Simon nodded and worked his jaw as if he was trying to find a comfortable position for it. Unfortunately that didn’t seem possible.
“Good.” Leah sounded almost relieved. “Remember aboard the ATV when Imentioned that the comm relays among your armor might be a vulnerability?”
Simon nodded again.
“Welcome to the proof of that.”
A small smile pulled at Simon’s lips. If he survived this situation, hedefinitely had some work to do on the armor of the men at the stronghold. The first priority was going to be to dump all the House protocol. They weren’tgoing to work against the Order, but they weren’t going to be confined by iteither.
“Nathan told me Booth’s first step in holding you prisoner would be toneutralize your armor,” Leah said.
Simon nodded.
The Templar to his right looked at him. “Is something wrong with you?”
Simon looked at the man as if he were daft. “My jaw is broken,” he saidhoarsely.
The Templar watched him a moment more, then turned away to watch Danielle and Nathan’s approach.
“I think I can put your armor back under your control,” Leah said, “byneutralizing Booth’s hold on it. But Nathan said as soon as I do that your armorwill recognize that it’s in a hostile environment and button you up.”
Simon nodded again.
“So I can’t do that until we’re ready. We’re going to need you to hang onjust a little longer.”
Grimacing, Simon lifted his chin and lowered it slightly. If he didn’t blackout from the pain of his nose and jaw, he was going to be fine.
“That’s far enough,” Booth ordered.
Nathan and Danielle stopped less than ten feet away. In the armor, the distance was nothing.
“Let’s see the manuscript,” Booth said.
Nathan reached over his shoulder and produced a protective metal tube.
Booth reached for the tube, but before he could get it a scaly demon’s armflicked out from a hole in the air, seized it from Nathan’s hand, thenbackhanded the Templar in the face.
Nathan shot backward as if he’d been propelled by a cannon. He tore throughthe railing and plunged over the side into the moat.
Now! Merihim ordered. Do you see Fulaghar?
Warren only saw part of the demon, but he knew where the rest of Fulaghar was.
Anchor him here to this place, Merihim commanded.
Holding on to the arcane energy that filled him, Warren stretched out his hand. A shimmering wave sped across the intervening distance as the Templar on the bridge started pulling weapons.
When the wave hit Fulaghar, it rocked him and drew his attention at once. Warren concentrated on hooking into the demon like a fishing line. He imagined that the demon couldn’t go anywhere without breaking an invisible steel cagearound him.
Fulaghar squalled in fury. He beat against the invisible barrier. Warren felt the blows of the demon’s struggles as if they were blows against his body. Heheld on despite the pain.
The Templar had unlimbered their weapons. All except Simon Cross, who shuffled back out of the way.
Beside Warren, Merihim leaped out into open space. For a moment he thought the demon had taken leave of his senses. Then Merihim sprouted silver wings from his back and flew toward Fulaghar.
Hold Fulaghar, Merihim said. Don’t let him get away.
“Look for Toklorq,” the voice reminded. “Fulaghar wouldn’t have gone farwithout him.”
Warren’s brain felt as if it was going to shatter has he held the demon. Bythat time the Templar were firing away with their pistols. Greek Fire and explosive rounds detonated against Fulaghar’s body and inflicted massive wounds.Merihim slid his trident forward and sped straight for Fulaghar.
Then someonesomethingmaterialized beside Warren.
“Look out!” the voice warned.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, Warren heard Naomi scream.
Leah couldn’t believe the demon had shown up when it did. Of course the Goetia manuscript was important to them too if it held the power that Macomber hinted that it did.
She lost only a moment as she uploaded the new programming she’d prepared toSimon’s suit. The bar raced across her HUD. She hoped he lived through thehellstorm that had opened up on the moat bridge.
“Wertham,” Leah called.
“Yes.”
“We’re under attack. We need you now.”
“On my way,” the old Templar said.
Stepping away from the underbelly of the bridge, Leah unlimbered her Cluster Rifle and took aim at the demon. Her finger settled on the trigger at the same time she saw the second demon streaking in on a pair of bat wings with a green trident clutched in its hands.
Leah recognized the demon and the weapon from the attack on the train four years ago. Merihim. Command had been interested in how he’d arrived inthe world since the reports mentioned that he hadn’t arrived through theHellgate. They’d tried to keep tabs on the demon over the years, but it wasalmost impossible.
She shifted her sights and took aim on Merihim’s broad chest, realizing onlythen that the wings were new.
“AI back online. Going into protective mode.”
The feminine voice was music to Simon’s ears. Despite the pain he was in,despite the fact that Booth’s men surrounded him and a pair of demons hadappeared on the bridge, he felt joyous.
The helmet closed over his head as the armor powered up. Strength returned to him. He snapped the shackles that bound his hands behind his back and reached for the chain around his neck.
“Medical assistance required,” the suit’s AI said. “Suggest emergency repairsunder full sedation.”
“Negative,” Simon countermanded, his broken jaw screaming with pain over the effort required. “I’m in hostile territory andneed to be functional.” He gripped the chain, stepped forward to flip the slackaround the Templar that had held him prisoner, set himself and called for foot anchors. When the anchors were embedded in the bridge, he twisted his body and yanked.
The Templar spun through the air at the end of the chain. His Spike Bolter dropped as he grabbed for the chain. Then Simon released the chain to fling the Templar toward the River Thames. He caught the Spike Bolter in his left hand and turned back to the demon on
