The surgeons, some of them Templar-trained and others recruited from London, had moved Mathias’s broken ribs back where they belonged and used nanobondmolecular adhesive to hold them there, reinflated his collapsed lung, and repaired other damage. The jury was still out on whether he would live.
“I felt that as long as I was watching him nothing would happen,” Simon said.
Wertham nodded. “I understand the thinking, lad, but we’ve both been throughenough battles that we know that isn’t true.”
“I know.” All the same, Simon couldn’t help doing it.
“You brought Mathias home. That’s the most he could ask for under thecircumstances. You and I have both come home without mates and fellow warriors we stood side by side with over these past four years.”
Too many, Simon thought. He didn’t say anything.
“I don’t suppose you’d mind if I kept you company for a while,” Wertham said.
“No.”
For a time they stood in silence.
“You’ve talked to Nathan and Danielle?” Simon asked.
“I have.”
“They told you I let Leah go?”
“They did.”
Simon’s eyes burned from lack of sleep and his body ached from theaccumulated bruises. “Do you think I did the right thing?”
The old Templar looked at Simon. “I think you shouldn’t be asking suchthings.”
“Maybe I’m trusting her too much.”
“Simon, if I can speak freely.”
Simon nodded. “There’s never been a time when you couldn’t.”
Wertham had been instrumental in helping assemble the train that had gotten so many out of London four years ago. He’d been at Simon’s side ever since asthey’d assembled the Templar and started waging their quiet war against thedemons to free others that had been left trapped in the city.
More than that, Wertham had been largely responsible for getting Simon out of the Templar Underground after he’d fought with Terrence Booth, whose parents haddied at All Hallows’ Eve. None above Booth or of equal ranking stood besideSimon at that time.
“That’s another thing I wanted to talk to you about,” Wertham said. “I thinkyou’re far too lenient letting others talk to you and tell you their opinions.”
“How else am I going to get their counsel?”
“There should be an order to it. A time and a place. If everybody keepstalking to you willy-nilly, nothing’s going to get done.”
Simon smiled. “And yet look at all we’ve accomplished.”
Wertham frowned. “There needs to be more respect for your position, that’sall I’m saying.”
That jarred Simon and he didn’t much care for the implication. “I don’t havea position.” He’d never assumed any position of authority. He felt he’d onlyguided.
“You’re the leader here. You’re our Grand Master.”
“No,” Simon said immediately. “The Grand Master is in the TemplarUnderground.” The position was hereditary and always came through HouseSumerisle. The Templar had always served the Sumerisle family, and they always would.
“We’re split off from them,” Wertham argued, “and have been for four yearswith no end of it in sight.”
“That’s a mistake. It will rectify itself.” Even as he said that, though,Simon didn’t know if it was true. Those who remained in the Templar Undergroundbelieved they should hide out from the demons until they were once more strong enough to take them on. After all the deaths at St. Paul’s, though, that couldtake generations.
During that time the Burn would continue changing the world and the demons would continue to fill it. Simon hadn’t been prepared to live with that. As ithad turned out, other Templarlike Werthamwere of the same mindset.
“We’re waging our own campaign,” Wertham said.
“We’re saving people,” Simon said. “And we’re gathering information about ourenemy.”
“I understand that,” Wertham said gently. “But I also know that the Templarwere born and bred to order. To rank and file. For four years, we’ve more orless winged that down here.”
“It’s worked.”
“Maybe so, but it’s not going to work any more. Four years ago, when westarted this thing and knew we might be dead tomorrow, we didn’t have to worryabout how we were doing things. Survival was the best we could hope for.”
“It still is,” Simon said.
“We’ve gotten larger than those few that came out of London on that trainthat night,” Wertham said. “More Templar have come to serve with us.”
Serve. The term bounced crazily inside Simon’s head. Dying while losingto the demons wasn’t a higher calling. Dying while triumphing over them was. Itwas all a matter of which way the body count went. At the moment, there were far too many demons.
“We’re no longer so few and we’re no longer so desperate,” Wertham said.
“That could change in one day,” Simon whispered hoarsely. It was a fear helived with every day. “If the demons find us, we could be right back where wewere. Where all of London is.”
“But we’re not, lad. And that’s the thing.”
Simon met Wertham’s honest gaze but he couldn’t bring himself to sayanything.
“We need to form our own groups,” Wertham continued.
“No,” Simon said.
Wertham pursed his lips unhappily. “I’m not the only one who feels this way.”
“Then there are a lot of you who aren’t thinking clearly.”
“They want to start a new House, and they want to call it House Cross.”
Simon turned toward the older man and tried to keep a rein on the anger that filled him. He hadn’t asked for this. He hadn’t asked for any of this. “We areof the House Rorke.”
“You and I may be,” Wertham agreed. “And a few others. But there are morebesides that are from all the Houses. Even some of them from the House Sumerisle are with us and want to be united.”
“Splitting the Templar isn’t the way to do it.”
“Then you need to tell them that.” Wertham crossed his hands over his broadchest. “Because that’s what they want to do.”
“I’m not going to allow them to start up a House in my name.”
Wertham nodded. “It’s not in your name. It’s in your father’s. Whether youknow it or not, many of the Templar with us now were trained by Thomas Cross. They wanted something of himto live on.” Unable to speak, Simon turned away.
Leah made her way
