No, this felt right, and that was what mattered.
Odion might have had a point back in Egypt. There were some things that were precious to their places of origin that had far more value to the people that made them than they had to just some foreigner who’d found them. Some items in the world belonged at home and not buried in the vaults of some secret society that was just trying to preserve them, rather than let them be showcased to their homelands.
The sword of Caesar was one of those things. It deserved to be seen. Who knows? With a different sword, Caesar might have died much earlier in life and never would’ve shaped the Roman Republic the way he did. Rome might not have ever become an empire and the rest of the world would have been much different if that era had never come to pass. Caesar hadn't just forged Rome's history with that weapon, he had cut a mark into the rest of the world, too.
It wasn't an easy choice—but it was the right one.
That was what Dr. Nina Gould cared about now.
18
HOMECOMING
After the few pit stops Nina needed to make, their flight back to the Order of the Black Sun compound was swift and without any interruption. The whole group was exhausted and there was just the smallest bit of tension still left lingering, mostly in the air around Elijah.
Elijah pushed his glasses up his nose. He was still fuming over her decision to relinquish the sword of Caesar to the Palazza Nuovo. He’d delivered quite a few choice words for her before she went to the museum, but she tried not to let them bother her too much. His anger was understandable, but it didn't make him any less obnoxious. He’d been given multiple chances to voice his opinion and he never failed to do so. At this point, he was just complaining.
“Can you stop looking at me like that?” Nina asked, with a roll of her eyes.
“Looking at you like what?” Elijah asked with a raised brow. “Like someone who gave up one of the most valuable artifacts of Ancient Rome to a museum because she made some dead guy a pinky promise?” Elijah was as matter-of-fact as ever and that drove her nuts. He shook his head and then turned away, like he could barely even look at her now. After a moment, he spoke quietly. “At least we still have the slab. I'm looking forward to getting a better look at it. Was hard on the plane...”
There was an uncomfortable silence for a moment before Nina revealed the truth. “I gave that back to Odion.”
Elijah's expression sunk. She thought he couldn't look more disappointed in her than he had after she gave the sword back. But now, the look he was giving her reflected merely utter contempt and disbelief.
“You can't be serious,” Elijah said. “You're joking.”
“It was the only way to recruit Odion and his group,” Nina said, choosing her words carefully. Elijah was already furious, though, so she didn't need to hold back. “That...and promising that every Egyptian artifact we have in the deep vault would be turned over to him and stored in Egypt under his protection.”
Elijah's anger was usually reserved, and came out in the form of cutting remarks. Now, though, it was very plain on his face. He looked ready to burst a blood vessel. His face was growing red and she had never actually seen him look so visibly upset. He was usually such an introverted person and didn't like wearing his heart on his sleeve for everyone to see but in that moment, Nina could see that heart on his sleeve very clearly, and it looked ready to explode. Bargaining away something from the deep vaults, something that Elijah had curated and was responsible for protecting might have been one step too far now that she was thinking about it.
Elijah ripped his glasses off his face and put his hands over his eyes like he was trying to disappear into his own palms. “How could you promise them that? How did that plan even cross your mind?”
“The whole situation needed to be settled,” Nina said. “We had to make things right and that was the best way to do it.”
“I couldn’t disagree more...let me just make sure I understand how this negotiation went. You took one old tablet off their hands temporarily. You returned it. And now we have to give them all of our Egyptian items that we’ve ever collected. How the hell does that make any sense in the deal? How does one of those things even remotely equate to the other? We're practically just handing over a large chunk of the deep vault's contents for no reason.”
“Not for no reason,” Nina argued, her own voice getting louder. She hated the way Elijah was talking down to her. She didn't care if he was angry, but she wasn't going to allow him to mock her intelligence. “We now have a very capable new member of the Order of the Black Sun thanks to the deal I made. You saw that warehouse. Odion has a talent for getting valuable items, even when he had no resources to help him. Imagine how well he'll do with the order backing him.”
“Sure,” Elijah said, but didn't seem at all convinced. “And once he gets those relics from my vault, do you really think that he's just going to stick around? He’ll have gotten everything that he wants. You’d no authority when it came to the deep vaults and yet here you are, trading away important items. You shouldn't have made that deal, Nina. You shouldn't.”
“Purdue wants us to have allies. Good allies. Despite what you might think of Odion and his friends, he was willing to work with us when we first got to Egypt. Remember the alleyway? Once he realized we weren't trying to take anything, he was eager to work with us. He agreed to help us. He wasn't conspiring against us or anything like that. It was our own actions that made him an enemy.”
“Yeah, I remember. I pushed him into a sarcophagus,” Elijah put his glasses back on and she hated the way those eyes looked at her from behind those lenses. “You know what I think? I think you feel bad about losing Santino and you're trying to replace him. After all, Santino turned down an invitation from the order, but you can make up for that by recruiting the next person you meet. Is that it?”
“That's not true!” Nina said. “It's not. I took the opportunity to stop the fire that we started from completely burning down a bridge that might help us in the future. Odion could be a real help to us, Elijah. You can never have too many friends.”
“Right,” Elijah said bitterly and got to his feet, starting to walk away.
“Where are you going?” Nina called after him.
He stopped and turned back to her. Even though they were always butting heads, she couldn't help but feel a bit hurt by the way he was looking at her. He was staring at her with so much disappointment. “Back to the deep vault where I belong. That's where I can do my best work. I'm not meant for field missions like this. It's way too messy. I prefer things being neat, clean, and orderly. This couldn't be further from that.”
He started walking away again but stopped after a few more steps. He didn't look back this time, but she could still feel his disdain. “If Purdue agrees with you, then I’ll remove all of our Egyptian items from the vault and give them over to you.”
“Thank you,” Nina said and could barely speak the words.
Elijah vanished around the corner. In her attempts to make everyone happy, she’d upset someone who was becoming a friend. She hoped he’d try to understand her perspective, or even just forgive her at some point but she wasn't going to hold her breath. If there was one thing she knew about Elijah Dane, it was that he liked taking old things and storing them away deep down. It didn't just apply to the relics. His old grudges tended to be tucked away too, in the deep vault of his psyche.
“Don't feel too bad about it, doctor,” Riley's voice echoed from behind her.
August and Riley both appeared on either side of her and put their arms over her shoulders comfortingly. They were both smiling, and she could tell they were trying to cheer her. Apparently they’d heard the entire conversation.
“That guy is wound up way too tight,” August said. “I could rough him up for you if you want. A book worm like him wouldn't stand a chance, you know.”
Nina laughed at the thought of that fight. Elijah really wouldn't stand a chance against a juggernaut like
August, even when he was injured from his fight in the Colosseum.
“There's no need for that,” Nina said. “But it’d be fun to see,” she added.
“If you ask me, I think you did a great job out there,” Riley said. “I'm still new to all of this, but I never felt like you didn't know what you were doing. Even in the moments I disagreed with you, I knew you were doing it for a reason. And those rationales must have been good because we’re all alive and we found Caesar's sword. That sounds like a win to me. Who cares where the sword ended up?”
“Exactly,” August said. “Elijah just likes having things in the vault. He prefers knowing that he got his hands on them and got to look over every minor detail of each and every thing in there. You stole that chance from him, so he's throwing a fit. It’ll pass. He’ll get over it.”
“Thanks, guys,” Nina said.
This was what a team was supposed to do, she realized. They weren't there to tear her down. Even when they disagreed, it could be a civil discussion where they all supported and respected one another. Elijah had spent far too much time indoors to understand what a real collaboration was. Part of her regretted bringing him along in the first place. She kind of wished he hadn't changed his mind about coming. But she knew better for next time. For the time being, she and Elijah weren't on good terms. That could change, but it was best to keep their distance for now.
At least she still had August and Riley. Here they were singing her praises, but they deserved a whole lot of credit themselves.
“August, I must say...you really impressed me back there.”
“By nearly getting beaten to death by some masked freak? That's what you call impressive?”
“Hey, you won that fight, remember? But that's not what I'm talking about. I'm referring to that book you’ve been reading? Right there.”
She pointed to the book about Caesar that was in his hand and that he’d been reading through during the entire search for the sword.
“You really took the time to do the research and helped out a whole lot when we were trying to figure things out. No offense, but I never thought you’d ever contribute so much to a conversation.”
“Neither did I,” August said with a bright smile. He initially looked surprised by the compliment, but as it sunk in, he couldn't help but grin. “Talking has never really been my thing. You really think I was that much of a help?”
“I do,” Nina said honestly. “Most people wouldn't have put in the effort to learn about the subjects of the search. They would’ve left all of that to the historians like me and Elijah. You didn't force us to do all of the thinking.”
August shrugged his wide shoulders. “I guess I was just tired of not knowing what I was talking about. If I was going to be a real part of the Order of the Black Sun and not some walking pile of muscles, then I knew I’d have to start exercising this...” He tapped his temple to indicate his brain inside. “...just as much as I work the rest of me out.”
“Yeah, you're not the man that I thought you were back when I was imprisoned by Julian.”
“That's because Julian wasn't exactly an inspiring leader that would make me want to improve myself. Simple as that.”
“And you never failed to keep us all positive,” Nina said. “That kind of optimism is a gift, Riley.”
Riley giggled. “It can be a curse. Sometimes I just want to dwell on the negative, but it just never works out for me. Also did you see me hurt that one with the Nero mask? I got a pretty good hit in on his leg.”
“I saw,” Nina laughed. “Thank you both. You were fantastic. I'll be sure to put in a good word with Purdue. Keep this up, and you guys will find something incredible on your own, without having to follow me or Purdue into danger.”
She really needed that talk. It was nice to bond with them after Elijah was trying so hard to cut ties with her completely. They might not have agreed with all of her decisions but she was glad to know that they respected her as a leader. She hadn't completely ruined everything by making the decisions.
“Say hi to Purdue for me,” Riley said, reminding Nina of the conversation they had about his well-being. “I hope he's doing okay.”
After saying their goodbyes, Nina headed toward Purdue's office. She was looking forward to catching him up on everything that had happened, but she was still worried about him. Hopefully, he was doing better than he was when she left.
Before she could get to Purdue though, she was intercepted by a different old friend in the hall.
“So, did I miss anything exciting?” Sam Cleave asked as Nina was walking through the Order of the Black Sun compound. He looked at her with some awkwardness and part of her wondered what he had been doing in the meantime since she’d told him he wasn't going on the expedition. She hoped he had kept himself busy. She still felt a bit bad about not taking him along. “Or just the same old?”
“The same old near death experiences,” Nina said, hoping to get a real smile out of him. “Fighting for our lives. The usual.”
She hoped that was enough to satiate him, but when Sam took a step in front of her, she felt guilt roll up her spine. She prayed he wasn't too mad. They went so far back, and had gone on so many adventures. She knew it was strange to deny him a chance to go on another together, but it was for the best. She knew it was, even if he didn't understand.
“Listen, I really don't hold it against you,” Sam said and his mouth broke into an uncomfortable smile. “Really, I don't. I get it. You wanted to work with new people. I'm not some jealous ex-boyfriend, Nina...I just...it's getting a little tough. Not just this. Just...everything. Ever since we took over the Order of the Black Sun...”
Sam was the one most opposed to taking control and repurposing the Order of the Black Sun. She knew that and he never tried to hide his feelings about it. He was quite content when it was just Purdue, him, and her, and the occasional specialist gallivanting around the world together. But, those days were gone, at least for a while. The Black Sun was the focus right now because, with it, they could change the world and protect history on a much larger scale than just finding a relic or two every so often together. Sam was just having trouble recognizing that advantage.
Sam took a breath and composed himself. She could see the hurt in his eyes despite him trying to act like it wasn't a big deal. “It's just...since we became the Order of the Black Sun ourselves...with this Caesar sword thing...and with Genghis Khan's tomb...among all of the other assignments some of these new teammates are going on...I can't help feeling I'm a little out of the loop, you know? Like, you're all completely on board with this Black Sun thing, but I hate feeling like I'm on the outskirts of this, on my only little island and no one wants to let me jump on their boat and sail together.”
“Sam...”
“I would talk to Purdue about this but he's been locked in that office for days. He's busy with whatever the hell is going on...but I don't even know what that is because I'm so far away from everything that's been happening lately.”
Sam really had been neglected by Nina and Purdue lately. It wasn't intentional, at least, it wasn't meant as a personal attack or anything. He’d just been put aside while they explored relations with their new allies in the Order of the Black Sun. Nina never wanted him to feel so left behind...but they’d excluded him a little.
“And I don't want pity either,” Sam said suddenly. “Like you don't need to put me on your search teams. I really do understand, I'm just feeling...not great about all of the changes that are being made. It just all feels so different...”
“Sam, listen to me,” Nina said and put a hand on his shoulder. “You’re going to get your chance in this. It's an adjustment, for sure. Change is...it's hard as hell...but you're going to have your moment. It was hard for me too but now...after this, I feel a lot better about all of it. You’ll have the same thing happen to you. I know you will.”
“You think so?” Sam asked, and choked out something that was between laughter and sadness. “I just
have to be patient, is that it?”
“Yes,” Nina said bluntly. “It'll come. Trust me.”
“I hope you're right.”
Nina pulled Sam into a hug. It was the hardest she had ever hugged him before and she put all of her sympathy into it as she held him tightly in her arms. He needed to know that it was going to be okay, and she hoped this was enough to cheer him up a bit.
Nina stepped out of the hug after a few moments. “As for Purdue, I'm sure if you talked to him, he’d understand--”
“He's obsessed, Nina,” Sam said. “I'm not sure about what...but I haven't seen him this way since he was broke and you were Julian's prisoner. You should’ve seen him then. All he cared about was getting everything back. It was understandable, but he barely slept. It was all he ever thought about, every minute of the day. This is like that again. But at least then, he knew what his goal was. I don't think he does this time.”
“He doesn't know what we're up against this time...” Nina muttered, mostly to herself. “I'll talk to him, maybe slap some sense into him.”
Sam nodded. “Alright, thanks.”
Purdue was right where she’d left him, looking nervous and surrounded by old files. He looked exhausted and the bags under his eyes were more prominent than she had ever seen them. He was barely keeping awake. Evidently, Purdue hadn't gotten any better since she was gone. If anything, he was looking much worse than he had been when she left. He barely even noticed that she’d entered.“I almost get killed in the Roman Colosseum and yet somehow you look worse than me.”
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