Sepia Blue-Sisters: A Sepia Blue Thriller Read online

  “Five, why so many?” she asked, not wanting to hear the answer.

  “You weren’t restrained the first time it appeared,” he said. “Does any of this sound familiar? Do you recall any of this?”

  She shook her head slowly.

  “No, it doesn’t.”

  “The first time Perdition appeared and we tried to remove it, green flame shot out from both the sword and your eye.” Gan paused, then continued. “We brought in a ward team and nearly lost three more.”

  She brought a hand up to her left eye and felt the alloy patch covering the side of her face. Inscribed on the metal she could feel the wards as they pulsed under her finger.

  “What did I do?”

  “The keystone is part of you now,” he said. “When you absorbed the sword, it merged with you.”

  “What do you mean merged with me?”

  “The keystone is gone,” he said. “It was in the hilt of your sword, but it’s gone now, which can only mean it’s part of you now.”

  “What does this ‘keystone’ do?”

  “We think it’s a converter of some kind. It takes the power of the rift and utilizes it somehow,” he said. “We don’t know how it does this, but we know what it does.”

  “Tell me,” she said.

  “It has the potential to take the power of the rift and create an Unholy.”

  “An Unholy? What kind of Unholy?”

  “We don’t have all the answers yet,” he said. “Hep and a team of warders are still looking into the process.”

  “What kind of Unholy?” she repeated.

  “A Nightmare Lord.”

  “I’m turning into a Nightmare Lord?” she said, raising her voice. “How long do I have?”

  “We don’t know,” he said. “But we know it’s changing you and we don’t know how long before you completely transform.”

  “There has to be a way to reverse it or undo it,” she said. “I will not become an Unholy, Gan.”

  “We have a team working on it right now, blueberry,” he said. “If there is a way, we will find it.”

  Sepia looked away, her eyes moist.

  “I need you to make me a promise,” she whispered. “On the love you have for Calisto.”

  There was no immediate response, just silence.

  “I can’t do that,” he finally said.

  “You will—for me,” she said. “Promise. Do it.”

  Gan stood and walked away from her. “Don’t ask me to do that,” he said.

  After a few moments he returned and sat next to her, taking hold of her hand.

  “I need your word,” Sepia insisted.

  He sighed as he looked at her and nodded.

  “Say it,” she said, her voice hard. “I need to hear it.”

  “You have my word on my love for Calisto,” he said, the words falling like stones from his lips. “I will fulfill your request, on my honor.”

  She nodded, satisfied as she turned back and looked into his eyes. He squeezed her hand and she returned it with a sad smile.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  “We will find an answer, we have the best looking for a solution…” he said and stopped as the words faded to nothing. “I know we can do this, you have to fight. You’re a warrior. A Hunter.”

  She let him finish and took a breath.

  “I want you to promise that if I become a Nightmare Lord, you will kill me. Say it.”

  She looked at him in silence.

  He rubbed his hand slowly down his face. Standing, he bent over and kissed her on the forehead. It was a long, slow kiss—that simple act expressing more than any words he could form. It was goodbye. His face had become granite as he looked down to answer her.

  “I promise.”

  End of Book Two

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  The Karashihan* • Spiritual Warriors • The Ascendants • The Fallen Warrior • The Warrior Ascendant • The Master Warrior

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  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Orlando Sanchez has been writing ever since his teens when he was immersed in creating scenarios for playing Dungeon and Dragons with his friends every weekend. An avid reader, his influences are too numerous to list here. Some of the most prominent are: J.R.R. Tolkien, Jim Butcher, Kat Richardson, Terry Brooks, Piers Anthony, Lee Child, George Lucas, Andrew Vachss, and Barry Eisler to name a few in no particular order.

  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.

  Aside from writing, he holds a 2nd and 3rd Dan in two distinct styles of Karate. If not training, he is studying some aspect of the martial arts or martial arts philosophy.

  He currently resides in Queens, NY with his wife and children and can often be found in the local Starbucks where most of his writing is done.

  Please visit his site at OrlandoASanchez.com for more information about his books and upcoming releases.