“Purdue,” Nina whispered. “Stop.”
“He looks like a Dana.”
They walked along the old battlements of the castle, giving them a clear view of the ocean. Seeing it, in all its vastness, made Purdue want more than anything to get the hell out of there. Even if the spear was there, they could always come back for it. All that mattered now was escaping the Black Sun. If they stayed much longer, they might not make it off the island alive.
Part of him wanted to shove Lindsay and Dana off the battlements to their deaths. It's not like he'd miss their enthralling conversations. The problem was Julian Corvus. There was something about him. Purdue couldn't put his finger on it.
Sam really wished he'd gotten a different tour group. At least Purdue and Nina were allowed to stick together. Though he didn't mind not being near Julian Corvus anymore. There was something about that man that wasn't quite right. The way he looked at him—no, through him—made Sam feel invisible. Julian's complete disregard for the other people around him. The way he talked about them, even. That was the type of man who believed the entire world was just his playhouse and everyone in it was his toy.
Sasha wasn't much better. He hadn't had the pleasure of watching her shoot Galen in the leg in that tomb but her actions since then didn't make him feel any better about her. Then again, he shouldn't have expected much from a member of the Black Sun to begin with.
Sasha hadn't exactly been nice in their short time together either. “You know what's funny? I almost completely forgot about you back in Jerusalem. When you left the tomb and I trapped all of your friends inside, you completely slipped my mind. I came back expecting to find everyone exactly where I left them, but you let them all out. Have been smacking myself ever since. Can't believe I'd forgotten you, then again ... I'm sure it's not the first time that's happened to you.”
They looked through a chamber with a long dining table. Supposedly it was where the Hospitallers shared their meals together. Sam wondered if they had sat there eating together, sharing the tale of how they found the Spear of Destiny and brought it back home with them. Maybe it was even placed in the middle of the table, and the entire order of crusaders admired their prize.
Sasha sat down in one of the seats, putting her feet up on the old table.
“Tell me something, Samuel. Why is it you spend so much time following David Purdue around all over the world? He has money. Dr. Gould has the knowledge. And you have, what exactly?”
“My world weariness,” Sam said. “Someone's got to anchor the billionaire and the doctor down. Remind them that the Earth is a big place full of people. Can't lose sight of that looking so hard for things that have been forgotten by just about everyone else.”
“Not forgotten by the Order of the Black Sun,” Sasha said, very visibly thinking about his answer. “We've never lost sight of the importance of the past.”
“Unfortunately,” Sam said. “Would make like a lot easier if you did.”
“But really,” Sasha continued, ignoring his jab. “What keeps you coming back? How do you keep getting wrapped up in all of this? Besides being the anchor or whatever. You have nothing of real value to offer them. You could be anywhere else. Instead, you're here as my prisoner and there's a good chance you'll be dead soon enough, depending on what Julian decides.”
“A normal life doesn't sound very appealing,” Sam said. “Not with everything I've seen. I've always had an itch for finding out the truth and once you start discovering things most people don't know the answer to, that itch becomes impossible not to scratch.”
Sasha gave an unpleasant cackle. “So, it's an addiction for you. All of this is just you needing a hit. That's pathetic. You may even die because of it.”
“Makes sense,” Sam said with a shrug. “They do say that addictions can be very dangerous.”
Sam decided that if Sasha was going to try and pry into his life, he should make his own attempt at getting into hers. Purdue had failed miserably on the way here to figure Sasha out, but maybe Sam could tackle it from a different angle.
“And you enjoy the thrill of crippling millionaires and kidnapping billionaires? Taking their, as you say, useless friend who offers nothing hostage? Is that your itch? Being a terrible human being?”
They stopped in front of a large tapestry. Sasha looked it over for a moment, maybe hoping there were clues left within its stitching. She didn't respond to his inquiries. Just like with Purdue, she completely avoided the subject.
“His name was Julian, right? It can't be easy working for a guy like that, can it? Probably murders you if you don't get your paperwork to him on time. Kills you if you forget to fill up the water cooler. Speak out of turn in a board meeting, he slits your throat.”
“You have no idea what you're talking about,” Sasha said, but looked a little uneasy to even be talking about Julian. She seemed worried that he would somehow overhear from across the castle. Or maybe the other goons with them would tell Julian everything she said. “The Order of the Black Sun aren't the villains that you all make us out to be. We simply have a difference of opinion with David Purdue and your friends. It's funny ... anytime there's a disagreement, one side makes the other look like demons to make themselves feel better about their own views. People can be so dramatic.”
“Not the villains?” Sam couldn't believe the narrative she was trying to push. All his years of investigative reporting, he knew stories could very easily be flipped. And he could also always spot when someone was trying hard to put their own spin on it. And Sasha definitely was. “You introduced who you really were by blowing holes in Galen's leg. You gunned down all of the mercenaries you pretended to be a part of. And you've been threatening us non-stop the entire time. That sure sounds a whole lot like the thing heroes would do to me.”
“The world isn't pretty,” Sasha said. “Sometimes you have to get your hands dirty. I shoot a pompous millionaire here. Kill a bunch of trained killers there. Neither of those things are that bad.”
“Your boss told us he'll massacre everyone on this island.”
“And he's serious,” Sasha said. “But everything we do is done for the good of the world. To make the Black Sun better than it is.”
“Sounds like cult logic,” Sam said. “The good of the rest of the world. Only your group knows what's best for everyone else. Sorry to tell you, but they've got you brainwashed.”
“I'm not!” Sasha snapped suddenly, turning away from the tapestry to face him. She looked ready to slug him in the face but collected herself, looking past him at the other Black Sun members uncomfortably. “None of us are. It's not a cult. It's a responsibility. One that most people like you aren't brave enough to be a part of. You're too busy being the 'anchor' for your friends. Purdue doesn't care about the world. He's just bored. So, he spends his time going after things no one else has the money to look for. He's certainly the good guy.”
“How many people have you killed?” Sam asked. “Or have you lost count?”
Sasha just offered a smirk; clearly she'd lost count.
Sam shook his head and said, “Right. You know how many people I've killed? None. And if there were any, it wouldn't be intentional. I'm not a murderer. You can say it's for a good cause, the greater good, whatever kind of crap the Black Sun pours down your gullet, but it's very clear which of us are on the right side. You're kidding yourself if you can't see it.”
Sasha took another step toward him. “I see what you bring to Purdue's little gang now. You're the one who's constantly nagging at them. The moral compass, aren't you?”
“Moral compass? Not at all,” Sam said. “If I was, the needle on it would be spinning around like crazy. Would never stop. As for the nagging ... that can be accurate sometimes. And what do you bring to the Black Sun? Another expendable lackey?”
Sasha didn't answer him. She just gritted her teeth and backed away, like she was holding herself back from teaching him a lesson. She turned back to the tapestry on the wall. “Let's ge
t back to searching. I'm tired of hearing you talk.”
Galen's leg hurt. It hurt like hell. He hated just standing in the courtyard, with the entire castle ensnaring him. He hated being stuck in this box that these morons calling themselves the Order of the Black Sun had put him in. He hated having to submit to a woman who was supposed to be on his payroll.
He hated being trapped—he never had been before.
There was always a way out. Always enough money to get out of any bind he found himself in. This was all new for him. He'd never been fooled so badly before. He'd never been manipulated like a puppet. And he'd never been shot by his own employees.
The ache pulsating through his leg was a constant reminder of how badly he had been used. He was powerless against these people. Sasha had shot him, and this Julian Corvus had barely taken any notice of him. For the first time in his life, Galen was being completely and utterly ignored.
He couldn't even try to find the spear. Instead he was stuck in the courtyard, surrounded by Black Sun operatives. All he had was his last remaining mercenary, and Maddox seemed perfectly content just standing around and letting everyone else do the work.
“Fine by me,” he'd said. “You're paying me either way.”
Now they were just waiting for everyone else, left behind like they were children forced to sit at another table away from the grown-ups. Purdue seemed good enough to participate. Hell, even his entourage was allowed to look for the spear. But Galen, who started the whole search to begin with, wasn't allowed to take part in his own damn quest.
“This is shit.” Galen spat on the courtyard.
“Save your strength,” Maddox said sarcastically. “Just let them find it. First chance we get, I'll kill them and take it back from them.”
“That simple, eh? Like you killed them in that tomb? Or in the sand where all your friends were slaughtered? Or on the plane? Or right here on this ugly piece of rock? You going to kill them? Just do it. Right now. Kill these guys and then we go kill that bastard Julian and that wench who shot me.”
“I meant when a good opportunity came. Surrounded by enemies isn't exactly ideal. Maybe if I had a weapon, which I don't, I could work something out. As it stands, you and me, we're pretty useless right here. So, let's stay put until we're not.”
“I have my crutch,” Galen said, shaking the crutch under his arm. “Will this do? Couldn't you just bludgeon them all to death with it.”
“Sure. I could take one maybe two out that way and then I get shot. Again, not ideal.”
Galen swore under his breath. He couldn't stand being completely helpless. He didn't know much about this Order of the Black Sun, but they'd proven themselves to be a pain in his ass.
“What's the point of hiring a mercenary? Especially if he won't kill people when you tell him to. That's the whole goddamn point, isn't it? Well, pointless. You're pointless, Maddox, and this whole thing will be pointless if they keep ignoring me. Those bastards need me.”
The rooftops offered nothing but Purdue's fleeting hopes of escaping, so they went back into the Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes. With every room they checked, with their rugs, long tables, weaponry, and armor on display, Purdue grew more and more convinced that they were in the wrong place.
“This castle survived two sieges against the Ottomans,” Nina said, maybe to distract from the growing sense of defeat. “One where the Hospitallers were able to repel the invaders, but they lost the second. Many of the knights were killed and many were captured.”
“So, you think the Ottoman Empire took the spear?” Purdue asked. That would make things endlessly more difficult.
“It's possible,” Nina said.
“Great,” Purdue said.
Julian, overhearing their conversation, turned around and finally addressed them directly for the first time in hours. “When was the siege of this castle that the Ottoman Empire won, Dr. Gould?”
“1522.”
“If they did find the spear here then, they'd had possession of it for nearly five hundred years. Is that what you're saying?”
“Like I said, it's possible.” Nina kept her eyes peeled as they walked.
“I refuse to believe that,” Julian said. “The Spear of Destiny is a holy relic, worshiped and pursued by people since the crucifixion of Christ. If the Hospitallers knew what the spear was, then they knew its value. They wouldn't have let it fall into enemy hands so easily.”
“The Ottomans did occupy it for some time. Maybe they found it—”
“No.” Julian looked at them like they were foolish for even considering the possibility. “It's here. We'll find it.”
Thinking about the history of the castle like the siege, a thought suddenly struck Nina. She stopped in her tracks and turned around, causing her Black Sun escort—Dana, as Purdue had dubbed him—to nearly crash into her.
“Oh my god,” Nina said aloud.
She practically shoved past Dana and started walking the opposite direction. She could hear Julian calling down the hall but she kept going, forcing Purdue, Julian, and Julian's minions to catch up to her.
“Where the hell are you going?” Julian asked from beside her.
“I have a theory,” Nina said.
“Tell me,” Julian ordered. “This better not be some pitiful escape attempt.”
“Not at all,” Nina said. “I just need to check something”
“What is it?” Purdue asked, which Nina seemed far more open to responding to than Julian's demands.
“There was an ammunition explosion in the lower levels of the castle in 1856. I was reading about it when we were first walking through the castle.”
“So?” Julian asked, unimpressed.
“So, there was repairs done to the first floor, renovations. They put up nice new walls to cover the broken old ones. If the spear was hidden in this castle—and I'm still not sure it was—it could be behind one of the repairs. The new walls that were put up to fix this place.”
Julian and Purdue kept walking beside her and both men weren't convinced. She wasn't convinced herself. It was just an idea that crossed her mind and at this point, when they were going off of barely any clues, it felt at least like it was something.
They went down to the first floor and Nina asked one of the historians working there which area of the castle had been damaged during the ammunition explosion. The historian was a kind woman named Myra who took them over to the corridors that had seen the most repairs. After Myra had left them to look over the halls, Purdue started tapping the walls.
“What if we do find something? We tear this place apart?”
“Yes,” Julian said seriously. “They've fixed this castle up from far worse according to Dr. Gould. I see no reason why we should restrain ourselves in our search for the spear. If we need to knock down a wall or two, or three, then we do it.”
“I think it'd be worth a shot,” Nina said, much to Purdue's surprise.
“I agree,” Julian said while inspecting one of the walls closely. “We'll close this wing down and give it a good look.”
“Close it down?” Purdue asked. “You going to slip the staff here some money and expect to just be able to rip the castle apart?”
“Precisely,” Julian said. “I'll even repair it when I'm through with it. Keep an eye on them.”
Dana and Lindsay complied and continued to watch over Nina and Purdue while Julian went to go speak to the palace's staff. No amount of money would allow them to tear up a historical sight like this. It was unheard of. Then again, Nina knew that Julian could be very persuasive, even violently so. If anyone could get them to make that exception, it was a demon like him.
When Julian returned, he came with a sledgehammer in each hand and gave them to both of his subordinates. “It took pushing some vulnerable buttons, but they are permitting us to do our own renovations.”
Nina didn't want the details. She knew it couldn't be good.
Dana and Lindsay started smashing apart th
e walls. They weren't new walls, considering they were over a hundred years old, but compared to the ancient ones behind, they were far newer and flimsier. They were meant to just cover the damaged walls behind them left over from the ammunition explosion.
Once they created a big enough opening in the walls, they all stepped inside to the ruins that had been shrouded by renovations. Some rubble was still scattered about, things that were too heavy to lift at the time they did the renovations. The hidden section of the castle was covered in cobwebs and forgotten history, and Nina led the way through the multiple doors to the rooms that had all been severely blown apart by the ammunition.
Deep within the rubble and musty stench of the exploded stones, they found a large door that was far heavier than most of the other ones in the castle. Nina looked at Purdue who raised his brows with curiosity.
They pushed the doors open, a task that took all of them to complete, and found a small room with a stone table in the center and brittle pieces of parchment lying atop it. There were robes and armor lying about, some bearing the curved white cross of the Hospitaller knights. They all looked around the room. Julian picked up a spear on the floor hopefully, but then tossed it aside, saying, “Not nearly old enough,” when he did. Nina and Purdue went straight to the papers on the table. They carefully rummaged through them, a bit worried that they'd fall apart in their hands. Most were written in various languages from different members of the Hospitaller order, all coming from together from different parts of Europe.
Purdue found one that was particularly interesting; as he read it, it realized it was one knight speaking about one of his brethren who fled during the Ottomans' siege of the castle. His hands were trembling as he read it, and he worried the accumulating sweat on his fingers was going to melt the parchment into nothing.
Order of the Black Sun Box Set 9 Page 8