Elijah approached to greet him, but Purdue preferred to save the small talk for later. Purdue handed the curator the bag of Genghis Khan's bones and asked for Elijah to go outside until Purdue returned. Elijah took the bones but looked just as confused as Sam. Elijah pushed his glasses up his nose and looked in the direction that Purdue was going to be heading, knowing exactly what Purdue was thinking.
“I don't think you want to do this...” Elijah said uneasily. “I haven't even gone over there...and I spend all day, every day in this place.”
“Aye, you're right.”
Elijah was right. Purdue didn't want to do this. Purdue never wanted to have to be in this position, certainly not so soon. It was something he’d promised himself he wouldn't do, but they were out of options. This was the best way for him to get some sort of answers.
Once Elijah was gone, Purdue walked through the deep vault room, glancing at all of the relics he’d collected, sitting in their glass containers. There were so many memories kept in those display cases, locked safely away in this high tech vault that the Black Sun had. They were far safer than they’d been when they were stolen from him, hopefully secure enough to never be taken again.
Those weren't the displays he was there for, though. Purdue was looking for a much larger display case than any of those, one that had much more different contents than the rest of them. He walked straight up to the tall box shape in the corner of the room, the shape that was shrouded by curtains running down its length, hiding what was inside.
Purdue definitely didn't want to do this. He would’ve preferred to be anywhere else in that moment. There were just too many unanswered questions, things that he wanted to know but didn't even have the slightest idea of where to start looking for them. He needed a second opinion, a second pair of eyes that was more knowledgeable on what he was seeking.
This was the only way.
The curtains draped over the sheets of reinforced glass fell away and Purdue saw his greatest enemy for the first time in a while.
Julian Corvus sat in the display case that was serving as his holding cell. Purdue thought it was the right place to put an immortal man like Julian, among all of the rest of the world's oddities. The impenetrable vault that protected the other artifacts served just as well as a prison that would be impossible for Julian to break free from. Julian would last forever in that glass box, never starve or dehydrate or even fall prey to disease. Thanks to his immortality, it would be everlasting imprisonment. It was what that bastard deserved for nearly destroying Purdue's life beyond repair.
Julian icy gray eyes looked up from where he perched.
“Mr. Purdue...and what brings the wise and powerful leader of the Order of the Black Sun to my humble abode? I don't believe I am worthy of such a prestigious honor.” Julian managed a thin little smile, but there was no joy forming it. There was nothing but malice. “What's the old saying...heavy is the head that wears the crown. So tell me, Mr. Purdue, how much does your neck hurt?”
“Much less now that I kicked out everyone in the order that would’ve wanted to strangle me. It's been a much more pleasant place now that you're not controlling everything and everyone. The Order of the Black Sun was always bad. You just made it so much worse somehow. But now it can actually be a group dedicated to doing good for the world.”
“I would’ve done plenty of good for the world, but you just had to keep ruining everything...”
“You tried to become a god. I highly doubt that would’ve been good. A psychopath shouldn't be the leader of anything. Not the Order of the Black Sun, and definitely not the leader of everyone else on this rock, aye?”
The little smile that was on Julian's face faded. He wasn't even going to pretend to be cordial now.
“Why even come here?” Julian hissed bitterly. “Have you just come to gloat? Is that it? Come to admire your greatest trophy?”
“No,” Purdue said bluntly. “And you’ve far from the best trophy I have.” He glanced around at the other artifacts on display. “You didn't even make the top fifty.”
“Then why?”
“I just have a few questions to ask you, Julian. That's all.”
“And you expect me to answer them? Why should I?”
“Because you’ve nothing better to do.”
Julian didn't look like he could argue with that point. “I suppose that’s true. Go on then.”
Purdue started recounting what happened with their mysterious assailant. He left out details about the actual expedition that they were on, though. There was no need to tell Julian that much. He just needed to tell him enough to hopefully get some answers.
“He seemed to know a lot about the order. He kept using the word 'we' and he mentioned some old crone, that's how he put it. He said she wasn't going to be happy with him before he bit down on cyanide and that was the end of our conversation.”
Julian's icy gray eyes seemed to shine a little brighter now. His lips curled into another small knowing smirk. Julian slowly rose to his feet, running the tips of his fingers against the glass membrane between them as he stood up. He clearly knew something, just like Purdue thought. Now it was just a matter of getting Julian to share what he knew.
“Fascinating. I should’ve expected as much.” Julian showed that demented grin that sometimes pulled apart his face. “Didn't I warn you?”
Purdue didn't appreciate being teased. Julian knew damn well that he hadn't said anything about anyone else in the game.
“You didn't warn me about shit.”
Julian ran his finger in a circular motion along his glass confinements.
“Oh, I suppose I didn't...” Julian's sick grin never left his face now. He was back where he liked to be in—in control of the situation. He pressed his palm against the glass and leaned forward as much as he could inside of there. That chilling gaze of his fixed on Purdue, bearing into him. “Look at you. You're so proud of being an expert on history...but you know so little about the history of this order. Next to nothing. You probably should’ve done more research before so callously taking my job.”
Purdue hated letting Julian have even an iota of power over him, but Purdue didn't have a choice right now. Julian very clearly had the information that he wanted but information was a powerful tool, and it gave Julian an undeniable edge over him at the moment. Purdue didn't care about this tug of war for power. Purdue just wanted answers.
“Who are they?”
Julian relished every second of this and he didn't rush to give any answers. He was savoring the moment, looking at Purdue with pity like he was a child who didn't know anything. That was how Purdue felt, even. He felt stupid for not having made sure that he wasn't missing anything important when he became leader of the order. Even Julian, who had butchered his way into command, had known about whatever threat this was.
“Let me out of this dreadful cage and I’ll gladly tell you all about the old lady.”
That was it—Julian's power play. This was the moment he had probably been waiting for his entire time inside of that display case. He wanted Purdue to show a brief moment of weakness that he could exploit, and here it was. Julian might have even known that this strange group would come, and was just waiting for it to happen before trying to make a move, withholding sharing any information until the time was right. And now, Julian had leverage and he was making use of it.
“That's not going to happen,” Purdue said firmly.
“How sadistic of you, Mr. Purdue. Robbing me of basic human rights. No food. No water. I can't exactly stretch my legs inside of this box...throw me in a cell, at least. Some place where I could take a few steps. Lay on a bed. Anything.”
“No.” Purdue wouldn't let Julian win, not after it took all of that time and effort to finally beat him. Purdue finally had him contained and kept away from hurting anyone else. He wouldn't release Julian for anything. Purdue couldn't. “No, you're going to stay right where you are. I'd love to know what you know...but if you don't feel lik
e sharing...then you don't have to. I'll find out from someone else, or just wait for this crone and whoever else wants to take a shot to show up.”
Julian suddenly smacked his hand against the glass, showing a quick flash of anger. That was his way. He was good at keeping up a calm, controlled demeanor until things didn’t go his way. Then the vicious demon beneath would emerge.
“You need me! You need what I know!”
“Then spit it out, you bastard!” Purdue shouted back. He was sick of Julian's games, and Purdue was tired of having to even speak to him. This was already more conversation than Purdue ever wanted to have with Julian. “Spit it out and maybe I'll consider letting you stretch your legs at some point?”
Purdue turned away and moved for the rope to pull the curtains back up over the glass cage. He’d love to know whatever Julian was hiding, but Purdue had no qualms with just putting Julian away forever and ending this drama.
Julian's desperation showed all over his face, and his hand squeaked against the glass as he slid it down his cage. He tapped his brow against the glass wall between them and ground his teeth in frustration.
“The old lady isn’t someone you want to meet.”
Purdue was surprised that Julian even said anything at all.
“You may have prided yourself as the Order of the Black Sun's greatest enemy, Purdue...but that wasn't entirely true. You were just the one that we knew it was at least possible to defeat.”
“And you couldn't even do that,” Purdue reiterated. “So this old lady is an enemy of the order. What's her name?”
“I don't know,” Julian said. “I've never known. No one does. But I do know this...if you have upset her, then she’ll come. And when she does, you don't stand a chance. None of you do.”
“Very cryptic...I need specifics.”
Julian sat back down in his glass box.
“I've told you what you need to know, and considering this is your fault, be thankful I even told you that much.”
“My fault?”
“I had plans in place when I was leader...plans that would’ve continued to protect us from the old lady's wrath. Those plans were squashed the moment you took the Black Sun from me.”
“You mean the moment I kicked your ass, aye?”
Julian ignored him.
“Thanks to you, the Order of the Black Sun will be finished soon enough. It was bad enough with you in charge but now...there’ll be nothing left at all. You want more information than that? Then you better release me.”
Purdue started pulling the rope that heaved the curtains back over the glass cage. As the curtains started rising and blocking his view of Julian, he stopped.
“You're really not going to tell me more?”
“No,” Julian hissed. “Not until I am out of this box...and by then, it may be too late. The old lady might have already destroyed everything. Good luck, Mr. Purdue. You were always ill fit to lead the order. I hope you can see that now. Do try to enjoy the last moments you have.”
Purdue was sick of hearing Julian, so Purdue pulled the curtains completely up over the glass cage, draping it over and obscuring Julian from view.
This old lady sounded like some scary story, but Purdue wasn't afraid. He wasn't going to let some spooky tale get into his head. For all he knew, all of Julian's cryptic warnings were nothing more than fairytales to give Purdue a reason to release him. Or maybe, it was all true? Either way, Purdue wasn't going to let himself get freaked out by it.
Whatever was coming, whoever this old lady was, and whatever her beef with the Black Sun was—Purdue would find a way to handle it, and he’d do that without having to grovel to the man he hated most.
20
THE BLACK SUN'S NEW FLAMES
The team that had found Genghis Khan's tomb were all gathered around and Purdue was struggling to even figure out what to say to them. This was supposed to be something that wasn't too, too stressful. It was just regarded as a standard mission that they could all tackle together, to build bonds, and get to know one another. It was meant to unite both the old and the new members. It was intended to mend old wounds. It was supposed to give them all a common goal to achieve together. They’d done that—but it was far from an easy trip.
They all looked a bit shell shocked. Nina appeared as the most composed, but she’d been through worse than the rest of them before. She’d endured a lot of dangerous adventures with Purdue and recently had managed to survive a long imprisonment. If anything, she just looked disappointed that they’d almost been killed again. She could probably have done without the dramatic search.
Yusuke looked tired and stressed; none of his old expeditions probably went as poorly before and likely didn’t involve so much violence and death. He might be regretting joining the Order of the Black Sun altogether. On his own, he’d never been chased down by a helicopter that was trying to murder him. The Black Sun was supposed to make things easier for Yusuke, not harder. Hopefully, this wasn't enough to spook him, but Purdue wouldn't blame him if it was. If Yusuke wanted to leave the order now and go back to his successful solo career, Purdue would totally understand. There’d be no bad blood over something like that. They were both professionals when it came to traveling the world in search of lost relics, but that didn't mean they were both meant for the outcomes of Purdue's expeditions.Additionally, Riley was somehow still smiling, but her grin was much less bright than at the start of all of this chaos. She still offered jokes and sarcastic remarks, but they weren't quite as frequent as before. There was a lull between them sometimes and in those moments, he could see her bubbly personality start to crack. Her bright light was dimmer, but it was still enough to light up a dull room. Purdue wondered if those visions of butchered slaves on top of that plateau were going to haunt her as badly as he knew they were going to stick with him. Sleep would be difficult for him for some time, and maybe it’d be hard for her, too. He hoped it wasn't too bad. She deserved some rest after this hellish ordeal.
Then there was August. That mountain of a man wasn't the same suspicious brute that Purdue had seen when they first set out on this venture. August was battered, bruised, and bloodied from his fight with Oniel and from all of the action. Purdue knew that August was looking for some excitement and possibly the chance to crack some skulls, but this was probably more than even August had ever expected or wanted. When August had been an enforcer for Julian Corvus, August must have been used to being in control and being the one dishing out the pain. This time, he spent a lot of that time on the run, under duress, or taking some hard hits himself. Still, throughout all of it, August had more than earned Purdue's trust. August wasn't just a blunt, muscular instrument, and he certainly wasn't the conniving and calculating traitor that Purdue had accused him of initially. August was a good man, loyal to a fault, who was willing to get his hands dirty if need be.
Purdue himself didn't feel the same as he had at the start of this, especially now knowing that there was another mysterious force out there trying to mess with his tenure as leader of the Black Sun. All of this had been a strange experience full of growing pains as well as actual pains, but Purdue had made it through. And despite how worn out his team looked, he was proud of all of them and elated that they’d all made it through alive.
Now it was just a matter of what came next; that was still a discussion.
“So,” Purdue broke the silence as they all sat around the table. “Was it everything you expected it to be?”
They all looked tat one another awkwardly, like no one could decide who should even answer that silly question. Nina looked like she wanted to respond, but she preferred for one of the newer members to voice an opinion.
“Not exactly,” Yusuke finally confessed. “I knew that your adventures were something to behold but this...I didn't realize how often you got yourself into situations where you were going to die...and somehow are still alive.”
Purdue let out a little chuckle. “Escaping near-death has become something of a
bad habit for me. One might even call it a skill, aye? This one wasn't the most dangerous trip I've been on, but it was up there at times. Especially since August was waiting to put a knife in my back the whole time.” August shifted in his seat, frustrated, and opening his mouth to start defending himself, but Purdue waved him down and smiled. “I'm only kidding, big man. I know, I know. You never would have used a knife.”
August raised a brow but then the enormous man settled a little, nodding and even offering a smirk. He really was a teddy bear once you got to know him and got past the fact that he looked like some sort of human bulldozer ready to plow through everything and everyone.
“Well, I had fun,” Riley proclaimed, throwing her hands up in a lazy shrug. “Most fun I've had in years. Maybe even ever.”
There it was. He saw her expression falter just a little in between her jokes.
“I could’ve done without the crazy guy with the helicopter chasing us through the forest,” Nina acknowledged. “Have we figured out who exactly that even was yet? That would make things a lot easier if we even knew anything at all.”
“I spoke with Julian...”
Nina was immediately beside herself, her jaw practically on the floor. “Why would you do that?”
“Easy, love,” Purdue said with some nervousness. Purdue knew she wouldn't like that he’d communicated with Julian, especially after everything Julian put her through. She would’ve preferred that Julian just stay in that box, with the curtain draped over it, and never had any interaction with the outside world ever again. She didn't want to risk anyone even talking to him. Purdue understood her misgivings about it, but he hoped she’d forgive him and understand why it had to be done. “The Order of the Black Sun has a history with whoever our helicopter killer was and whoever he was working for. So I just had a few questions for my predecessor, that's all.”
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