“I came to fight, my lord,” Simon declared, hating his attempt to win favor from Booth. “Whether I fight here, with you and the rest of the Templar, or I claim what’s mine by my birthright and go out into the streets, I’m going to fight the demons. You can’t stop me.”
Booth turned to Simon. “No. I can’t stop you. But I don’t have to help you.”
“My lord,” one of the other Templars said.
Simon looked at the man, recognizing him as Derek Chipplewhite, a classmate he’d had while growing up.
“I’ll vouch for him,” Derek said. He was broad and beefy, his body hard from countless hours spent in the training areas. His skin looked black as coal and slightly blue in the darkness. “My word as a knight.”
Drawing a slow, quiet breath, Simon waited. A knight’s honor was a precious thing. Not accepting it would be tantamount to slapping Derek in the face.
“Very well then,” Booth said, looking displeased. “But make certain he lives up to the honor you’ve shown him.”
Derek nodded. “I will.”
“Because if you don’t, because if he doesn’t, I’m going to put him out into the streets.”
Simon barely kept from speaking. Booth was pushing the limits of honor.
“Get him out of here.” Booth turned away and ignored Simon.
It’s just as well, Simon thought. If he looks at me, I don’t trust myself.
Derek gestured to the warriors. “Remove his cuffs.”
The warriors did as they were told.
“Thank you,” Simon told Derek.
The other man smiled at him. “Just live up to the trust I have in you. That’s all I ask.”
“There’s a woman here,” Simon told Derek. “She arrived with me. Her name is Leah.”
“I’ll tend to her,” Derek said. “But first let’s deal with you. If you’ve come all this way, I know you’ve got to be hungry.”
Twenty-Two
Y ou can’t fault Booth,” Derek said. “He takes that holier-than-thou attitude with people because that’s the way he was brought up. His dad was an absolute stickler for the old ways.”
Simon nodded and released a pent-up breath. “I know.”
“It’s because of the office. It’s what people expect of him.” Derek shrugged. “He’s not the only one who acts that way.”
They sat at a small corner table in the galley. Simon picked at his food even though it was the first home-cooked meal he’d had in months. The steak came from the ag floors and the potatoes and green beans came from the hydroponics farms. Everything tasted better than he would have expected.
“I don’t fault Booth.” Simon sipped his tea. “The truth is, I’ve never liked him and he’s never liked me. Before, when he didn’t hold office, it really wasn’t a problem.”
“But it is now,” Derek said.
Simon shrugged. “I can work around it. I don’t expect to be holed up here for long.” He waved his fork. “I want to be out there.”
“Out there,” Derek told him, “isn’t a very good place to be.” He sipped his tea. “Out there can only get you killed.”
“Maybe.”
“Trust me, it would.” Derek shook his head, his face heavy with emotion. “Our numbers are drastically cut. That’s what High Lord Sumerisle planned. But we’re short of warriors. Everyone we lose out on the battlefield—” His voice came to a stop. “Everyone counts, Simon. We can’t afford to keep losing trained warriors.”
Simon forced himself to work through his food like a machine, stoking the fires in his belly. He sipped water. “I can’t stay here,” he said finally. “Even if Booth wasn’t in charge of this area, we still wouldn’t get along.”
Derek grinned slightly. “I know. He hates you for breaking his nose and embarrassing him all those years ago.”
Once the meal was over, Derek took the lead, twisting through the Underground complex. The Templar Underground occupied several levels, each built so it could be closed off in case of emergency. Most of the tunnels were dim, more twilight than bright of day.
Simon knew the Elephant and Castle station enough to get through it, but not all of the personal levels and quarters. Each section of the Templar Underground was maintained by different houses. House Rorke was located near the Baker Street tube station.
If things had been normal, they would have dressed in street clothes and taken the fifteen-minute trip to the tube station. Instead, they walked.
Armed with a sword and a Spike Bolter, Simon trailed Derek through the dark tunnel. This time, though, Simon wore a compact pair of night-vision goggles that rendered the tube tunnel in various shades of green.
Similarly equipped, Leah trailed after him.
Bodies lay along the tracks. It hurt Simon to look at them. The smell of death was thick.
“Why have you left them here?” Simon asked.
Clad in his armor, Derek glanced around. “We can’t do anything with them.”
“Why not?”
Derek’s faceplate was expressionless, but his irritation at the question showed in his body language. “Think about it. If we start taking the bodies away, what’s going to happen?”
The question was enough to point Simon in the right direction. He was embarrassed he hadn’t already thought of the answer on his own.
“The demons will know someone is down here,” Simon said.
“Yeah.”
“So you’re just going to leave them here?” Leah sounded like she couldn’t believe it.
“We are,” Derek said.
“That’s…that’s inhuman.”
“That’s survival. We’re here to fight a war, Miss Creasey.” Derek stepped over the body of a woman who’d died protecting a small child that lay within her arms. “It’s hard. Every time we pass this way, we’re aware that we’re stepping away from the softer part of us that keeps us human.” He sighed so heavily the audio pickups inside the mask broadcast it. “We do worry about that.”
“Do the demons come through the tubes?” Simon asked.
“Yes. Several of them have started using the Underground as a base of operations. And there are humans who have taken up residence in the Underground as well.”
“The tubes would be a good ambush site,” Simon mused. “Narrow confines. They could only come at you a few at a
