ONE
“Give it up or die—your choice,” Lexa said.
“It belonged to my mother,” Sepia answered. “You’re going to have to kill me.”
“You need to give us the blade, Sepia,” Lexa said. “Sisters don’t use swords, especially one that’s become a crutch.”
“You should, might make your jobs easier,” Sepia said, holding her sword across her body in a defensive stance.
“Let me help you,” Lexa said.
“I don’t need help, yours or anyone else’s,” Sepia said. “I prefer to work alone.”
Lexa towered over Sepia. A sleeveless black bodysuit strained to contain her muscular body. A thin sheen of sweat covered her face as she circled around Sepia. Her mane of hair was pulled back into a severe bun, giving her the appearance of an angry, giant schoolteacher. She wore tight black gloves that crackled with energy as she flexed her fingers.
“Didn’t you have a gunman as a Hunter?”
“Two. The first one tried to kill me, the second was under protest,” Sepia answered. “Both slowed me down.”
“You are so goddamn arrogant,” Lexa said as she circled Sepia, looking for an opening.
Sepia smiled and blew the white shock of hair out of her face.
“Not arrogant—confident.”
“What you call confidence I call ignorance,” Lexa replied. “You know what makes the Sisters so dangerous? We’re a family. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”
“What takes a team of Sisters to do, a hunter and her sword can do alone,” Sepia said. “I don’t need a team.”
“I don’t know how you survived this long on the street,” Lexa said, shaking her head.
“Skill.”
What is Gan thinking by sticking me in here?
Lexa flexed her fingers again, sending arcs of energy swirling up her arms.
“This will be a good time to introduce you to the concept of teamwork,” she said. “You see these?” She held up her hands. “These are called neural destabilizers. I call them scramblers. A good friend of mine made them. You might know him, he goes by Hep.”
Sepia narrowed her eyes and circled away from the large woman in front of her, keeping her distance.
“They look unpleasant.”
Lexa nodded and grunted in affirmation.
“Oh, they are, but not how you think.”
“Why don’t you just call Anna so we can resolve this?”
Lexa laughed, then grew serious.
“Who do you think sent me?”
Anna is behind this. Of course.
“Take your sparkly gloves and leave me alone,” Sepia said.
“Scramblers,” continued Lexa, “let us deal with Hunters who have aligned with their blades and carry them internally. It lets us remove the blades.”
“That isn’t going to happen,” Sepia said. “I’m not giving you my sword.”
“Oh, I know,” Lexa said. “I’m going to take it from you.”
The training compound was a large empty floor plan with a central wooden area. Columns surrounded the large square in the center. On the walls around the compound hung variants of several different types of weapons ranging from projectile for long range to blades for close quarters.
Lexa relaxed her stance slightly, cracked her neck, and smiled, which made Sepia wary.
“It’s a good thing you’re covered in ink,” Lexa said while she bounced on her toes silently. A small tremor crept along the floor every time she landed. “It’s going to make this next part easier.”
Sepia stepped back, still holding her sword, Perdition, in front of her body.
“What part?” Sepia said, looking down for a split second.
“First mistake,” Lexa said as she rushed in. “Never take your eyes off your target.”
Sepia backpedaled but was too slow. Lexa slid past her guard and crouched to one side.
How can she move so fast?
Lexa closed the distance and slammed an elbow into Sepia’s side, causing her to gasp in pain. Sepia brought her sword around, leading with the flat of the blade.
“Second mistake,” Lexa said. “You draw a weapon—it’d better be to kill your target.”
Lexa dropped to the floor and allowed the blade to skim over her head. She jumped up the next second with an uppercut to Sepia’s chin. Sepia flinched back at the last moment, narrowly dodging the fist that was the size of her head. Lexa redirected the uppercut into another elbow strike, which landed squarely on Sepia’s left cheek and sent her reeling. Sepia fell back into a roll and stood several feet away, sword in front of her body. The warm sensation of her ink dealing with the damage of the blows suffused her body.
“I don’t want to hurt you, Lexa,” Sepia whispered. “Just back off.”
“Give me your crutch,” Lexa said with an outstretched hand, “and I will.”
Blood trickled down the left side of Sepia’s face where the blow had struck. The skin knitted closed and Sepia grimaced at the pain. Drops of blood fell on the wooden floor as Sepia let the anger loose. She let it flow as she began to absorb her sword, and found it impossible.
“Having trouble?” Lexa asked as she saw the look of confusion on Sepia’s face. Lexa held up a hand. “Scramblers. Small charge to your brain; nothing dangerous, but just enough to stop you from absorbing your weapon. You want to stop now?”
“Stop?” Sepia whispered. “I’m just getting started.”
She let the anger flow and began absorbing her sword.
“That will not do,” said a lilting voice from behind her.
Several percussive strikes crashed into her. It felt like she was being attacked from all sides at once. Her sword arm remained locked in place as she strained against her unresponsive muscles to move and fight this unseen attacker.
Nerve strikes. Can’t move.
Another series of blows and white-hot pain embraced Sepia’s body as she screamed. Perdition was knocked out of her hands and across the floor. Sepia fell to her knees in agony. She removed a dagger from her thigh sheath with her functioning arm, only to be disarmed a second later.
“Anna said to get the weapon, not to have a sparring match, Lexa,” the voice said matter-of-factly. “She is not your personal punching bag.”
“She’s a Hunter and inked, Ashanti,” Lexa said. “She can take it. Besides, she was being uncooperative. I was just trying to get her to understand.”
A thin woman stepped into Sepia’s line of sight. She was the opposite of the tower of muscle that stood beside her. Her slight frame was also covered in a sleeveless black bodysuit. Her caramel skin glistened in the light of the compound as she crouched near Sepia. Her long black hair hung loose and cascaded down to her waist. She looked down at Sepia, who writhed in pain on the floor.
“I need you to remember this sensation,” she said, her words crisp and clear. “Do you understand? Please nod if you do.”
Sepia nodded between grunts of pain.
“I am Ashanti,” she said. “Most know me as Asha or Shanti, and I am Anna’s second. Do you remember me?”
Sepia nodded again.
She pressed her fingers on several points on Sepia’s body and the pain subsided. Lexa, scabbard in hand, retrieved Perdition without touching the blade.
Sepia turned her head. “Don’t let anyone—” she began.
“Yes, I know about Hunters and their named blades,” Shanti said. “Rest assured, no one will attempt to wield this blade. However, you cannot keep it here.”
Shanti gave a short nod and a figure dressed in gray robes entered the training compound. The figure kept the hood of the robe down, keeping his face in shadow and making it impossible to see any distinguishing features. Lexa handed Perdition to the figure.
“No, you can’t,” Sepia said. “It’s too dangerous.”
“It will be a greater danger if your sword remains here,” Shanti said. “Your weapon would attract too much attention if we keep it. In addition, the wards we have in place would be ineffective in the presence of a weapon of such power. It puts us all in danger.”
The figure took the sword and bowed. Shanti gave another short nod and the figure left the compound.
“Where’s he taking it?” Sepia asked.
“I will tell you because it would be futile for you to attempt to retrieve it,” Shanti replied. “He will return it to Ganriel, or as you know him, Gan, who will then store it safely away until it can be bonded again.”
“Bonded again? But that means…” Sepia whispered.
“It means you would have to be deceased, yes,” Shanti said. “I am aware of the bonding requirements.”
Shanti gave a short sigh as Lexa helped Sepia up to her feet.
“I’m a Hunter,” Sepia said more to herself than to the women around her.
I will get my sword back.
“No, Sepia Blue,” Shanti replied. “You were a Hunter. That chapter of your life has passed. I know this transition has been difficult for you. I will try to make it as smooth as possible, but there will be some rough patches as we bring you up to speed. For now you only need to remember one thing.”
“What?”
“Sisters do not use swords.”
Shanti turned and exited the training compound as silently as she entered, leaving Sepia with Lexa.
“Told you, teamwork beats being a lone wolf any day,” Lexa said. “Especially when dealing with Shanti. She doesn’t have a sense of humor.”
“I noticed,” Sepia said, rubbing her arm. “That nerve attack is devastating.”
“Yeah,” Lexa said as she rubbed her chin. “I’ve never seen her be so gentle. She must like you.”
“Gentle? That was gentle?”
Lexa nodded and headed to the exit with Sepia behind her.
“We’d better get you situated,” Lexa said. “Anna will want to meet with you soon so let’s get you cleaned up and dressed.”
“I’m dressed,” Sepia said, looking down at her dirty leathers. The state of her leathers was a vivid reminder of her last fight with the Nightmare in the park. “Although I could use a hot shower.”
“Yeah, that’s not really the way we dress here,” Lexa said. “I’ll get you some new clothes— oh, and one more thing…”
“Yes?”
Lexa placed a huge hand on Sepia’s shoulder and gave her a smile.
“Welcome to the Sisters.”
