Julian snickered, impressed by the elderly man's resolve. “You served Mr. Purdue for years, did you not? You served that house for years ... but now that house is gone. What do you serve now? What good is a servant without his master or his house? I'm sure we could find a place for you at one of our compounds.” Julian put a hand on Charles' shoulder, but the butler brushed it off almost immediately, causing Julian to laugh again. “Fair enough. We could still find a place for you. Even if it is only as a prisoner.”
Julian turned his attention to Jean, and at first, Jean didn't look him in the eye. It was clear that he had no interest in whatever Julian was going to say to him. Julian, however, was the type of man who never backed down from trying to change someone's mind. His face twitched with excitement at the challenge.
“We don't know each other, Mr. Gerard, but your reputation in the French Quarter of New Orleans precedes you. From what I've heard, we could use someone like you in the Black Sun. Someone with, well, knowledge of less traditional histories.”
Jean's gaze finally met Julian's.
“I do not know you either, but you too are preceded. Preceded by everything that I just saw you do. Let me tell you, my friend, I did not like what I saw. I did not like it at all.”
Julian offered a shrug. “Unfortunate circumstances. That's all. Tending to old wounds can be a difficult affair that requires a firmer hand than usual. Tonight was an isolated incident that is not normal for the Black Sun.”
It was a lie, especially coming from Julian—notorious for the violent methods he always used to get what he wanted. He knew that Nina knew this very well, but she looked too shocked to speak up and call him out.
“Perhaps when you learn what we have to offer, you may come to see us in a very different light. Oh, and I should mention something else. That money you failed to receive from Purdue, you would be given all of that and more with us. We like to make sure our members are well taken care of and accommodated to their heart's content.”
Jean’s glower and his judgmental stare faltered just a little at that possibility. Julian would accept that for now. Jean hadn't outright refused, which meant there was still a chance to bring him into their ranks.
Nina still had tears streaming down her face, trying to pull herself away from the two men who were escorting her to the trucks. Her resistance, however, proved to be pointless. She was just flailing around in a daze of complete shock. She stared at the embers of the blazing house fire and something seemed to be missing in her. She was trembling, and writhing around, completely lost in her frantic emotions.
“You bastard! You sick son of a bitch!” Her shrieks were directed toward Julian but her attention was still fixed on the fire. Finally, she threw herself in his way and got in his face. He saw the depths of her pain, her grief, and most of all, her rage. “You are going to die for this, Julian! I'm going to kill you! You hear me?! Do you hear me!?” Her voice was hoarse and her words a jumbled mess of saliva and quivering lips. “You better hear me! You better know! I'm going to kill you!”
Julian grinned. “You already have.”
Nina flinched at the words and even more tears flowed down her face. The thoughts that were going through her mind were almost painted on her expression. She had just realized that the most she could possibly do to him might not even work. Even if she murdered him, put him to death like she had before, he could just come back and she could never escape the pain he caused her.
“Remember? You gave it your best shot before, so excuse me if I'm not exactly shaking in my boots at your threats.” He put on a more soothing voice. “I understand that you are in mourning at the moment, but try and understand the role you played in all of this violence. In everything that happened tonight.”
“My role?!” She screeched, her wrath reignited. “You did this! You did!”
“Oh, did I?” Julian fired back, not backing down. “Or was it you and David Purdue consistently meddling in matters that didn't concern you? Rejecting our multiple offers and truces? We tried to work together, and you always threw our attempts to play nice back in our faces. This all could have been avoided. You were given so many chances ... but you, Purdue, and even Mr. Cleave squandered them all. You did this to yourselves, and because of your own actions, are getting exactly what you all deserve.”
Nina looked ready to tear Julian limb from limb. The only thing stopping her were the two far larger men keeping her back from attacking their leader.
Julian put his hand on his heart in a dramatic gesture of compassion. “I have been exceptionally merciful to you, all things considered. You pushed the Spear of Destiny through my chest and yet I still gave you a chance to earn my forgiveness ... but once again, you refused.”
Julian put his fingers on her cheeks and pulled her in close. She tried desperately to draw her gaze away from the gray eyes she feared so much, but couldn't.
“You killed me, Dr. Gould.”
She started crying again. Long, hard sobs of complete hopelessness.
“You murdered me and you will be punished for it. Slowly. And in agony, for years maybe. Do you want to know why? It's because you deserve nothing less.”
In one last burst of defiance and anger, Nina spat in his face. Julian recoiled a step, and wiped it from his cheek with two fingers. A demented Cheshire grin returned to his face.
Nina looked at him with horror and her whole body followed suit, turning into a shaking mess of limbs, ready for whatever retribution he was going to hit back with.
There was the demon underneath his expensive suit. The monster that Nina knew existed but had been waiting beneath the surface. It was the same monster that she thought she had slain back in that cave in Norwich. That monster looked ready to kill her for that offense, but he kept himself at bay from giving into his own desire.
Julian stepped away from her and seemed to absorb that murderous beast back into his own being, straightening his tie. His gray eyes bore into her very soul, like he could see every fault and every weakness she possessed.
After a moment to recuse himself from his own violent tendencies, he leaned forward and whispered in her ear. “You will wish your death was as quick as David Purdue's. That fire—that fire right over there, the fire cooking your friend—you will be begging for its touch before the end.”
He pulled away again and smiled the biggest smile she had ever seen. It seemed to stretch farther than was physically possible.
“No, Dr. Gould. I won't kill you. But you will finally answer for killing me.”
Nina was led away with the others toward the truck and the cries she let out made Julian feel better than he had in years. It was understandable why no murder victim was, by nature, allowed to get revenge on their murderer. It was too good of a feeling. He felt ready to explode from its overwhelming joy.
A silhouette limped toward him, back-lit by the large burning home behind it.
“Warmest fire ye ever felt, isn't it?” Galen called. As he drew closer, Julian could make out his face and he looked so happy, like a child who finally got his dream toy. “All that talk about the great David Purdue. How he could find anything in the world no matter where it was. How he could get out of any situation, no matter how bad it was. Well, look at him now. That bastard's not getting out of this one.”
“No, he's not.” Julian looked into the flames. “We have men all around the house. Even if he could escape, he wouldn't get out of there alive. Sasha's down there on the south side making absolutely sure.”
“Good riddance, I say. My mum always told me not to speak ill of the dead but to hell with that. I wouldn't even a raise a glass in his honor. That stuck up bastard.”
As annoyed as he was by his recruitment, Julian now appreciated Galen's loyalty to the Black Sun. He had proven himself to be just helpful enough to keep around, even if he did boast far too much, and complain even more than that.
“Where's that witch woman?” Galen asked.
“She was allowed to leave wi
th her life and with her prize.”
“But why are we letting her keep that old book? Isn't it supposed to be something special? Some magic book of spells or some shit like that?”
Once again, Galen proved just how inept he was at understanding anything going on around them, but Julian didn't chastise him like he was tempted to. Galen was a blunt instrument but could still be a useful tool in the future.
“We let her keep the book of shadows because that was the deal we made: she keeps track of Purdue's movements, she gets him into a position where he opens up his vault, and we let her keep the book that she wanted so much. That was the deal, and we are going to stick to it. I'd like for the Black Sun to stick to some sort of code. To keep promises that are made in this order. Wouldn't you?”
Galen pondered his words for what felt like a long time but slowly nodded.
“We all need to trust each other, especially now. We can't afford infighting and division. Not when we can finally move forward. With the threat of David Purdue gone, burned away to cinders, we can begin our real work.”
“And what work is that?” Galen asked with a raised brow.
“You will see soon enough,” Julian said, putting a firm hand on Galen's shoulder. “The whole world will.”
Julian continued watching the flames eat away what was left of David Purdue. The Order of the Black Sun's biggest threat was burning away. They had taken back every prize they had ever failed at acquiring. They had done all of that within mere days of Julian taking control of the order.
No one would doubt his abilities now. No one would question him or underestimate his importance to their organization. They would recognize him as the leader that the Black Sun should always have had. They would see him as the savior who set them all on a better course—who set the world on a better path.
For the first time since returning from the dead, Julian Corvus felt a little bit alive again.
Purdue, on the other hand, felt his life slipping away every second. It wouldn't be long now, he knew. This was one predicament he wasn't going to be able to find some miraculous way out of. The odds were more than stacked against him. Even if he could somehow break free of the restraints binding him to the chair, he'd probably just die trying to get out of the inferno or suffocate from the smoke. Not that it mattered. He had no way of cutting the rope around his arms.
Flames spread throughout the house, charring the walls until they were weak and brittle. Parts of ceiling dropped hard to the floor, burning away.
He started coughing; little ones at first but it quickly became fits of violent heaving as more smoke ensnared him. His vision faded until he could only see orange, red, and black. It was like the entire world was being set ablaze. His reality was cooking—burning.
The house around him couldn't even be called a house anymore.
There was no escaping it—it was over. Purdue knew that and part of him even accepted it. He would burn with nothing left but his own body. It was the only thing he still had ownership of, and it was about to blaze away too.
Everything was gone. The Order of the Black Sun had finally won.
This was the future Mama May had seen back in New Orleans. Every bit of it. The dead man stalking him. The idea that he was going to lose everything. It was all happening now, far earlier than he hoped it would if she was actually right. He was going from riches to rags, but those rags were immediately burning away too.
Purdue closed his eyes, still choking on the flames that were coming ever closer to him. He waited for the fire to finish him off. He waited for all of his adventures to finally have an ending. It wasn't what he had envisioned. It wasn't ideal, but life hardly ever was.
He was just glad he got to see so much of the world. He'd seen things people had only ever dreamed of seeing, and things people couldn't imagine even being possible to dream about. He had touched things that were so old, they were supposed to be nothing more than legends. He'd made a life out of discovering myths were reality.
It had been an exciting life. A good life ... and a good life could have a bad ending. Not every life could end as you wanted it to. Sometimes you just had to take what you were given, so he tried his best to embrace what his final moments had shaped up to be.
The fire reached out for him and he prepared to burn away.
19
DEAD MEN
Strangely, he never did.
Something grabbed hold of his shoulder and he heard the snap of the bindings on his wrists. He was pulled up to his feet and his arm was slung around something. He was being dragged, heaved through the walls of hissing fire. Through his scorched vision, he saw them nearing a door. He could even see the darkness of the world outside of his burning home.
Whatever was carrying him brought him through the door and out into the backyard. He dropped to the ground, still coughing uncontrollably, straining to find air. He collapsed in a heap on the ground, rolling onto his back.
Sasha was standing over him.
She looked down at him like she was regarding a wounded animal, deciding whether or not to put it out of its misery.
None of it made sense to Purdue, but he couldn't find the strength to even voice his surprise. Why would Sasha save him from his fiery death? They were enemies. She didn't owe him anything. Yet here she was, hovering over him like a guardian angel.
Sasha leaned over him, making sure he could see her. “You're dead.”
That didn't make sense. He considered that he'd just heard her wrong. The whole world seemed out of focus, but she said it again with the same clenched jaw. “You're dead, you hear me? You're dead, Purdue. You died in that fire.”
Maybe he had. This was far too strange to be real.
“Hey!” Sasha pushed him with her foot. “You hear me or not? Say something, damn it.”
It took all of his remaining energy, but Purdue flung his head forward in something that hopefully resembled a nod. He tried to speak but his lungs felt singed. If he spoke, he might even breath fire.
“Good,” Sasha said, glancing around nervously. “You died here tonight. David Purdue died in a fire in his home. You understand me? There's nothing left for you here. No home. No friends. No belongings. David Purdue is gone. You're dead.”
Purdue was starting to understand. She'd saved him, and this was just the next stage in his rescue. She wanted him to go under the radar, to toss aside his life as David Purdue. It was the only way to avoid being discovered by the order.
But why? Why would Sasha help him?
“Here,” Sasha pulled out something from her coat. When she held it in her hand, Purdue recognized it immediately. An old withered journal. The book of shadows that once belonged to Mona Greer. “I was supposed to lead Felicity out of the house. I never let her get to the exit. Knocked her out, let her burn in there like any witch should. Never liked her to begin with. This belongs to you, I believe.”
Sasha dropped the book beside him. He tilted his head just enough to see it on the ground beside him.
“They've taken everything else. This was all I could salvage.”
Purdue opened his mouth and his voice came out dry and hoarse. He pictured his entire insides were nothing now but a blackened, charred mess of flesh.
He breathed out one word, and it came out hot. “W-w-w-why?”
“Because someone needs to stop Julian. He's going to have everyone under his thumb before long. He's a poison that's going to seep into the whole world if he's not stopped. And I think you're the only one who can stop him.”
It was one of the few times he'd seen Sasha look actually vulnerable. She was usually so hardened, ready for a fight. But now he saw a young woman who looked fragile and afraid, of what she might have helped unleash.
“He's already ruining the order, and if he succeeds, then everyone suffers. You're the only one who can save the Order of the Black Sun. You have to.”
Sasha looked around, making sure no one was, nearby and then shot him one last pleading glance. �
�You're dead, Purdue. He thinks you're dead. Don't waste that.”
Sasha disappeared into the darkness, leaving Purdue on the ground. He lay there, motionless, staring up at the stars in the sky. He could hear his home burning a short distance away, illuminating the grounds surrounding it in an orange hue.
Everything he had was burning to the ground. His old life was ashes—and so was he.
He finally understood.
David Purdue was dead—but he wasn't. His fight wasn't over. There was still a chance to set things right. There was still a chance to stop the Black Sun.
Purdue pulled himself up. He stared at the fires pouring out of his home, at the smoke rising into the air. He picked up the old journal on the ground and held it close to his chest. One last relic. It would have to be enough. He would have to be enough.
David Purdue held his final remaining artifact to his chest and climbed to his feet, ready to continue his fight.
It was just like Mama May had predicted back in New Orleans.
The only one who could lay a dead man to rest was another dead man.
The End
Order of the Black Sun Box Set 9 Page 55
