running down. Jas had to skip steps to keep up. At the ground floor, Wake headed to the back of the building and stepped into the shadows, disappearing. Jas emerged a second later, alone.
“Wake?” Jas said into the night. “Where did you go?”
An arm reached out and pulled Jas back into the shadows.
“Look straight ahead,” Wake whispered in her ear. “What do you see?”
Jas looked around. “The street, Columbus circle farther down, and then the park…no—you said we can’t go in there at night,” she said, turning around.
“We don’t have many options,” Wake answered. “If we stay here they will find us. It’s the one place we can go where they won’t chase us.”
“With good reason,” Jas said. “It’s the park! There are things ten times worse than those Agents in there.”
“Keep your voice down,” Wake said. “It’s the best option. Besides, the information we need is in the Keep.”
Wake took off at a dead run. Jas waited a moment and took off after her, making up the ground fast.
“We are so going to die,” she said as the park loomed closer.
TWENTY-SIX
The air shimmered and a ward appeared midair as Rafael walked through and entered the office. It was sparsely furnished with a functional feel. A large steel desk dominated the space and several filing cabinets covered one wall. Above the cabinets, on the wall, hung a plaque commemorating Gan for his service to the Order. In the center of the desk sat a large laptop. He opened it and found that the encryption needed a fingerprint scan.
“That won’t work,” he muttered and closed the laptop. “Where would you put it?”
He traced another ward and created a sphere of silence, muffling every sound in the room as he moved around and searched. His phone rang as he looked over and under the desk. He pressed his thumb to the surface of the phone and the call connected as he continued searching.
“Sir? Where are you?” a woman said. “I have you”— the sound of tapping keys came over the call—“inside the Gray HQ?”
“I’m in Ganriel’s office,” he said. “But this is pointless. Gan would never leave the path here.”
“The Director of the Gray?” she said. “Why would you be there?”
“Gan possessed a path to the lost Hall, fashioned by a good friend of ours, and he would never part with it,” Rafael replied. “It’s not something he would wear. It was too dangerous for that and he was going to give it to someone.”
“Path, sir?” she asked. “Do you mean a ward path?”
“This was something more than that, Pira,” he answered, frustrated. “How can I help you?”
“Does this have to do with the artifact, sir?”
“I thought I could avoid making an unpleasant trip, but it seems I will have to go visit an old enemy,” he answered. “It can’t be helped since he would be the only one to know.”
“Where is the Director of the Gray?”
“Onyx and the Akitsu have him,” Rafael said. “They found the Nameless Hall.”
“It doesn’t matter, he doesn’t have the key,” she said. “He is a loose end that will be removed shortly.”
There were a few seconds of silence. “Don’t ever call him that again.”
“Yes, sir, sorry, sir,” she replied. “You aren’t thinking of going after him, are you?”
“I can’t leave him in their hands, Pira,” Rafael said. “They’ll torture him, for what? He doesn’t have the information they want.”
“You can and you should, Director,” Pira said. “I don’t know how they found the Hall that was supposed to be impossible to find, but if they get you…the Nameless will be in play.”
“He’s my friend,” Rafael said. “I’ve betrayed him enough times in our long lives. He doesn’t deserve this. Not at their hands.”
“You can’t save him, sir,” Pira answered, her voice softer. “No one knows how to get to the Nameless Hall. The techs are still trying to figure out how they found it.”
“He must have the path on him somehow, or someone who knows the ward revealed it to them,” he said. “The question is who would help them, and why?”
“That information is not on any of our databases, sir,” she said. “Whoever leaked this path has intimate knowledge not available to us.”
“It was hidden deliberately,” he said. “For a good reason.”
“Who would release that information, then?” she asked.
Rafael sighed. “The only one who has that information is Fuma and he isn’t the cooperative type,” he said. “They must have found another way in. Fuma wouldn’t give it to them; besides, no one has seen him in thirty years.”
“I’m sorry, sir, but I think your friend is gone,” Pira said. “Why don’t you come back to Regional HQ? I would feel better if you were in a secure location—our secure location. We could use the emergency evac and have you here in minutes. Regional Tech is dying to try it out. They say it can transfer up to three people at a time.”
“Tell Tech thanks but no thanks. I will not be a guinea pig even if I agreed to wear it,” Rafael said. “Let me just tie up a few things while I’m here. Should take a few hours. Tell them to ready the plane.”
“Yes, sir,” she said, sounding relieved. “I’m really sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you, Pira, it means a lot,” he said and ended the call. He looked around Gan’s office again, looking for anything out of the ordinary. His eyes rested on the plaque again. It was an ornate d
esign comprised of scrollwork and an excessive amount of gold leaf and wood. In the center of the plaque, a gold encrusted lion’s head roared in defiance.
“That’s so not like you,” Rafael said to himself. “You were never one for accolades or awards. Especially not in here—your private office.”
He walked over to the wall and removed the plaque. It was heavier than he expected and dropped into his hands once free of the wall. In the center of the plaque, he realized that what appeared to be a gold encrusted lion’s head was actually a demon’s head.
Could it be?
Rafael scratched at the gold, removing a layer and revealing a dark green jade stone.
“You clever bastard,” Rafael whispered. “You hid it in plain sight.”
He removed the demon’s head, replaced the plaque, and traced another ward. The symbol floated before him and hummed with power, distorting the energy around it.
“Hold on, Gan,” he said as he stepped into the ward and disappeared.
TWENTY-SEVEN
“Why is it so hot in here?” Sepia asked. “Feels like a furnace.”
She wiped the sweat from her brow, pulling back the matted hair from her face.
“It’s not,” Calisto said. “You are reacting to the wards on the walls. Look around you.”
Sepia looked at the tunnel walls and saw the wards covering the surface. She stopped and examined some of them. Most of it was indecipherable to her.
“I can’t make out any of this,” she said. “What kind of wards are these?”
“Look closer,” Calisto said.
Sepia focused on the wards in front of her. Every few seconds they shifted and changed into another form. She stepped back and looked again. All of the wards before her were different.
“They’re called living wards,” Calisto said. “The knowledge to create them has been lost for over a century.”
“Fuma wrote these?”
“No, he’s not that old,” Calisto said. “But he knows how to manipulate them.”
Sepia put a hand on one of them and it shifted under her touch, changing color from red to a deep blue.
“How do they change like that?”
“They react to energy fluctuations in their environment and I’m guessing Fuma knows we’re in this tunnel.”
“Energy fluctuations?”
“Living wards served as the ultimate defense when they were created,” Calisto said. “Imagine a defense that can recognize friend from foe. It was devastating.”
“What happened?” Sepia asked.
“During the war, the Unholy realized that the Ward Masters were the most dangerous of their enemies.”
“They were targeted,” Sepia said.
Calisto nodded. “The Unholy caught and tortured them,” she said. “Most of them died under torture, but a few turned and recalibrated the wards being used.”
“They changed the wards?”
“The living wards began attacking the Order, killing thousands,” Calisto answered, her face grim. “Soon after, the Ward Masters themselves were being hunted and killed.”
“Why would the Unholy kill them?” Sepia asked. “They were the perfect weapon.”
“It wasn’t the Unholy that killed them,” Calisto whispered. “No, the purge orders came from Regional to be carried out by the Order.”
“The Order killed them?” Sepia asked. “Was Gan part of this?”
“Let’s keep moving,” Calisto answered. “There’s a split in the tunnel up ahead.”
Calisto kept walking down the tunnel. Periodically she would check behind them. After several twists and turns, the tunnel split into two passages. Calisto stopped and focused on the passages before her.
“Was he part of the purge?” Sepia asked again as anger crept into her voice. “Did he kill the Ward Masters?”
“Gan led a special force during the war—the Dragonflies, or Akitsu,” Calisto answered. “Their purpose was to track down the Ward Masters.”
“Track down or kill?”
Calisto raised a hand and motioned for Sepia to be quiet.
“If I pick the wrong one, it’ll be the last choice I make,” Calisto said as she closed her eyes. “I need a moment.”
Sepia stepped back and gave her some space. A hooded figure crept close to Sepia. The figure gestured and a series of wards floated lazily to where Sepia stood.
Calisto’s eyes shot open. “Get down!” she yelled and pointed behind her. Sepia never sensed the wards as they descended on her.
“What is it?” Sepia asked. “You see something?”
Sepia turned to face the threat, but it was too late. She froze in place—an expression of shock and surprise fixed on her face as she disappeared. The figure stepped forward, pushed back the hood, and removed the robe she wore.
She was dressed in a loose-fitting black T-shirt and matching pants. Her long black hair, tied in a braid, hung down her back. In the darkness of the tunnel, her pale skin glistened. The intricate lines covering every inch of visible skin glowed with a subdued light. The lines shifted hues from blue to red and then to violet as she walked down the tunnel.
“Izumi,” Calisto whispered with menace. “What’re you doing here?”
“Stopping you,” she said. “I told you, Father can’t be disturbed.”
“He sent you?”
“No, I’m here because…orders,” Izumi said. “Plus, I never liked you.”
“Where is Sepia?” Calisto asked. “Where did you send her? Whose orders?”
“Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged and I—I sent that bitch down the one less traveled,” Izumi said. “Damn, I love Frost. Your little Hunter is as good as dead. If the traps don’t finish her the wardlings will.”
Calisto let her power flow, causing all of the wards around her to blaze with light. “Have you lost your mind?” Calisto asked. “If she unleashes the power of the artifact in here we all die.”
Izumi shrugged and gave Calisto the middle finger.
“Speaking of lost minds,” Izumi said. “You killed Daiki.”
Calisto flexed her jaw and exhaled. She focused the power into her hands.
“Yes, I did,” Calisto said, looking down. “He didn’t give me a choice.”
“I’m not giving you one either,” Izumi said and disappeared. “Only one of us continues from here.”
TWENTY-EIGHT
“The park at night is the worst possible idea,” Jas said as they ran. “Isn’t that what Anna says all the time?”
“Yes,” Wake answered. “Especially when she’s speaking to Sisters-in-training who don’t listen and like to wander the city alone.”
They reached the entrance of the park and stopped. Behind them Jas could sense the Gray Agents by the tech they wore.
“They’re still coming,” Jas said and narrowed her eyes as she focused. “One of them is calling for backup.”
“You can hear that from here?” Wake asked.
“I just need to focus on the tech, but I’m at my limit. All I can do from here is eavesdrop,” Jas said. “I need proximity to disrupt it.”
“That ability of yours is disturbing,” Wake replied. “We need to go in and head to the Keep without the Unholy tearing us to pieces.”
“I really like that last part,” Jas said. “Staying in one piece—all for it.”
“As long as we don’t encounter Dreadwolves, we can do it,” Wake said. “I can mask the both of us, so as long as you don’t do your electronic thing we should be hidden.”
“You can mask the both of us?” Jas asked. “For how long?”
“The Keep is about a half mile north from here,” Wake said. “If we stick to the shadows and make as little noise as possible we should have plenty of time before I have to stop. It means no talking, understand?”
“I do,” Jas said. “Can we go in now? Before the Gray brigade catches up?”
Wake unsheathed several knives and entered the park. Jas followed her in and took one
look back. The Gray Agents were still closing, but had slowed down once they saw them enter the park. Jas tapped Wake on the shoulder and pointed to them.
Wake nodded and kept walking. They remained off the paths and stayed in the trees for the most part until they saw the main structure of the Keep in the distance. Jas, seeing the building, started walking forward. Wake grabbed her by the arm, pulled her back into the trees and behind a large boulder. A group of Shadows—four of them—slid past their location. Jas let out a breath once they had gone farther into the park. She leaned her head back against the stone.
“That was too close,” she whispered. “I can never get used to this place.”
“You don’t belong here,” a voice rumbled beneath them. “That may be the reason for your feeling of unease.”
The boulder she was resting on began to shift away from her.
“Oh, shit,” Jas said. “Tell me that’s not what I think it is.”
“Run, Jas,” Wake said and shoved her in the direction of the Keep. “Run!”
Jas took off as the rumbling grew louder. A few minutes later, she crossed the threshold of the Keep as the wards flared beneath her. The door opened and Mercy stood in the doorway.
“Child, what are you doing here?” she asked. “At night? Have you lost your mind?”
Jas gasped for breath and couldn’t speak. “Wake—behemoth,” were the only words she could manage.
“Wake is facing a behemoth?” Mercy asked.
Jas nodded her head quickly.
“Well, have you ever fought a behemoth?”
Jas shook her head and tried to slow her breathing.
“I don’t think there is anything either of us can do to assist her,” Mercy said as she ushered Jas into the Keep. “We can only hope she escapes that creature and makes it here before the Dreadwolves reach her.”
The wards around the entrance flared as Mercy closed the door. Jas sat down hard on a stone bench in the foyer. Her hands were trembling as Mercy sat beside her and put an arm around her shoulder.
“Try to calm down,” Mercy said. “Take a breath. Now tell me why you’re in the park at night.”
Sepia Blue- Nightmare: A Sepia Blue Novel- Book 3 Page 10
