Rise of the Night (Sepia Blue Book 1) Read online

  SEPIA BLUE

  RISE OF THE NIGHT

  ORLANDO SANCHEZ

  Other titles by Orlando Sanchez

  The Spiritual Warriors

  Blur-A John Kane Novel

  The Deepest Cut-A Blur Short

  The Last Dance A Sepia Blue Short

  SEPIA BLUE-Rise of the Night

  Copyright © 2014 by Orlando Sanchez.

  OM Publishing NY, NY

  All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  For information contact: www.nascentnovels.com

  Book and Cover design by RexDesign Inc.

  Cover images used by permission of Shutterstock

  ISBN: 9781310567797

  First Edition: May 2014

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Every book is a group effort. So let me take a moment to acknowledge my (very large) group:

  To Dolly: my wife and biggest fan. You make all of this possible and keep me grounded, especially when I get into my writing to the exclusion of everything else. Thank you, I love you.

  To my Tribe: You are the reason I have stories to tell. You cannot possibly fathom how much and how deep I love you all.

  To Lee: Because you were the first audience I ever had. I love you sis.

  To my editor Lorelei: This was my first time putting a book in the hands of a professional editor. It was a nerve wracking and exciting experience all at once. It was an excellent learning experience. I learned I still have far to go as a writer, thank you Lorelei. I also learned, third person present- not so much fun. I don’t have the words to thank you for your amazing work. Your thoughts and comments made this story go from good to great. Any mistakes in the story are mine.

  To you the reader: Thank you for getting on this ride with me. I truly hope you enjoy this story. You are the reason I wrote it.

  ONE

  Her body slammed into the wall, cracking brick and ribs. Brick dust covered her jet black hair and filled her eyes, temporarily blinding her. The impact forced the breath from her body in a violent gasp.

  Shit, that hurts.

  Spots danced on the edge of her vision and the dust coated her lips as she inhaled. Heat flushed her body the next moment as she felt her ink flare, muting the pain, knitting bone and tissue. The meaty hand around her neck began to squeeze. Part of her brain realized that this was a very bad situation, but she ignored it. Always stating the obvious, she thought as her vision began to tunnel in. Taking a moment to orient herself, she looked up the arm of the mountain that just threatened to crush her into a wall. He bared his teeth in what she could only imagine was a smile. Brutes were not known for their intelligence. They were big, strong, fast, and almost impossible to kill. She was glad there was only one.

  “I have a clear shot,” said the voice over her comlink.

  She shook her head side to side hoping her gunman would understand the signal not to shoot. With her remaining breath she planted her feet against the wall and pushed, forcing the brute to step back and loosen his grip for a second. A second was all she needed as she reached up, pulled back on his hand and broke the thumb, compromising the stranglehold around her neck. It was so sudden the brute was confused by her escape and looked at his hand, bewildered. Cade cursed under his breath in her ear.

  “Sepia, let me end him. He didn’t even feel that, the bastard.” She crouched under the haymaker that would have removed her head from her body had it connected.

  “I need information, Cade. I can’t get it if it’s dead.

  “Better it than you.”

  “No killing.” She rolled behind the brute as it delivered a stomp that shattered the wall behind her. This was turning into a bad night. She needed to take this thing down without killing it, and she wasn’t seeing a way to do it. She turned to the brute as it advanced.

  “If you tell me why you are so far from home, I promise not to kill you,” she said. She didn’t expect a response; brutes didn’t have a formal language or the power of speech, just destruction.

  “Hunter dies tonight.” The brute’s voice was a rasp. The words, the grinding of two boulders, all jagged edges and pain.

  “What the fu-” Cade was mid-sentence when a head shot took down the brute. There was a look of shock mixed with surprise on the brute’s face. It took one more step before crashing to the ground.

  “Goddammit, Cade, I told you no killing!” She rolled the brute over to check the body, finding nothing of importance. What is it doing so far downtown? Who sent it? Did it really just speak to me? Could the Unholy be intelligent? Too many unanswered questions.

  “That wasn’t me, and since when did they learn to speak? I’ve never heard one of them speak, ever,” said Cade.

  She turned, scanning the rooftops as she answered.

  “Me either, I didn’t even think brutes were capable of language. He is clear on the message though. Someone wants me dead,” said Sepia. “It means we have a shadow.”

  She knew Cade well enough to know he would never kill unless she was in real danger. No, this was someone else. Someone was trying to make a point.

  “Let’s see how good they are, Cade”

  “I’m already moving.”

  “Meet you there.”

  She had a rough idea of where the shooter would have set up judging from the trajectory of the shot. She ran toward the building she thought the sniper has used. The streets in lower New York were a labyrinth, thanks to the English, which made finding the right building a challenge. She reached the rooftop at the same time as Cade scaled over the opposite edge.

  “Whoever they are, they’re good. That’s easily a four hundred-yard shot,” said Cade as he paced around the roof taking in vantage points. Sepia shook the brick dust out of her hair revealing the white shock that had been with her since her late twenties.

  “Good, but good as you? How many gunners can make that shot, you think?” Sepia looked over the edge of the roof trying to gauge how high up they were.

  “We’re about forty feet up. How many? All of them. At least all the ones I know.”

  Cade was crouched over the edge, where he saw a small impression in the slate. He rubbed his fingers in it.

  “He took the shot from here. Not bad. Far enough to be difficult but close enough to hide,” said Cade

  “This smells all kinds of wrong,” she said.

  “If you had let me take my shot--” he started. Sepia glared at him.

  “Sepia, you can’t keep doing this. These principles or ideals or whatever you want to call them are going to get us killed. You have to eliminate the Unholy. It’s the only way you get to go home at the end of your tour. You know I’m right.”

  He towered over her as he spoke, looking every part the ex-military man he was. His close-cropped black hair shot through with gray only added to the image.

  “No, all life is sacred--even unholy life,” she said.

  “Then you are in the wrong line of work, Blue. I am sure they don’t feel the same way you do.”

  “Don’t go all drill sergeant on me, you know it doesn’t work, never has,” she said as she stood on the edge of the building.

  “I’m just saying this position of yours,--” he started

  �
�We do this my way. No killing,” she said and jumped off the side of the building, executing a flip midair before the deserted street swallowed her footsteps as she walked away.

  TWO

  She hated when he was right. She trained hard, harder than any other Hunter. Just so she didn’t have to kill. Every night that she went out on tour, she took her life into her hands. All she had ever wanted was a normal life. She was so far from normal at this point, she didn’t know what the word meant. She knew Cade was trailing her close by. He always gave her space after a fight. As partners went, he was one of the best. At least he wasn’t trigger happy like her last partner. She shuddered at the memory of patrolling with Ronin. The body counts were so high, each night felt like a massacre. She was different back then. Everyone said they were an effective team; right up to the moment he tried to kill her. Was that really two years ago?

  That was a memory better left in the past. Could he be the sniper? No, Ronin is long gone. I made sure of that. As a class two Hunter she was responsible for a sector in the lower region of Manhattan--from 14th street to the tip of the island, east and west sides. The island was divided into ten regions, each region divided into smaller sectors with hers being one of the smaller ones. Every area of Manhattan was covered by a hunter and her gunman. Each night, thousands of pairs patrolled the city against the Unholy. Every region was under the Order’s jurisdiction, except Central Park. The wards around it declared it off-limits to hunters and the Order. Hunters didn’t go in the park, not if they liked breathing. The Unholy stayed in the park. It was a centuries-old agreement enforced by the wards and established to maintain balance. If you entered the park, you did so at your own risk. No one could or would save you if the Unholy found you there.

  Cade’s voice came in on her com. “Hey, we have some activity over here.”

  “Where?”

  “About half a click from my position,” said Cade.

  “You know I hate the whole GPS thing.”

  “One of the abilities of a hunter is to know where her gunman is at all times,” said Cade, sounding like a textbook. “Said ability is to be honed and perfected until said hunter can locate her gunman within one yard of any location.”

  “I hate you.”

  “I know, now hurry your ass over here.”

  Sepia took a deep breath and turned in a circle until she could feel the specific vibration that was Cade.

  “Got you,” she said.

  “Make sure. Remember what happened the last time you thought you located me.”

  “That was a mistake. How would I know you have the same vibrational frequency as an orangutan?”

  “I don’t. You have no skill at geolocation. I’m moving in to get a better look.”

  “I see you—wait, what the hell is that?”

  Sepia made out Cade’s silhouette on the adjacent roof. As she drew closer the pressure in the air felt like a weight on her chest making it hard to breathe.

  “By all that’s holy-- we need back up. Call Home. Call them now,” he said.

  “It can’t be, Cade, that feels like a-“

  “It’s a Nightmare,” said Cade.

  THREE

  “A what? Where? That is impossible, Miss Blue. There are wards and barriers around the park to prevent this sort of incident,” said the female voice over her com.

  “I know what I am sensing and that is a Nightmare. Get some Rogues here, now,” said Sepia. She and Cade were both lying down on the roof, careful not to look over the edge.

  “Very well, you have two Rogues incoming. Call me back with a status report.”

  “How many Rogues coming? Twenty, Thirty?”

  “We must be short on Rogues. They’re sending two,” said Sepia

  “How can we be short on them? They have no patrols and we basically use them as shock troops. Are you sure you heard right? Maybe she meant two dozen?”

  “Two, Cade. Two, as in one, two,” said Sepia.

  “Did you mention it was a Nightmare?”

  “Cade.”

  “Fine, fine, what are we going to do with two rogues? Feed that thing? It’s going to take a lot more than the four of us to take that thing down.” Not if I use my sword, she thought. Cade looked over the edge of the roof to where the Nightmare was standing on the street below.

  “What T level do you think it is?” Cade said as he looked over the edge of the roof again.

  “I haven’t heard of a Nightmare lower than a threat level four,” said Sepia.

  As Cade looked, the Nightmare grabbed a woman from the sidewalk and embraced her in his arms. She struggled for a moment, before it was too late. As he began to kiss her, Cade could see her skin wither away. The Nightmare kept her in his arms until she was dust, having absorbed every bit of moisture from her body, down to the marrow. What remained of her blew away.

  “It’s a drinker. This is going to be a bitch,” said Cade. “Those things are worse than brutes.”

  “How the hell did it get out of the park and what is it doing here?” she said.

  “Both good questions. Why don’t you go down there and ask him?” said Cade. “I think I hear our back up.” He propped his rifle on the edge, calculating a firing solution.

  A motorcycle carrying two riders was screaming down the street.

  “It’s time to join the party,” said Sepia.

  She jumped across to the roof opposite hers and slid down to the street below to intercept the motorcycle before it drove into the Nightmare. The motorcycle came to a screeching stop as the rider braked and slid. Sepia walked over to the motorcycle.

  “Who the hell are you?” She looked at the two riders and moved to adjust her glasses, which were missing.

  “Goddammit Cade, where are my glasses?”

  The anger crept into her voice and fear joined it. These two are going to die tonight, she thought.

  “We are your back up, Miss Blue. Let’s do this!” said the passenger of the motorcycle.

  “Dead men walking is what they are. They just don’t know it yet,” said Cade over her com.

  “What’s your name?” said Sepia as she pointed at the driver.

  “Frank, Miss Blue. I’m Frank Mannoli. This here is Greg, my partner and little brother. Frank elbowed Greg as the latter stared at Sepia. She could see the resemblance. Greg was a younger version of his big brother, and still full of hero worship it seemed.

  “Sorry, Miss Blue, he’s kind of new,” said Frank.

  Sepia was used to this. She knew her features unsettled those who met her.

  “Okay let’s get this out of the way so we have no distractions later, you know, when we’re trying to stay alive,” she said.

  The motorcycle headlight shone directly on her, and judging from the look on Greg’s face she knew what she must look like to him. She planted a foot on the front wheel of the bike. The soft leather she wore creaked as she adjusted her boot straps.

  “You two ever face a Nightmare?”

  Sepia looked at them and could smell the fear. Greg shook his head no.

  “Once, as a trainee, and we barely escaped alive. Out of ten of us only three made it back,” said Frank.

  Greg visibly blanched. What is Home thinking sending her two rookies to face a Nightmare?

  “Fine, we play this my way. You have a problem with that you may as well leave right now. Are we clear?” Frank and Greg nodded.

  “Did you find your glasses? Oh hell, you didn’t. No wonder the kid wants to pee his pants,” said Cade.

  Sepia pulled her hair back and tied it into a ponytail. Her shock of white escaped and fell across her face before she managed to get it under control.

  “See this?” She pointed at her hair. “A T4 Lifestealer decided I no longer needed to live, and tried to siphon my life. I disagreed. I had to kill it.”

  She let the words hang in the air. She knew the Nightmare deserved it. That didn’t make it any easier.

  “When it comes down to it, it will always be a choic
e between your life and theirs,” said Sepia.

  She would choose hers every time. Sacrifice, she could live with, self-sacrifice, not so much, literally.

  She was checking her guns while she spoke: twin revolvers, custom made to hold eight rounds of explosive ammunition. Frank and Greg checked their guns as well, aware of the fact that she felt self-conscious talking about herself.

  “Is that what happened to your eye too, Miss Blue?” Greg blurted. She could hear Cade laughing.

  “Serves you right for scaring the kid,” said Cade.

  Frank groaned and rolled his eyes.

  “No, Greg, the eye was a gift from my mother on the day she died. It’s one of the reasons I’m a hunter,” said Sepia.

  “Nightmare is on the move,” interrupted Cade.

  “Let’s go crash this party. I want you two to go left one block and down for ten then come back and flank it. I will try the more direct approach.” Twenty blocks and one avenue is hopefully enough time to deal with this thing before they engage, and die.

  Frank started the motorcycle. Greg jumped on the back. He looked back and gave Sepia a thumb up.

  He must think this is some adventure. Was I ever that green? When she sees them turn the corner she headed toward the Nightmare at a jog.

  “There is no flanking a Nightmare, Blue. Trying to get rid of them?” Cade whispered in her ear.

  “Trying to keep them alive, at least for tonight,” replied Sepia.

  “You rigged the bike.”

  “Cade, did you see the kid? He would last exactly ten seconds against a T2 and this has to be at least a T4. Might as well shoot him myself and call it a night.”

  She ran down the street to confront the Nightmare, calculating that in about three minutes the front tire would deflate from a small explosive placed there. It would keep the Rogues away from the fight long enough for her to end it. She hoped.

  The Nightmare turned to face her. Unlike the brutes, the Nightmares were intelligent and ruthless. The Threat scale was based on interactions with these creatures. They thrived on fear and destruction. Like the brutes, they were incredibly hard to kill.