Charles nearly flinched at the thought. All of those worries he had seemed to slip right off his wrinkly face, replaced by a remembrance of a time when he was just a butler, doing his best to help his boss.
“Of course I want to help him...”
“Then stop your whining,” Nina said bluntly. You won't just be helping Purdue. You'll be helping everyone. And don't you want to bring down the Order of the Black Sun?”
The old man scratched his chin. “If we are being honest, I would much rather be home with a nice book in my hands. Something pleasant to read.”
“They burned down your home, Chuck,” Jean said with an awkward laugh. “So they took away that possibility too.”
Charles relented and gave a grave, worried nod of his head. “Fine, fine. Let's get on with it quickly then.”
“You really didn't have a choice in the matter,” Elijah said coldly. “I'm the one flying the helicopter.”
Nina smiled and everyone else in the chopper followed suit. At least they were all on the same page. Jean was right about Charles too. Despite his advanced age, his newfound immortality could be very useful, especially when Julian Corvus had his own eternal durability that they would have to worry about.
Now that the debate was settled, Nina let the hum of the spinning blades above lure her back to sleep, knowing that it could be the last time she got any rest.
NINA WOKE up to Jean tapping her. “Wake up. We're here.”
When the haze of her drowsiness wore off and lifted, Nina looked out of the window at an enormous dark structure settled in the midst of an icy landscape. It looked so wrong, like seeing a skyscraper in the middle of a grassy field.
“So what's the plan then?”
“I go in first,” Elijah said solemnly. “Make some sort of distraction. I'll come up with some reason that I decided to come. While I do that, you all sneak around as best as you can.”
It wasn't a great plan, but it was better than fighting their way in head on. At least this way, they weren't going to be immediately gunned down.
When the helicopter landed, Nina could feel herself tensing up. This was it. The fight that she had anticipated for so long. Every day she spent wasting away in that dungeon, she had imagined what it would be like to be free and to fight the people that had turned her into their prisoner. For one thing, she imagined a warmer climate but this would have to do. By the end of the day, she wanted to have Julian Corvus locked in a cell and to be looking at him from the other side of the bars. He may not have been able to die...so if she couldn't kill him, putting him through what he did to her would be a good enough revenge.
“Everyone ready?”
“No,” Charles said bluntly. “I wish I was at home with a nice drink and my favorite book in my hands.”
“I know,” Elijah said coldly. “But beggars can't be choosers. We all hate the Order of the Black Sun. We all hate Julian. Let's show them just how much we hate them.”
Nina smiled. “Gladly.”
THE PLAN STARTED off well enough. Elijah got out of the helicopter and met a few Black Sun operatives in the snow, halfway between the chopper and the temple. While he was speaking with them, hopefully making up some convincing scenario that would explain his arrival, the others began their attempts to get into the temple undetected. Nina led the way as the three of them kept low and used the multiple helicopters surrounding the temple as cover. The Order of the Black Sun probably hadn't expected that their vehicles would be used as a fairly decent shroud for three of their escaped prisoners to use.
Nina scanned the surroundings, being sure to check to see if there were any sentries standing guard besides the ones that Elijah was distracting. Every so often, she would glance back at Elijah to check how he was doing. As they got close to the temple entrance, she looked back and saw a much less civilized conversation happening.
Elijah threw himself onto one of the men he was speaking with and threw another hard right hook into the man's face. Just like Marco back at the facility, it was a good punch that knocked out the sentry with one hit. The second guard though, moved to gun Elijah down. She heard muffled shouts from that distance but just enough to make out the words. “What the hell are you doing--”
Before the guard could open fire, Elijah had tackled that guard into the snow too. For someone who was very humble about his fighting abilities and who admitted that he was very inexperienced in combat, Elijah had a talent for fighting dirty and knocking people out. His form could use some work and he rolled off of his opponents, prying their guns out of their holsters. He came marching toward the temple where the others were, looking embarrassed. He straightened his glasses which had nearly been knocked off his face in the struggle.
“You saw that?”
“I saw that...” Nina said awkwardly. “It was a good fight.”
“I surprise myself sometimes,” Elijah said. “Here.” He handed one of the guns to Nina and the other to Jean. “Fists are one thing. You really don't want me shooting a gun. We'll all be dead within minutes.”
“I'll take your word for it,” Nina said. She didn't have a huge amount of experience with firearms either but she had enough to know not to accidentally riddle everyone in sight with bullets. “Let's go. We can't let Julian figure out how the altar works. If he does...then we might be in a very bad situation.”
THEY ENTERED the temple and were met by a number of light fixtures illuminating the whole place. The Black Sun had certainly done a good job making sure they could see inside of such a dreary place. But it also gave them less cover to work with when sneaking around. There were a few different corridors they could take, but if they wanted to find the altar, the best move might be to split up.
“Elijah, you and I will take this corridor. Jean and Charles, you go left.” She dictated the plan without any hesitation. All she cared about now was getting the job done. They had their chance to leave and flee far away from the Order of the Black Sun, but now that they were here, they needed to settle all of this once and for all. The others followed her plan and got moving. Each pair had at least one person with a gun in case they ran into any trouble. Hopefully, they wouldn't bump into anyone too dangerous.
Almost as she had the thought, they heard three gunshots ring out behind them, echoing through the hall and bouncing through the temple. It had to be Jean and Charles. They might still be alive but those gunshots had no doubt alerted every single one of the Black Sun operatives that were stationed within the temple. Elijah moved to fall back and Nina caught his arm before he could leave. “Where are you going?”
“I'll check on them. You go on ahead.”
Elijah didn't let her argue the point. He broke free of her grip and ran back down the halls. She had to press on. Hopefully the altar wasn't too far away. Even if she could just break it somehow, that would stop Julian from being able to use it. There were more gunshots behind her but she had to ignore it. Whatever was happening, she just hoped that those gun shots weren't killing her friends.
Nina rounded the corner and found herself face to face with Julian Corvus. He froze and those icy gray eyes of his grew large. Usually he was so scarily calm but now...now he looked genuinely surprised.
“Dr. Gould...how did you--”
Nina didn't hesitate and had the upper hand. She expected him to be here. Julian was still reeling from seeing her and she took full advantage of that surprise. Nina fired a whole clip of bullets into Julian's face, causing him to stagger backward. It wouldn't kill him but it would delay him long enough for her to get by. He held his hands over his bloody face but she knew whatever wounds she'd inflicted wouldn't last long. His immortality was probably already patching them up. She took the chance to sprint past him down a narrow dark corridor until she found herself in a large chamber.
A stone table stood in the center of the room and she recognized Purdue sprawled atop it on his back. Nearby, Sam Cleave was tied to a pillar. Sam saw her first, and his mouth fell open.
“N
ina?”
“Nina? Where?” Purdue cried out, trying to shuffle his head around enough to see.
“It's me,” Nina said, rushing forward.
Purdue couldn't believe what he was seeing when she appeared over him. He blinked hard, like she would suddenly disappear when he opened his eyes back up but she remained. “We were trying to save you.”
“Beat you to it,” Nina said with a smile. “Now I'm the one that has to save you slow bastards.”
The second Purdue was broken free, Nina threw her arms around him and hugged him tight. She did the same with Sam when he cut free from the pillar. She never thought she was see either of them ever again. It didn't feel real and she was scared that they would turn to dust in her arms. She really hoped this was real.
Julian appeared behind them. There were no bullet sized crater in his face, no sign at all that he had been shot. “Well...look at this. The gang back together. Reunited. It's almost heartwarming to see but mostly...it's just a reminder that I've let this go on far too long. I should have just killed you, Dr. Gould. How did you even get out?”
“I had help,” Nina said defiantly. “You're not nearly as loved by the order as you think you are.”
Julian tightened his tie and brushed off his suit. “That will change today. When I ensure that the Order of the Black Sun gets everything.”
“Yeah, that's not going to happen.”
Elijah, Jean, and Charles entered the chamber. Jean had Mona Greer's book of shadows in his hands and Charles had palmed the pearl that could control the ocean. Whatever fight they had gotten into in the halls had ended with them reclaiming those items from the Black Sun. That was much better than them being dead. They looked more than ready for a fight, and now they had the numbers.
“First Sasha conspires against me...now you, Mr. Dane. How very disappointing. Is there really so little loyalty within the Order of the Black Sun?”
Elijah pushed his glasses up the ridge of his nose. “There is when there's someone like you running things. Some leaders don't deserve loyalty.”
“We gave you everything you wanted. Relics to study. A place to live--”
“I was still a prisoner,” Elijah said sharply and glanced at Nina. “You just dressed it up differently. It took me awhile to see that. But my vision's never been the best.”
“We were all prisoners,” Jean-Luc said, the book of shadows opened. “But not anymore.”
Julian didn't look worried at all about their presence. If anything, he looked excited to get to face them. “Is that old witch's diary supposed to scare me? It really doesn't.”
“In the hands of an amateur like Purdue, maybe not. But I've spent years studying the craft. I know how to make it hurt.”
Julian laughed. “So what? Magic or no magic, I can't be killed.”
“You will wish you could be.”
Jean held out his hand and started reading from the book, the words barely sounded like they came from any language at all. They oozed and unfurled from his lips like it took all of his strength to speak them.
Julian went to reach for the book, to try and pry it out of Jean's hands but he suddenly recoiled and stopped, struck by an unseen force. He was quivering and looked paralyzed. All he could manage was a groan of pain and blood started seeping down from his eye sockets, his nose, his mouth, and even his ears. He tried to move but his body was frozen in place. The spell Jean cast had taken hold of him, restraining all of his movement and tearing away at his insides.
Purdue knew that the book of shadows was filled with all kinds of brutal spells. The contents of the tome had supposedly driven previous readers mad. The things inside those pages had made someone as notoriously optimistic as David Purdue act with extreme caution in his handling of it, and had kept him from daring to read most of it.
Jean-Luc Gerard had spent years reading all kinds of grimoires. If anyone could handle reading from Mona Greer's manuscript, it was him.
Julian hissed as more of his insides streamed out of him. Cuts started forming across his body like an invisible scalpel was slashing away at him. Thanks to his regenerative power, the cuts were healing themselves soon after they appeared but more kept coming. He may have been immortal, but he could still feel pain.
“You must have enjoyed keeping me prisoner...I barely had anything to do with your fight with Purdue. I barely knew the man, but you took me hostage anyway just because I was having dinner at his house. You didn't need to do that. I wasn't his friend. I was an associate at best. But you just wanted to hurt as many people as you could. You're going to regret having ever done that.”
Julian stumbled backward, holding his head as Jean-Luc chanted a new incantation that seemed to be melting Julian's brain, from what Purdue could surmise. Who knew what other warped things that the magic from that book could do to him.
“Your book store will burn!” Julian screamed as he held his skull. “All of it.”
“No it won't,” Jean said calmly and started speaking new words. Julian was lifted off of his feet, levitating into the air and was suddenly thrown hard against the wall, pinned there by some invisible force. He was still screaming in pain. “No, you're done hurting anyone.”
The power coming from that old book emanated throughout the room. The cruelty and malice of its original author practically oozed off the pages and seeped onto the floor. Purdue could just imagine that witch, Mona Greer, reciting those same spells and watching her victims be completely eviscerated like Julian would have been if not for his own power. Those chilling and forbidden sounds that Jean-Luc read so perfectly probably hadn't been spoken since they left Mona Greer's lips hundreds of years ago. It was almost like she was in the room, and that made Purdue extremely uncomfortable, but he was grateful that her magic was doing so much damage to Julian.
Blood started running down from Jean's left eye as he kept reading and performing the spell. The book's contents were even taking a toll on him but he was doing far better than anyone else could have in that position.
Jean seemed to notice the ill effects that were taking place and he wiped the blood off his cheek with his free hand before screaming a new spell and Julian's neck suddenly snapped violently. The Black Sun's leader slid down the wall to the floor as Jean closed the book. It wasn't enough to kill him but snapping his neck would at least take him out of commission for a bit until his body inevitably mended itself.
Nina couldn't believe what she was seeing. They were actually winning this battle.
14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN - THE LOVELESS GIRL
Kendra bolted out of the room and Sam immediately took off after her. He didn't want to leave the others behind with Julian but at the same time, he needed to sort out his own private issues that were happening inside of this temple. He needed to get to the bottom of everything with Kendra, and find out where they really stood.
“Kendra stop!”
She was bounding up old narrow steps upward and Sam kept close behind. The temple was a tall structure and there were many steps to take but they kept ascending until they came to an opening that brought them to the very top of the temple, suddenly being bathed in sunlight. Kendra glanced back at him but didn't otherwise acknowledge him, running across the black rooftop, like there was no way she would ever be caught.
Kendra came to the edge of the roof and looked over the edge. It was a long way down and she turned around to face her ex-lover. She had a knife held tightly in her grip, waving it at Sam threateningly.
“Well this is romantic, isn't it, Sam? This view is breathtaking. Is that why you followed me? You wanted one last date, is that it?”
“Not especially, no,” Sam said honestly. “Frankly, I think this might be a good time to tell you that we're through. I'm breaking up with you officially as of this moment. It wasn't working between us, and if I'm going to be truthful, I could probably do a lot better than you.”
Kendra looked stunned by his words. Obviously he was playing a little coy and sarca
stic but she seemed to really be taking it to heart. But that moment of strange pain was replaced by more of her ugly laughing.
“Oh, how will I ever recover!?”
Sam still hadn't come to terms with what Kendra actually was, but it helped when she was standing right in front of him, no longer hiding behind her act. He could see her real face, the one that filled him with so much anger. She had played him, completely manipulated him.
Nina was suddenly by his side, having followed him up to the roof, and gently touched his hand. “You okay? Everything good?”
“I'm good,” Sam said.
“So is this your new girlfriend then?” Kendra cackled. “You got over me that easily? Or were you seeing her the whole time? Keeping secrets, Sammy. That's not good for any healthy relationship. Love requires trust and honesty, doesn't it? I think so.”
The real Kendra wasn't the sweet, supportive, and empathetic girl that he thought he was sleeping beside all of those nights. No, she was a disgusting creature that loved to play psychological warfare. She loved playing mind games, that's all it ever was to her. A turn of a game, and she was just waiting for the next roll of the dice to see if she could start playing for real—and she was. This was the real Kendra, and he hated her with every fiber of his being.
“You know how good Sammy is in the sack, right?” Kendra laughed, addressing Nina. “Don't you? I heard conflicting things about your relationship. He and I, though, there was no conflict about it. He was loving every second he was with me. I think he might have even been falling in love.”
“Get over yourself,” Sam said, but the sting of her words wasn't entirely without truth. “You're just like all of the other Black Sun cronies. Sad people who joined that cult just to feel like they had a purpose in life.”
“So what are you going to do then, Sam? Kill me? That doesn't seem like you at all. You were so gentle. That's what you are. Your hands are soft and so are those lips. You couldn't hurt me even if you wanted to. No. You're going to tell me off and try and convince yourself that you hate me, but you still want me even now. You're probably hoping this is all some sort of trick or a bad dream.”
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