“Thank you, Sam,” Purdue said, hoping that Sam could hear his genuine appreciation. “I need you to get anyone else you can. Anyone who would help us. Aya and her crew, for one. And anyone else we can find. It's time we showed Corvus and his minions that they should never have stolen from us”
“Let's do it,” Sam said. “But what's the first move?”
The opening salvo to any war was crucial. From the get-go, it could be a determining factor in deciding victory or defeat. They had to make sure that it was a worthwhile shot and that it helped launch a successful campaign. Purdue hoped that it was something so powerful that their first shot would be heard all around the world. Most of the populace didn't know that there was this shadow war even happening under their noses, but maybe they would now. Against an unyielding enemy like Julian, Purdue had no idea how this conflict was going to turn out. Like any war, there would probably be casualties.
Their first move was so vitally important.
“Sasha told me where their top secret home base is. If we're going to draw first blood, then I say we hit them where it hurts. The Order of the Black Sun won't even see it coming.”
It felt like the right decision. It would be dangerous, but Purdue didn't care. He was tired of this half-life he'd been living since they destroyed his previous one. The Black Sun needed to answer for all of the damage they caused him and his friends.
Whatever happened next, David Purdue felt oddly ready for a fight.
Sam got off the phone with Purdue feeling more pumped up than he had in a long, long time. Usually, he would get a little bit aggravated with Purdue's plans, but this time, he felt inspired. They had let the Order of the Black Sun dictate their lives for far too long now. It was time to put it to a swift end, and take back what was taken from them.
It sounded like things had been hard on Purdue lately, but he was glad to hear that things were starting to improve for him. Things for Sam hadn't been quite as bad. He hadn't been dealing with assassins or curses or anything like that. He had been enjoying his time in hiding. It was by far the best time he had since his life had been flipped upside down, and he'd been put on the Order of the Black Sun's most wanted list.
A lot of that was thanks to the distractions he had given himself to help pass the time. He'd started working out a lot more again. He was practicing some meditation to keep a calm, cool head. Those would both come in handy in the days ahead, when his stress was probably going to rise right back up to all-time highs.
The biggest help though was the lovely woman he had met recently. He wasn't sure how serious it was, and he kind doubted that he would let it get that way, but for the time being, it was a fling that was helping relieve the worries he had.
She lay in bed beside him, and she was so warm to the touch. She was one of the most beautiful people Sam had ever seen. She was almost unreal, like something out of a painting. Her smile alone was something wonderful to behold. It could light up any room without her even trying.
“Who was that on the phone?” she asked.
“Just a friend of mine,” Sam said. “We're looking to meet back up some time soon. We've got some unfinished business we have got to take care of. Some old debts that need to be paid.”
“Good things I hope?”
“Oh yes, very good things,” Sam said. “Long overdue. We're finally going to be getting things back to how they used to be I hope. It's just going to take a lot of effort, but we'll get there. He and I have always worked great together. Have known him for years. We've bumped heads here and there, but when it comes down to it, I have his back, and I know he has mine. He just takes an extra minute or two to throw himself in front of harm's way for others sometimes. He spent a lot of his life with a lot of money. Made it difficult for him to empathize with people sometimes, I think. But when push comes to shove, he's a good guy to have in your corner.”
“I'm glad to hear it.” Sam could tell that she really was. She barely knew him, but was so happy for him and that he was happy. “He won't be taking up all your time, will he?”
“No,” Sam said. “I don't think so. Just for a little while, but then I'll probably be right back here. I don't see why not.”
“That's good,” she said beside him. “I thought you were just going to run off on me forever. Not to sound too attached, but I really have been enjoying spending time with you.”
He was so glad to have bumped into her. They had gotten along immediately, almost scary fast. It was amazing how much they had in common. Given his past, he wasn't really thinking he would be interested in taking a girl out for a drink, but after she offered him her number, there was no reasonable way he could say no. He had to see where it went. He dialed her number the next night, and then the rest had gone by in a blur of bliss. The last week had been unbelievable.
Sam smiled, and she smiled back. Hers was so warm and bright. It was hard to even look away from it because it filled him with so much joy just to see it.
“Me too, Kendra. Me too.”
Sam Cleave didn't know that Kendra had offered David Purdue that same piece of paper with her phone number on it weeks ago in Belfast. He didn't know that she had worked with Victor Moore to help track down his friend to try and murder him. He didn't know that she was a full-fledged member of the Order of the Black Sun. He didn't know that Julian Corvus had given her a new assignment that would be essential to their victory against Purdue; and this was part of that assignment.
Sam didn't know any of that—but soon enough, he would.
END
The Mayan Temple
1
CHAPTER ONE – THE VANISHING
David Purdue hacked away at the thicket of vines surrounding him. No matter how much he managed to cut away with his machete, more and more tendrils slithered down to block his path. They wrapped around him, trying to entangle him but he refused to let himself be restrained. The only way to get out of such a mess was to press forward. So, Purdue would keep swinging his blade and keep walking forward until he was past all of the obstacles in his path.
His life had recently come across far more obstacles than the vines draped in front of him. He had lost everything. His greatest enemies, the shadowy Order of the Black Sun, had stripped him of his wealth, his prized collection of artifacts, and had even taken most of his closest allies hostage. But he refused to give in, and was slowly building himself back up—preparing to strike back at the secret society for trying to destroy everything that he was.
He wasn't sure if he was ready for war, but he would have to be. His opportunity to pull off a sneak attack against his unsuspecting enemies had passed him by. The Order of the Black Sun knew he was alive and they knew he was still acting against them. He had managed to survive their last few attempts to kill him but he knew how unyielding his enemies could be, and he knew how psychotic their leader was. Julian Corvus wouldn't stop coming for him, and now that Julian had gained immortality, he would never, ever stop. Purdue wouldn't be able to evade them forever, but Julian could make sure that the chase lasted forever.
He needed to end this feud and retake his life sooner rather than later. The Black Sun still had his friends, Nina, Jean, and Charles hostage.
Dr. Nina Gould was one of his closest friends, and he had been traveling the world with her for a long time now. They had a complicated relationship sometimes, but he cared about her more than most people.
Jean-Luc Gerard was one of his more recent colleagues, but he had made a good impression during their search for a powerful spell book. He was an occult expert based out of the French Quarter in New Orleans, and Purdue knew that if their partnership continued that Jean would be essential in helping him with any further supernatural artifacts that he may come across. It had always been a weak point in Purdue's skill set, but Jean was the perfect person to help balance it out. He knew more than Purdue probably ever could.
And lastly, Charles. He should never have even been taken prisoner. Since Nina and Jean had both actively
helped Purdue collect artifacts, and Nina had been the one to nearly finish off Julian for good, it made sense that they would be taken hostage. But Charles was just Purdue’s butler. Sure, he was a close confidant and an essential part of Purdue's life, but he had never participated in anything that could be seen as hostile toward the Black Sun. The most he had done was help try and protect the artifacts when the Black Sun came to take everything.
Now Nina, Charles, and Jean-Luc remained as the order's prisoners, but the fight had escalated, and Purdue knew Julian would want to use his hostages against him. If Julian hadn't killed them already, then they were in more danger than ever.
Unfortunately, Purdue's hopes of having a good amount of weapons to use hadn't come to pass like he hoped. He had only been able to collect two useful artifacts that he could actually wield in the coming battles. He had an old dead witch's book of shadows that was full of magics that he was too terrified to use. He had also found a pearl on the ocean floor that could control the seas. They were very powerful relics—but still wouldn't be enough. The Order of the Black Sun had a stockpile of artifacts they had collected, including a great number of which they had stolen from Purdue's private collection. He knew those items well and understood that combined with the Black Sun's own relics, he was severely outgunned.
He couldn't exactly match the Black Sun's numbers either. They had dozens, if not hundreds of operatives at their disposal. Purdue had about half a dozen allies left on a good day and the majority of those friends weren't looking to be drafted into a war that they had no real stake in. It didn't involve them, not really.
The only exception was Purdue's longtime colleague, Sam Cleave. He wanted to free Nina and finally put an end to the Order of the Black Sun just as much as Purdue did.
For some time, the Black Sun believed that he was dead—and he practically was. But that anonymity hadn't lasted forever. His enemies knew that he was alive now, and it was kill or be killed. The war was coming, and he had to be ready for it, and make sure that he had enough firepower to take on the order.
That need had brought him to the jungles of Honduras.
He had heard rumors about a very interesting place with remarkable power. That sounded like it had potential to be something useful to him, especially with his battle looming ahead of him. Any little discovery could make all the difference in the world.
The locals said that a strange temple had miraculously appeared deep in the heart of the jungle. It seemed a little hard to believe, but Purdue had seen plenty of things that were supposed to be just as improbable. Those spreading the rumors claimed that this temple appeared one night out of thin air. It was not built. When he asked if it was possible that no one had ever found it before and that this could all just have been a coincidence that no one had explored that area—they all said it would've been seen.
They were convinced that this temple was something new—but no building just appeared out of thin air, or grew out of the ground, or any of the number of ludicrous possibilities that were being thrown around by the locals.
Based on the amount of vines and overgrowth that he was tearing his way through, it couldn't have been that well-traversed of a place. It certainly wasn't a popular tourist destination, that much was obvious. And now, with that temple suddenly appearing, no one dared to go near it, petrified that it had come to somehow try to harm them.
Purdue wasn't spooked by it all. He was mostly intrigued.
Some people were so afraid of the unknown but Purdue was the kind of man that would dive headfirst into it. It was amazing what could be found in the most unexplored places that people never dared to tread.
Purdue swung his machete a few times, trying to break through some branches in his way. When they snapped and dropped to the ground, the branches brought down a shroud of greenery with them. It was like a curtain opened up and Purdue was now staring at an enormous monolith—the temple that everyone was raving about.
“...the hell?”
The temple was old, and made of dark slabs of rock. It must have taken so many years to build, generations even. It stood at least four stories tall and was an imposing sight among all of the natural wonders around it.
Trees lay strewn about around the structure, having been completely uprooted from the earth. It was like a bomb had detonated in the middle of the jungle—or that an ancient temple had appeared out of thin air with such force that it decimated the wildlife around its entry point...but that didn't seem possible. Then again, he was already staring at something that was supposed to be impossible. The temple shouldn't have been there at all.
Purdue began walking toward the peculiar temple. He was very glad to be out of all of the webs of vines and branches that had made his hike a very challenging one. Now he just had to watch his step around all of the toppled trees between him and the temple.
“You there!”
Purdue nearly leaped out of his own skin at the sound. He wasn't expecting anyone to be so far out, especially not this close to the place that everyone was so petrified of. According to everyone he'd spoken to, no one would dare get as close as he was planning to get, but here someone was.
A bald man walked toward him with a red haired woman beside him. By the way they were dressed—with all of the excessive hiking gear—they looked like tourists. Maybe they were just exploring the mysterious haunted temple. But there was something unnerving about the way the bald man was looking at him, something behind the tightness of his expression.
“I'm sorry if we startled you.”
There was no 'if' about it. He was more than a little startled by those bastards' presence.
“Not a problem,” Purdue lied.
The woman peered at the machete in Purdue's hand. He didn't want to scare her so pointed the machete over to the tree line. “It wasn't an easy walk to get here. Had to cut my way through the forest.” He then acknowledged the downed trees around their feet. “This...I didn't do obviously.”
“Obviously,” the bald man said, looking over to the temple. “You out here to look at this thing too?”
“I am,” Purdue said.
“Fascinating, isn't it?” The bald man held out a hand to greet him. “I am Lucius. This is Charlotte.”
Purdue offered a smile but didn't receive one in return. There was something off about those two, but he couldn't figure out exactly what. Maybe they were just terrible at meeting people.
“I'm David,” Purdue offered in return.
“We know.”
The thinnest of smiles barely graced Lucius' face, but suddenly his tightened expression seemed sharp.
“We were hoping to bump into you, Purdue. Ever since that temple appeared, we've hoped that you would have to come and see it yourself just like Corvus said you might.”
Purdue took a step back and tightened his grip on the blade in his hands. These weren't any kind of tourists at all. They were members of the Order of the Black Sun.
“Like a fly in a spider's web. That's how he put it.” The red haired woman, Charlotte, was laughing now, giddy with how lucky they were to have found their prey.
“Wonderful,” Purdue said, taking another step back and nearly tripping over one of the toppled tree trunks. “Just who I was hoping to see. I'm surprised that you and your friends haven't given up by this point. How many times do I have to beat you before you give up and stop bothering me? How many times do I have to make Julian look like a daft buffoon, aye?”
“You have been making fools of us, yes,” Lucius said with some resignation. “What you did to Victor and Vincent needs to be answered for. Turning Sasha against us needs to be answered for.”
“And you're here to make me pay for those imagined crimes, is that is? Hate to break it to you two, but you're on the wrong side. You work for a complete psychopath. Julian is unstable and you know it.”
Lucius gave a shrug. “Perhaps getting rid of you might stabilize him.”
There was a snapping branch behind him and Purdue tu
rned around to find other people approaching him, surrounding him. More Black Sun operatives, looking to be the one to put an end to the order's greatest annoyance. Purdue had dealt with members of that group so many times but they had gotten so much more aggressive since Julian's induction as their leader. They weren't afraid to come at him head on. For instance, Lucius and Charlotte could have feigned innocence until the right time to strike but instead, they decided to come at him directly. That was Julian's leadership in action, setting an example for his followers—cutting down whatever was in your way without a moment of hesitation.
But Purdue could also cut down whatever was in the way of his own goals—whether it was a thicket of vines or people trying to end him.
“Julian is going to be so pleased with us,” Charlotte said.
Purdue counted all of the enemies that were encircling him: twelve in total, counting Lucius and Charlotte. None of them were armed with any guns and only a handful drew knives or held branches or rocks. With his machete, he could probably take down a couple before being overwhelmed but that wasn't a guarantee and not even an ideal outcome.
The best bet he had would be to get away from them, at least fall back until he could come up with a better plan to take out so many enemies. He looked past a particularly large grunt over to the old Mayan temple that loomed over them nearby. Making for the old structure was his best bet. If he could get inside, he could maybe isolate his enemies or at least fight them in a narrower place where their greater numbers wouldn't matter as much.
“So were you ordered to bring me in dead or alive?” Purdue asked.
“Corvus would prefer alive,” Lucius said. “But I'm sure he wouldn't be upset if we brought back your corpse.”
“And how upset will he be when you don't bring back anything at all?” Purdue asked with a sly grin before breaking into a full sprint. One of the Black Sun operatives tried to intercept them but he knocked him out of the way and kept running. Purdue didn't bother looking back. He knew they were probably right on his heels. He just stared ahead at the Mayan temple that towered above. That strange building might be the only way he could save himself from this particular predicament.
Order of the Black Sun Box Set 10 Page 36
