Devil's Cut: A Blade Master Chronicles Novella

Chapter Four

Chapter 4

Kat felt the coolness on her forehead and tried to open her eyes but her eyelids felt too heavy to lift. She felt spent, her body was running on its last dregs of energy but she willed herself to move and open her eyes ignoring the energy it took to keep them open.

"Kat, what the hell happened?" Spencer fixed the towel on her pale forehead and sat back.

"I...I don't know Spence." Kat sat up abruptly and looked around "there was man in here, he had the sword!" she threw her legs off the couch and tried to stand, grateful when Spencer caught her as she swayed.

"What man? Kat you're talking crazy. There wasn't anyone here when I got here. Just you, standing there with that damned sword."

The mention of the sword sent a chill up her spine. She was connected to it somehow. She knew that now, she just didn't know how or why.

"He tried to steal it"

"Who?"


"Dammit Spencer, you're not listening to me!" She pushed him away and realized the only thing between them was a towel. "Crap...let me get dressed."

She walked away from him without another word and tried to avoid looking at the sword.

Dressed and looking a little better, she found herself looking around the room.

"I didn't put it away." Spencer pointed to the sword he had put on the dining room table.

Kat took a seat at the table and fought the urge to touch it. Instead she told Spencer what had happened when she got out of the shower.

"What the hell were you thinking Kat?"

"I thought I could take him." The forced cockiness in her voice wasn't lost on either of them.

"That was a hell of a risk, but then you wouldn't be you if you didn't." Spencer ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "You should call the police."

"And say what? I can't identify the man and I sure as heck can't explain..." Kat's voice shook when she realized what could have happened.

"What, the sword?" Spencer dragged his chair in front of her and took both of her hands in his. "That's why I called you this morning."

"Yes but what you said made no sense Spencer. How can this sword be on the lookout list?" Kat was frustrated and anxious. She wanted answers but all she could think about was that damned sword just within arms reach.

"I think the blade was recast." Spencer's voice held a note she'd rarely heard before, fear.

"You're crazy Spence." She tried to stand but he grabbed her by the shoulder.

"I'm not crazy, hear me out."

Kat winced as his hand brushed the cut on the back of her shoulder.

"It still hurts doesn't it?" Spencer grabbed his bag and pulled out what he had printed.

"It's all right here. That blade is on the list. Look! The symbol on one side of the blade is the same as this."

The symbol he showed her was familiar and old. Kat looked at him in shock.

"That's impossible."

"Is it? You feel connected to it don't you?"

Kat wasn't hearing him. What he was saying was not possible and yet, she felt it, the pull of the blade.

Spence watched as she drifted off again and grabbed her roughly by the shoulder.

Her cry of pain mixed with rage as he grabbed her injured shoulder again. He jumped back when she struck him.

"Dammit Kat!"

Kat looked at her open hand and stared aghast at the bright red mark on his cheek. She mumbled an apology and shook her head. She was sorry, but between the nightmares, lack of sleep and that damned sword, all she wanted to do was hide. The list he'd shown her listed several items that humanity had searched for throughout history. This one should not be here, it didn't belong, and it had the blood of ages attached to it so it couldn't possibly be.

She choked back a sob, "Spencer?"

He pulled her into his arms and Kat was grateful for the strong arms that comforted her.

***

Spencer could feel her body trembling through the frantic beating of her heart. She was scared. The hairs on his arm had stood on end when he saw her standing there with the sword. Her grandfather would know what to do but he was gone now. It was up to him to help her now.

Kat pushed him away, "The man who was here, he wanted that sword." Kat's voice was hushed and sure.

"Probably," Spencer considered his words carefully. "Could...could he have been with the Order?"

He knew he had said the wrong thing the moment he felt her breath hitch. Her grandfather had told them about the Order by accident in response to their barrage of questions. He had made them promise never to bring it up again. Since then, they had discovered on their own what Kat's grandfather had tried to keep from them.

"No Spencer, God, please no..."

Both suspected the Order might be responsible for her grandfather's death. It was a group that he had once belonged. Neither knew his role with the Order, just his connection.

Kat had been the one to grieve with her grandmother. She had been the one to make sure the shop opened, as he would have wanted. It was Kat who had discovered the true nature of her family and their ties to the order.

"Why Spencer? Why me?"

"We'll find out together."