Elijah pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “I'm not here to talk about that...not really. I just thought...I just wanted to give you an update on your friend. On Purdue.”
Nina straightened up where she sat. She knew at some point she would probably hear about how things were going outside, but she hadn't expected it be so soon. It could only mean that they had made contact with him; they’d found him. She wished Elijah didn't have such a passive expression all the time. She couldn't figure out if what he was about to say was a good or bad thing. Then again, with all his talk about being neutral and not caring about who won, he probably wouldn't feel too strongly either way about it anyway.
“What?” Nina got to her feet, trying to brace herself for the worst. “What happened to him?”
She expected to hear about how the Black Sun had tracked him down and cut him to pieces to make sure he stayed dead. She expected to hear that Galen Fitzgerald had finally gotten his chance to kill Purdue in some degrading way. She expected that Julian had torn out Purdue's heart and now kept it as a trophy. She didn't expect what came next.
“Purdue is alive and well.”
Nina couldn't believe it. That crazy bastard had actually done it again. He'd somehow made it through. Even so far away, Purdue kept consistently surprising her and making her days so much better. If she ever saw him again, she was going to give him the biggest hug he'd ever received. There was a still a chance that he could come help her then. There was still a chance that they could win, and the Order of the Black Sun could lose.
Elijah elaborated. “Not for lack of trying…the order sent some of their deadliest enforcers after him. The kind of people that have killed dozens of people without ever having an issue. They were the best of the best that we had, but they weren't enough. Julian saw him again himself, and he was unsuccessful as well.”
Nina would have loved to have seen the look on Julian's face. Even with that immortality he was so proud of, Julian still couldn't get rid of Purdue. It was so satisfying to know that he wasn't getting what he wanted. All of his efforts to become the supreme leader of the world had been delayed yet again because he was incapable of getting rid of just one particularly stubborn man. It was too good to be true, but she was so happy that it was.
For the first time in quite a long time, Nina Gould's lips stretched into a broad smile. She could feel tears welling in her eyes; the tears were probably from the countless days of stress she'd had being powerless, but now she finally saw some real hope.
“I wouldn't get too happy,” Elijah said calmly. He took a step closer to the cell bars. “Julian is growing more and more unstable the longer this is dragged out. His authority is being doubted and questioned by the people beneath him. If he doesn't do something drastic soon, there may even be a coup against him. Who knows what he'll do to a valuable hostage like you now. He's unhinged...”
“He always has been,” Nina interrupted. “And you all let him put a crown on his head anyway. I've never liked the Order of the Black Sun, but your group is only going to get worse with him in charge. I've tried telling you that. With him in charge, there's no denying that the Black Sun are the bad guys.”
“I'm aware,” Elijah admitted. “There have been terrible leaders in the past. Mad men with crowns on their heads is nothing new. Some of the vilest men in history have been world leaders and conquerors.”
He wasn't wrong. Nina's thoughts drifted to so many figures throughout the ages that were remembered for how evil they were. The Hitlers of the world. The Caligulas of the world. The Stalins and the Vlad… the Impalers of the world. If Julian's plans of influencing the world came to be, he would be among them. There was a chance he could be even worse. Who knew what realities his vile imagination would make if he was given enough power.
“What you said before...about me being a coward for not trying to escape from this place...for working for the people that took me prisoner. For blindly following a psychopath just to appease my own selfish interests...I am not one to admit when I'm wrong...but I was wrong. You were right.”
She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Elijah always seemed so assured of himself. He never seemed overly emotional and relied on just logic to make his decisions. To finally see some sort of human feeling in him was so odd. It felt like a crack was showing in his armor.
“Sasha helped Purdue survive that night when the mansion burned, and she has continued to help keep him alive despite the order's best efforts.” Elijah paused for a moment, and he looked like he was trying to figure out the reasons for it all to have happened. Sasha was shocked, but it looked like he was feeling some real turmoil, like he couldn't comprehend his own emotions. Slowly, Elijah continued, “Sasha died helping Purdue. She turned against the Black Sun and died for it...but she kept Purdue alive.”
Nina couldn't believe what she was hearing. She'd been curious about how Purdue managed to make it out of his burning mansion alive, but she thought he had pulled off some last minute stunt. She never expected that one of their enemies had saved him. During her encounters with Sasha, she found her to be a heartless, scornful human being. Nina could never have guessed that Sasha would ever be an ally, not in a million years, even if she saw it with her own two eyes. And now Sasha was dead and had died apparently still helping.
“Why would she do that?” Nina asked, voicing her confusion aloud.
“I've been trying to figure that out myself,” Elijah said, and his more analytical tone returned. “It didn't seem to make any sense to me at first. With all of the time she had put in as a member of the order...it was ludicrous that she would throw it all away to help someone who had hurt the order so many times. It was irrational. Unjustifiable.”
“It was justifiable,” Nina said. “She realized that she was on the wrong side of history.”
She expected Elijah to make his argument again; that there was no wrong side of history; that history didn't take sides and was a completely neutral thing. Surprisingly, he kept quiet and gave the smallest nod.
“Sasha could have been the leader of the Order of the Black Sun one day. Frankly, I think that's what she really wanted. She didn't like what Julian was doing to the order so set about stopping him. She probably hoped that one day she would take charge and correct the damage that Julian has already done. I've seen now what Julian really is. He is a fire, and he would burn everything down if it meant he got what he wanted. He'd set millions of people on fire if they refused to follow him. He'd see countries burn if it meant that he could be in charge of whatever was left. He's not building anything. He's just building kindling. That is all. A fire like that...it would destroy so much, wipe away the past even. And the deep vault is alarmingly close to that fire. I don't want to see all of those artifacts burn in Julian's quest. I have no intention of being burned either. I won't be part of the pyre he's turning the planet into.”
Nina listened silently, being sure to take in each and every word he was saying. He wasn't wrong about any of it. Julian didn't care about the damage he caused. He was a threat to the entire world, especially if he accumulated more influence than he already had, and that was part of what he was planning. He wanted the order to guide the world into a new future, and that new future was probably going to be born from the ashes of the old one.
But why was Elijah saying all of this? What was the real point he was trying to make in all of this? What did he hope to gain by telling her any of it?
“Sasha turned away from the Black Sun,” Elijah said. “She died doing what she believed was right. I used to think it was impossible to escape from this place...but she did it. At least for a while. It's possible...and it's probably the right thing to do.”
Elijah took off his glasses and wiped his eyes, like he was trying to get dirt of out of his eyes. Maybe he was finally seeing the truth for what it really was, and his vision was adjusting to how the world now looked around him. He put his spectacles back on his nose and looked at Nina with some newfound courage.
He wasn't the timid and quiet curator anymore. He looked like he had far more purpose now than just tending to dusty old relics. He wasn't just caring about protecting the past anymore. For the first time probably in his whole life, he was concerned about protecting the future as well.
Elijah shoved his hand in his pocket and pulled something out. He put his hand through the bars of the cell and opened it, revealing a little key laying inside of his palm.
Nina stepped up to the bars and looked down at the offering. “What...what are you doing?”
“What I should have done that night you tried to escape from this place,” Elijah said and looked down at the key. “I thought...I thought there was no leaving the Black Sun, that there was no point even trying. But I see now how foolish I was to think that. So I'm giving you a chance to really get out. I can't guarantee that you'll make it, but you can at least try again. I won't help stop you this time.”
Part of Nina worried that this was some sort of elaborate trick concocted by Julian just to tease her. They could just be giving her false hope, only to snatch it away again. They wanted to break her, and doing something like this might actually do it.
But there was no way Elijah could fake that. She saw the change in him clear as day. It wasn't an act or a ruse of some kind. He genuinely seemed different than he had before. And everything he said was the thoughts of a man who knew he had a problem and wanted to solve it. She looked at the eyes behind those glasses of his, and she saw his sincerity. He really was trying to help her this time.
Nina reached out her hand and slowly took the key between her fingers. She stepped back, feeling the cold little piece of metal in her grasp. Elijah retracted his hand from her cell and then rested it on the bars, looking worn down but somewhat relieved.
“That will get you out of this cage,” he said, looking over the cell he was leaning against. “And it will unlock the rooms for your friends as well. The warlock from New Orleans and the old butler. Only use that key though, when you feel that it's the right time. You've only got one more shot to get out of here. Don't waste it.”
Nina's hand was shaking with the key in her fingers. She couldn't believe that he had given her another chance. She was holding her own freedom in her hands. She just had to be smart about when to use it.
Nina looked up at Elijah and saw him in a completely new light. “Thank you, Elijah.”
He adjusted his glasses, looking a bit embarrassed—or maybe even ashamed.
“Remember...don't waste it.”
Elijah turned to leave the Black Sun dungeons, but Nina suddenly called out to him. “Elijah.” He turned back around to face her. “When the time comes, and we do get out of here...you should come with us.”
Elijah looked startled by the offer and even formed a thin smile on his face, but he took it back in, and his face returned to its passive neutrality. “I appreciate that...but I can't go with you. Whether I like it or not, my place is here, protecting those relics in the deep vault. I can't exactly take them with us, and I can't just leave them here at this point. If I did that, then there is no doubt they'd be ruined by all of these buffoons in this order. No...no. I will stay until the end. If I somehow make it through all of the chaos that's about to happen...however this resolves, I will guard those relics until I am unable to anymore. That's what I have to do.”
Elijah turned back away and disappeared up the stairs.
Nina nodded and for the first time, really understood Elijah Dane. He wasn't the man she thought he was. He wasn't just a bystander who would allow horrible things to happen. He was a conflicted man that knew his purpose but didn't know what his place in history would be.
She clasped the key in her hand and could practically feel the world outside—the one she hadn't seen in so long.
17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - THE FIRST SHOTS FIRED IN THE WAR
David Purdue felt so light without the Scarlet Sword. It had been weighing him down for so long. Not just his body, but his mind and emotions had been so tied to that blade. It honestly felt strange not to have it in his hand or resting by his side; but it was a good kind of strange.
He could finally breathe easier, knowing that only the normal things that killed a person could bring him death. He didn't have to worry about being disarmed and dying from some mystical heart attack. He didn't have to panic about keeping a tight hold on something or carrying it around with him everywhere he went. He could finally go out into the world again without a weapon in his hand, scaring everyone he passed.
He sat in a new rundown motel room he'd purchased, watching some medieval movie on the television. He couldn't see a sword now without thinking about the one that nearly killed him. That heart attack had been one of the most painful experiences of his life, but he didn't have to really worry about that anymore. He'd made it through.
The only thing he still had to worry about was the Order of the Black Sun not letting him enjoy this little victory. Julian Corvus wasn't the type of person who would be content with a defeat. He struck Purdue as a sore loser who was going to hit back hard and was going to make it hurt. It was only a matter of time.
And after what Purdue had seen...Julian couldn't be killed. He'd had him, run him through with his sword. It would have killed anyone else, but now Julian wasn't just anyone else. He had immortality coursing through his body thanks to his run in with the Spear of Destiny. Purdue really wished that Nina had stabbed him with something else back then. That Spear of Destiny was causing all sorts of problems. It made defeating an enemy a lot more difficult if there wasn't the option to put them down for good.
Maybe Julian was stuck under those ruins after Sasha's sacrifice...no. There was no way something like that would stop a man like Julian Corvus. He pulled his way back from death. He'd have no problem getting out of something like that, especially now that he could survive just about any injury.
The fight with the Order of the Black Sun had just gotten so much more complicated. His time with the Scarlet Sword had helped him bring down a number of their ranks. Victor and his brother Vincent, that archer that Sasha killed, and the big guy Clive who took the arrow to the face. There were still plenty of them remaining; it was impossible to know just how many.
Then there was the matter of his captive friends: Nina, Charles, and Jean-Luc Gerard. They had all been taken and might be dead by this point, but in the event that they weren't, their rescue was a paramount. That needed to happen soon.
As much as he wasn't ready yet for a full-on battle with the Order of the Black Sun, the countdown toward that inevitable fight had rapidly shrunk now that they knew he was alive and now that he had scored a victory against them. There was no delaying it anymore. He had to prepare as best as he could; not tomorrow or next week…he had to do it now. His long-standing feud with that secret society was coming to a head.
He wished that the Scarlet Sword hadn't had that damn curse, or else that strength it gave him would have come in handy in the fights ahead. He'd survived his time with that particular artifact, but his other powerful relics might not be enough on their own. The pearl that controlled the ocean was powerful, but that didn't mean it was going to be useful in battles to come. The book of shadows could do some damage with its dark, forbidden magic, but he wasn't well versed in its contents and was honestly afraid to read much of it. There wasn't time to try and arm himself more, though. He didn't have anything else that he could use. Those two artifacts would have to be enough.
If there was a war coming, he couldn't just rely on the few weapons he had to bring to bear. He needed allies as well, and thankfully he still had a few that he could try to muster against his enemies. They were far outnumbered by the Order of the Black Sun, but that had never deterred him from beating them before.
He picked up the phone and dialed for Sam Cleave. If this war was coming, he would need a good general at his side. It took a few rings, but Sam finally answered.
“You alive?” Sam asked i
mmediately.
“I am,” Purdue replied. “I got all of that nasty business with the Black Sun sorted out as well...actually, not so much sorted it out...more like I made it even worse. But, on the bright side, I'm not as at risk of dying now.”
Sam's confusion was apparent, even over the phone. He'd missed so much by not being there for these recent events. He would never know just how terrifying it was to have a cursed sword fall out of your hand.
“Well, that's...good? I guess?” Sam said with a stifled little laugh. “So what now? I've been getting a bit tired of keeping my head so low.”
“I have good news for you then. We're done hiding,” Purdue declare. “It's about time we got off our asses and went after the Order of the Black Sun. Put them on their toes for once, aye?”
Sam didn't say anything for a moment. “Are we ready for that?”
“No,” Purdue said bluntly. “We're probably not...but I don't think we'll ever be. But I'm tired of dealing with these Black Sun bastards, aren't you? Time and time again, they made our lives difficult. And then when Julian Corvus took charge, they took everything from me, and from us. All of those relics we dedicated our lives to finding were stolen. We're getting them back. All of them. And we're getting Nina back.”
Sam's tone changed over the phone line, and he actually seemed very supportive of the decision. “You know I'm with you, Purdue. I've followed you into all kinds of stupid situations. What's another one to add to the list?”
Purdue smiled. They had traveled all over the world together. They had dealt with that secret society on many occasions. There was no better person to help him take on this challenge than Sam Cleave. Just like Purdue, he had real stakes in this fight if he wanted to return to his old life. And Sam had just as close of a relationship with Nina.
Order of the Black Sun Box Set 10 Page 35
