Order of the Black Sun Box Set 10

by Preston William Child

  “Come, Kendra,” Galen said from behind and started leading the new girl away. “Have I told you about my autobiography yet?”

  As Sasha reached for the handle, she heard Kendra respond with a quiet, “yes.”

  After this abysmal conversation, Sasha might even enjoy Julian's erratic behavior. Better to be having an interesting conversation with a psychopath than a nonsensical conversation with two fake buffoons.

  Sasha opened the door and found Julian's cold gaze waiting for her on the other side. He was leaning back in his chair with that fake, pleasant smile on his face. He waved her in. “Dearest Sasha, how are you this evening?”

  “I'm fine, Julian,” she said, hesitating to take the seat across the desk from him.

  “Good to hear. I know all of this...me taking charge of the order and pushing it in this bold new direction..it's a lot to take in all at once, isn't it? Be honest, now. I understand the growing pains.”

  Sasha had known Julian long enough to never speak honestly when he was asking for it. It meant he didn't like the truth and wanted to hear someone dare to say it.

  “For some people, maybe. But not for me.” Julian looked curious and even a little surprised. Sasha continued. “Having been part of the Eclipsed, I already looked at you as my leader. It wasn't new for any of us from the Eclipsed. We'd already looked at you that way for a long time. Much more than we looked at the older leadership that stepped all over us.”

  “That's true, I suppose.” Julian pursed his lips and voiced his thoughts quietly, almost to himself. “We have known each other for quite some time...what do you make of all of this?”

  “All of what?”

  “This.” Julian threw his arms up casually, like he was talking about the whole world around them. “What we're dealing with right now. David Purdue's miraculous survival.”

  “I--” She almost slipped—she wasn't supposed to know about that. She did her best to act genuinely surprised, and even more importantly, confused. “What are you talking about?”

  Julian stared at her, and she grew cold just looking into those eyes. She could practically see the thoughts moving behind the sheets of ice.

  “David Purdue is alive,” Julian finally said but seemed to be observing every muscle in her face as he did. “He made it out of that fire and has been planning to undermine me. To hit us back for what we did to him.”

  “How is that possible?” Sasha knew the answer already, but she couldn't make that obvious. After all, she was the answer. She was the reason. “We had that whole place completely surrounded when it burned down. We made sure.”

  “Well it turns out someone is either incompetent or treacherous. Whichever the case, they are responsible for David Purdue's escape.”

  “So how are we going to figure out who messed up?”

  “Simple,” Julian said. “I already have.”

  There was a knot tightening in Sasha's stomach. There was no way he could know; not that quickly at least. She'd been more than careful and covered any possible tracks that could connect her to Purdue.

  “I have spoken with every single operative that was stationed around the mansion that night...everyone who was supposed to make sure Purdue didn't escape that fire.”

  She hadn't heard anything about these interrogations...then again, now that she thought about it, she hadn't seen any of her fellow members that would have been questioned. Anyone who was assigned to form a perimeter that night had been absent lately.

  “So...this is one of those interviews then?” Sasha asked, trying to veil her nervousness.

  “It is.”

  Sasha shook her head and laughed, like this was a ridiculous situation. Hopefully, it didn't come off as suspicious. “Really?”

  “I know, it seems extreme,” Julian said, mirroring her laughter. Anytime Julian laughed though, it usually meant something wasn't funny. It usually meant something horrible was about to happen. “I saved meeting with you for last since I thought it would just be a waste of time. In fact, even right now, I still think it must be a waste of time. As much as I enjoy our conversations...there's no point asking you about it, is there? You worked with me the longest out of everyone that was standing guard that night. Ever since I saved your from being buried in that temple. Do you remember?”

  Sasha nodded. Of course she remembered that day well and all of the horrors that she had seen Julian commit since then. Even during that first meeting, there was something about him that frightened her, but she never could have imagined the depths of his depravity.

  “It wasn't likely that you were the one responsible. You wouldn't make a foolish mistake like letting Purdue slip by you. You're far too good for that. And you certainly wouldn't have intentionally let him go.”

  Sasha shook her head, relieved that she hadn't been found out. All of that time she'd spent having to follow him and being stuck under his thumb had paid off. It had given her his trust. As much as he scared her, and she hated him, at least she had that to fall back on.

  Julian's cold gray eyes narrowed. “So why did you do it?”

  Sasha' face froze, and the question punctured her brain, knocking all of her thoughts around in a jumbled mess.

  No. No, he did know. He saw right through her.

  “Why did I...?” she asked, trying desperately to cling to her crumbling act.

  “Betray me,” Julian said simply. “Betray the Order of the Black Sun.”

  Julian spoke with so much confidence. He was absolutely certain that he was right. But how had he figured it out? She'd been so careful. Where had she slipped up?

  “I questioned each and every person we had around that house. Thoroughly. I made sure none of them were lying. I poked. I prodded. I peeled. They opened their mouths about all kinds of dirty secrets, but none of them confessed to allowing Purdue to live. I killed each of them after they were questioned just to be sure. Everyone standing guard that night is gone. Everyone except you.”

  “I didn't—”

  Julian put his index finger up to his lips to ask for silence. “Shh. There's no need, dear Sasha. I don't want to have to use the same methods on you...especially when I know for a fact that you did it.”

  Sasha opened her mouth, but no words came out. All of the excuses, explanations, and defenses she could have used stayed stuck in her throat. There was no point in trying to deny it now. Those cold eyes saw the truth, and there would be no changing Julian's mind.

  “You slipped up,” Julian said with a shrug. “All of those trips you were taking after we stole all of Purdue's artifacts...you kept bringing worthless items as your excuse, saying that you were just carrying out assignments...when really you were ensuring David Purdue was alive and helping him recover. When Victor died, witnesses said they saw the man he was fighting run off with a woman. We both know who that woman was, don't we? Your blatant attempts to help Purdue gave you away.”

  Julian knew it all.

  “Do you deny it?”

  The jig was up. All of her hopes of quietly overthrowing Julian were gone. The only way now was to make the battle lines clear. That anger and frustration that she had been so meticulous in keeping under wraps needed to be unleashed now. There was no more pretending or faking loyalty. The truth was the only thing left.

  “No. I don't.”

  Julian's lips stretched into a demented grin. “Good. So you have made your choice. Sasha...Sasha, Sasha, Sasha, why betray the winning side? Why turn against me now after all this time? I've been trying to wrap my head around it, and I just can't understand why you would turn your back on the order now?”

  “Because you're a sick man, Julian. You always have been. You are ruining all of the potential that the Order of the Black Sun has. Everyone else may be fine following you and your psychosis, but I'm not going to let a lunatic like you burn this order to the ground. You won't pervert it to be just as warped as you. I won't let you.”

  “No?” Julian looked more than a little excited. “And what exactly
do you plan to do? Your hopes of undermining me by using Purdue don't seem to be going the way you hoped.”

  “They don't, do they?” Sasha said like she had accepted her failure. “But he's still out there. There's still a chance that you're going to lose as long as he's still out there. There's still a chance for you to be undermined after all.”

  “Perhaps,” Julian said with a yawn. “But you won't be part of it.”

  Sasha wasn't finished. She wanted to make sure that Julian realized all of this was his own fault. Her betrayal and Purdue's survival were all because of his actions. He needed to know that. “You should have just put a bullet in Purdue's head that night, but you needed your big moment of triumph. You asked for all of this to blow up in your face.”

  Julian started laughing—it was a cracked, humorless laugh that sounded dangerous. “If you wanted to remove me from my leadership so badly, you should have taken your own advice and put a bullet in me. But you didn't want to get your hands dirty. You were too afraid of how the rest of the order would react to such a bold move. You're too scared to realize that bold moves are the only moves anyone respects.”

  She wouldn't let it end here. She'd worked too hard and sacrificed too much to let Julian snuff out her resolve. Her grand plan wasn't panning out well, but she had to adapt to everything coming her way. She wouldn't be discarded like all of the others. She wouldn't let Julian win easily, even if it meant tossing her strategy out the window.

  “Maybe you're right,” Sasha said, managing a small smile. “But I'm not afraid of that anymore.”

  “Oh?”

  Sasha drew her pistol, but when she pointed it at Julian's face, he didn't bat an eye. Even with Sasha staring him in the face, he didn't look even a little concerned. That same, entitled arrogance was plastered on his face. It was like the weapon wasn't there at all.

  He spoke calmly. “Consider yourself expelled from the Order of the Black Sun.”

  Two guards burst into the room. Sasha swung around and fired at them instinctively. A couple of her bullets made contact, but Julian grabbed hold of her wrist to help out his minions. Sasha threw her elbow out, and it smashed against Julian's face, knocking him back against the desk.

  Those gunshots would have alerted the whole facility—and sure enough, an alarm started ringing. Her career as a member of the Black Sun was quickly crumbling around her, and she needed to find a way out. The men pushed their way into the room, despite the bullet holes in their bodies, and charged at her.

  She used the rest of the bullets in her clip to stop them before they could get to her. She turned back to Julian, who was just laughing against the desk, rubbing his bloody nose. The alarms were still blaring around her.

  “You've made quite the mess, Sasha,” Julian said through his chuckles. “You going to kill me?”

  He still didn't seem worried at all, which was infuriating. There were footsteps coming down the corridor. The might of the Black Sun would be closing in on her any moment. If she stayed, she would be caught and killed for her betrayal. She might be able to kill Julian, but he wouldn't made it easy; she probably wouldn't be able to do it before the guards came and stopped her. The best choice was to get out of there, to make a break from the Black Sun while she still could.

  Sasha wanted to kill Julian more than anything, but that chance was gone. She needed to escape and worry about that another time. There was no point letting herself get caught if she couldn't guarantee that Julian would at least be dead.

  She turned away from Julian and could hear him cackling as she ran from the room and out into the corridors. Those laughs echoed down the halls, even overshadowing the alarms that were ringing out around her.

  Sasha passed by an operative. “Sasha! What's going on?”

  “Something in Julian's office,” Sasha replied frantically, thinking on her feet. “Hurry!”

  In the chaos, that operative never bothered to wonder why Sasha was running the other direction. He probably would soon enough, but for now, her lie had worked well enough. More guards and members hurried by, passing her, but she knew her destination was far away from this place.

  She burst out of the doors of the base to the outside world, knowing that it may have been the last time she was ever inside of the place that she had called home for so long. The Order of the Black Sun had given her a real purpose, and she saw the potential of what that secret society could be. Unfortunately, her ideal vision for it didn't seem possible, no matter how hard she fought for it. At least not while Julian Corvus was leading.

  It was just starting to truly dawn on Sasha that she was abandoning her old life and had turned her back on an organization that had defined her in recent years. It could be a terrible mistake, and part of her was scared that was. But the other part of her knew that what she was doing was right and just. Julian had to be stopped. If that meant being a traitor, a liar, or a thief, then so be it. It was better than being dragged down to hell by Julian like the rest of the Black Sun was being. Someone had to take a stand, even if it meant sacrificing everything.

  She didn't look back at her former home. She had to keep looking ahead.

  Hopefully that idiot Purdue was still alive and waiting for her instruction. He was one of the only people she knew that wouldn't be trying to kill her. The Order of the Black Sun and Julian Corvus were now her enemies, and David Purdue may have been her best friend. Her actions—everything she had done in recent months—had caused her entire world to be flipped upside down...but maybe that was exactly what the world needed right now.

  11

  CHAPTER ELEVEN – DESCENSION WITHIN THE RANKS

  The alarms had come and gone, but Galen Fitzgerald never bothered to even stand up. Whatever was going on in the rest of the facility wasn't his problem. They could sort it out themselves without him wasting his time limping across to the other end of the building.

  He had more pressing matters, like trying to make a new friend.

  “I published a book, you know...” Galen said, using one of his most frequently used lines when trying to make conversation. It usually got people's attention and gave them a good idea that he was someone worth talking to. “Guns, Glaives, and Guinness. I could get you a copy, if you like. It goes into all of the things I've done and all of the things I've seen all over the world.”

  It didn't get as positive of a reaction as he thought it would.

  “You don't say much, do you?”

  Galen tapped his cane against the floor over and over again as he sat across the table from the Order of the Black Sun' latest recruit—a Jamaican criminal named Oniel. He was a young man, but even still, it was clear he had plenty of years partaking in violence. Serving a crime boss would do that to someone, Galen supposed. It was no doubt a brutal job. His missing tongue was proof of that. Most bosses didn't tear out your tongue if you spoke out of turn. Oniel's did, yet he apparently still worked for him after. Galen could sort of understand. He still worked for the Black Sun even though they crippled his leg.

  Oniel's lack of a tongue made conversations somewhat difficult. He wasn't exactly chatty either. Galen, on the other hand, was loud, outgoing, and talkative enough for both of them.

  “You really made quite a ruckus in this place, you crazy bastard. All without speaking a single word aloud too.”

  The papers that Oniel had messily written on in broken English told a lengthy story about David Purdue trying to find gold and sunken treasure to repair his life. That former billionaire had gone so far as to align with the Wharf Man, a notorious crime kingpin and Oniel's old boss. Their arrangement hadn't ended well, and Oniel was all that remained of that criminal empire. Having heard Purdue mention the Order of the Black Sun, Oniel sought them out and told them about Purdue's survival.

  That bit of news had sent a tremor through the secret society—their greatest foe had lived, despite their leader's assurance that he had finally rid the world of him. Julian had never looked so flustered and embarrassed.

&
nbsp; “We all thought we killed him, and then you came in and turned our world topsy turvy, eh? Part of me is glad, though. I want to see him die this time, don't you?”

  Oniel nodded.

  Oniel was a tall, slender individual. Even with both of them sitting, the height difference was more than apparent. Something about his stare just made Galen uneasy. He was relieved that Oniel was on their side. He would hate to be on the receiving end of that hateful leer of his. That gaze would hopefully someday find Purdue, though, and that thought filled Galen with joy. He was really looking forward to that. If they had any luck, they would get their chance to go after Purdue, or Julian would at least let them take a shot at whatever was left of him.

  “Davy is also in the way of your life. He took away what should have been an easy win and easy money for you. He did the same to me. As far as I'm concerned, that smug entitled little bastard is a thief. Right?”

  Oniel slowly nodded again. He looked angry but not about what Galen was saying. That was just his natural state of being. Working as a criminal since being a toddler probably did that to a person. He was forged by far worse things than even fire.

  “You and me...” Galen gestured between them to emphasize the unseen connection they had. “We have real reason to hate Purdue.” Galen lowered his voice, knowing that was the safest choice in the Black Sun's base. The walls were good at overhearing things. “We have far more reason to hate him than even Julian does, eh? Davy treated me like dirt for years. He humiliated me when I considered us friends. That was my mistake. Ever thinking I had to prove myself to him when I already knew I was his better.”

  With such a quiet audience, Galen felt like he was almost doing a monologue. The conversation was stupendously one sided, but he didn't really mind. He always enjoyed giving a good speech, and that seemed like the best way to bond with the mute man.

  “And you...he came into your world as a broken man and then took everything you had. He ripped you off. He killed your boss. He killed your brother. He tore apart everything that you helped build in Jamaica. People like the others...like Julian...Julian is just mad that things didn't go the way he wanted them to. He acts like David Purdue is his to kill. He shouldn't be. He should be ours. Yours and mine. We have far more reason and far more right than Julian does.”