“It’s not Velos who has me worried,” Gan said with a small grunt as he sat up. “He can’t use that sword—it’s too powerful, even for him. Besides, he’s bonded to Retribution. If he thinks he can break a dark blade’s bond without lasting effects, he’s in for a rude awakening. No, Velos was getting the Nameless for someone else.”
“Who is it for, then?”
“More importantly, why wasn’t it destroyed, Raf?” Gan asked. “Why didn’t Regional give the word? We had the means. Fuma could’ve done it; he had the ability and the power to do so. Why was he stopped?”
“You know why,” Rafael said, turning away. “It was the ultimate check and balance to the named swords, both light and dark. Regional wasn’t going to destroy that much power.”
“Not when they could try and harness it for their own purposes,” Gan snapped. “Typical. Who gave the word? Was it you?”
Rafael sat back with a short bitter laugh.
“I may be a Director of Regional now, but this was decided long ago and is way above my pay grade,” Rafael answered. “You need to go much higher and further back to when Fuma was still part of the Directive. He wanted to destroy the Nameless, but was forced out and into hiding.”
“You mean they tried to kill him for dissenting on wielding world-ending power,” Gan said. “Isn’t that surprising. What about the lost hall? Who thought that up?”
“That was Fuma’s idea,” Rafael answered. “If they weren’t going to destroy it, he reasoned that at the very least it should be hidden so no one could find it.”
“We can see how effective that was,” Gan answered. “Does the check and balance have a check and balance? Tell me someone thought that far ahead, at least.”
“Someone did.”
“Who? What is it, and more importantly, where?”
“Unbeknownst to most, especially those in Regional, Fuma created a neutralizing force—one you’re actually familiar with.”
“Excuse me?” Gan asked. “I know I’ve been mindswiped, but I have no recollection of a neutralizing power to the Nameless. I didn’t think one existed.”
“Fuma feared this would happen, so he placed a neutralizing ward in the only entity that could stand against the Nameless.”
“Entity?” Gan asked. “It’s not a blade?”
“It is, but it’s entwined with this power,” Rafael answered. “The Jade Demon.”
Gan gave him a long hard stare.
“Emiko—the Jade Demon is dead,” Gan told him. “Is that your attempt at humor?”
“The Jade Demon you knew is gone, yes, but her daughter—”
“Sepia? No.” Gan shook his head. “It’s too much power. It will destroy her. Are you saying—?”
“Yes,” Rafael answered. “I think Fuma will try to infuse the Jade Demon ward into Perdition. If he does, Sepia will become the next Jade Demon.”
“How do you know this?” Gan asked. “Fuma doesn’t even know where the Demon talisman is.”
“It was in your office,” Rafael said. “Hidden in plain sight, I might add.”
“You gave it to him?” Gan asked, his voice a mixture of disbelief and anger. “Are you mad?”
“Have you met Fuma? Do you really think he gave me a choice?”
“Actually I’m surprised he let you leave his presence in one piece,” Gan replied. “Last I remember, he was displeased with Regional.”
“That’s putting it mildly,” Rafael said. “He wanted to destroy the Order.”
“And you gave him the Jade Demon talisman.”
“It was the only way he would tell me how to find you,” Rafael said, looking away. “I’ve grown weary of losing friends, Gan. I wanted to find you before it was too late.”
“You should have let me die, you fool,” Gan said. “For all you know, he began the transformation.”
“It’s possible,” Rafael admitted. “But I wasn’t going to lose another friend. Not when I could take action.”
“You don’t understand, do you?” Gan asked. “If Sepia becomes the Jade Demon, we are all in danger. All of us. She’s not as strong as her mother—”
“Then why the concern?”
“You didn’t let me finish,” Gan said. “She’s not as strong as her mother—she’s stronger. But she’s not ready, and if she loses control of that power, the bodycount will be horrific. I have to go.”
Gan made to get out of the bed.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“Emiko was a class-one Hunter,” Gan said. “Her power dwarfed Sepia’s. When she became the Jade Demon, the transition nearly ended her. We can’t let this happen.”
“You intend to go stop this from happening?” Rafael asked. “How?”
“I need to go find Sepia,” Gan said, becoming agitated. “If she becomes the next Demon, she won’t know how to deal with that much power. It will kill her.”
“You don’t even know where she is,” Rafael protested, pushing Gan back into the bed. “You can’t. I have my people looking into it.”
“Oh, you have people looking into it,” Gan scoffed. “Well, now I can rest easy. I don’t even know why I was concerned. Do you even know where to look?”
“I sent them to the Park,” Rafael said. “It makes the most sense considering the situation, don’t you think?”
Gan looked down at Rafael’s hand on his chest.
“I’m going to make a request, because you’re my friend,” he said. “Would you like your hand removed at the wrist, or would you prefer I remove the entire arm?”
“You’ve been mindswiped, you cranky old bastard,” Rafael said, holding Gan in place. “It’s only a matter of time before you forget who Sepia even is. Is that how you plan on helping her? You plan on approaching her as a drooling, doddering old fool who’s lost his mind?”
“I can get to her before the effects kick in,” Gan said, struggling against Rafael. “Now remove your hand.”
“You’re not thinking straight,” Rafael answered quietly. “When could I ever hold you in place against your will…ever?”
“You can’t,” Gan said as he stopped struggling. “Bloody hell, the mindswipe. How far along am I?”
“It was bad when I found you,” Rafael said. “The recall team is prepped. Once you get out of the procedure, we will find Sepia and help her, but first I have to help you. Let me help
