Sepia Blue- Nameless: A Sepia Blue Novel- Book 4 by Orlando Sanchez (best self help books to read .txt) 📗

Velos raised an eyebrow.

“Guilty as charged,” Velos said with a mock bow. “How did you get that information?”

“We are not without our resources,” the woman said. “Rumor has it Regional unleashed you with that—a named dark blade. Is this true?”

“I wonder how she heard about him?” Wake said, keeping her voice low. “Anna had to go through several backchannels to get that information. This is no ordinary Hunter.”

“Who are you?” Velos asked, curious. “At least do me the courtesy of knowing who I’m killing tonight.”

“Someone tasked with keeping the night safe—like all Hunters,” she answered. “Safe from all threats, even human ones.”

“Keeping the night safe?” Velos scoffed. “Hunters are the greatest threat on the streets. Even more so than the Unholy. At least they remain in the Park. Hunters roam freely.”

“You sound like one of them—the Unholy.”

“Do you blame them?” Velos asked. “The Unholy are persecuted and killed, and those that escape are confined.”

“When they were free, they killed and attacked us,” the Hunter answered. “Containment in the Park saved humanity in this city.”

“Containment and assassination.”

“The pact is clear,” the Hunter said. “Any Unholy found outside of the Park is a threat to be terminated on sight. We cannot and will not coexist. It’s been tried and led to the war.”

“Killing is not always the solution.”

“And yet you’re the one killing Hunters and taking their named blades.”

“Yes,” Velos answered with a nod. “There are, of course, exceptions. Eradicating Hunters is my purpose. Your named blades have outlived their usefulness. What is your blade’s name?”

“Yuki told me about what you can do with your smoke,” the woman said, glancing at the cloud around Velos. “You didn’t get her sword. What happened?”

“An error that will be rectified in time, I assure you,” Velos said, allowing some of the smoke to solidify in his hand as he formed Retribution. “I will hold her Justice soon enough. This”—he motioned to his blade—“is Retribution.”

“What do you hold in the scabbard?” the Hunter asked.

Velos tapped the scabbard holding Nameless across his back, gently.

“This holds my future,” Velos said. “The end of the Order and the world as you know it.”

“You couldn’t beat Yuki, even with a dark blade,” the Hunter said with a short laugh. “What makes you think you can take me? I’m not Cesca, Red Jen, or Yuki.”

“All of you will fall before me,” Velos said as the nimbus of black energy spread out into the night around him. “It’s inevitable.”

Several shots rang out in the night, and tendrils of black energy formed in front of Velos, stopping the bullets.

“Don’t waste ammo, Misha,” the woman said into the night. “That black smoke protects him. Keep your eyes open in case he has friends.”

“Got it,” Misha said over her coms. “Be careful, Lina. That sword is dangerous.”

“Lina,” Velos said with a nod. “It will be my pleasure to end your life this evening.”

“You have excellent hearing,” Lina said raising an eyebrow. “Are you certain you’re human?”

“Mostly,” Velos said with a smile. “I’ve bonded to my blade. It provides me with certain ‘skill sets’ your blades lack.”

“There’s a reason dark blades were removed from the streets,” Lina answered. “They drove every Hunter who used them mad. Mostly the weak men who succumbed to the power they held.”

“I am neither weak nor a Hunter,” Velos said. “I am the solution to the problem posed by your group. The Hunters are finished. I’m just here to deliver the message.”

“He heard her name over the coms?” Wake asked. “I think proximity to that cloud may amplify some of his senses.”

“That sounds like a bad thing,” Jas said. “That thing is bad enough—now it gives him heightened senses?”

“Something like that,” Wake said. “I’ll have to do more research on the dark blades. That information is not readily available and we’ve been somewhat pressed for time as of late.”

“Are we going to help her?” Jas asked, looking down. “He looks powerful.”

“So does she,” Wake pointed out. “No, we don’t interfere in Hunter business.”

“We helped Sepia.”

“Sepia is…was a special case. She was a Sister. This is Order business, which means we stay out of it.”

“Even if it means the Hunter dies?”

“You still don’t understand,” Wake said. “If you were fighting for your life, do you think that Hunter down there would swoop in to your rescue?”

“I don’t know, maybe?”

“Exactly,” Wake said, her voice grim. “Sisters don’t operate on maybes. We watch our own even if it costs us our lives. I can’t say the same for Hunters.”

“Sepia wasn’t like that. She saved my life.”

“Sepia was different. Now focus,” Wake said. “I don’t think this will be an easy fight for Velos. That Hunter wields considerable power.”

“Maybe she can beat him?”

Wake gave Jas a look and shook her head.

“Not alone, she can’t.”

“The evening isn’t over yet,” Lina said from the street. “Didn’t Regional brief you on the named blades?”

“They gave me all the information I needed and the means to carry out my directive,” Velos said hefting Retribution. “Your named blades are inferior to my dark blade and its abilities. I have proven this twice already.”

“Either you are foolish, or suicidally arrogant,” Lina said, blading her body sideways and holding her sword in a defensive stance. “Cesca, Red Jen, and Yuki come from a different school of learning.”

“Are you claiming you are superior to them?” Velos asked. “If so, I relish the challenge.”

“My training was distinct,” Lina answered, shifting her weight slightly. “Let’s see how you and your Retribution stand against Integration.”

“Integration?” Velos asked as he closed. “No matter. You will fall like the Hunters before you, and I will add your named blade to the others. Tonight, you die.”

“Come kill me, if you can.”

THIRTEEN

“We need to help her,” Jas said. “She can’t face him on her own.”

“Not the mission,” Wake said, shaking her head. “We are recon only tonight. Observe and report. We don’t engage, especially not a train—new Sister like you.”

“You said I’m a Sister,” Jas countered. “Don’t we help people when they are in trouble?”

“Sisters are trained to