“It has been for all of us.” Simon looked away for a moment as if thinking something over. Then he met her gaze again. “There’s something else I’m working on, though. Something that may offer more respite than trying to crowd all of these people into the Templar Underground.”
Interest surged in Leah, and she knew what he had to be referring to. “You found something in the Goetia manuscript, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
Simon shook his head. “I can’t discuss it too much at this point.”
Angry frustration sloshed inside Leah. He didn’t trust her. That much was evident. She pulled in a deep breath and let it out.
You can’t blame him, she thought. You wouldn’t trust you, either.
“I wish you luck with it,” Leah said.
“If it works,” he said, “we’ll all benefit in the end.”
If any other person told Leah that, she would have felt certain she was being patronized. But this was Simon Cross, and she knew him well enough to know that he wouldn’t lie to her or tell her something just because he thought that’s what she wanted to hear.
“And if I decide I want to talk to the Templar again,” he said, “I’ll let you know.”
She forced a smile she didn’t feel, because she wasn’t as truthful by nature as he was, and said, “Care for a rematch?”
Simon tossed the towel aside. “Sure.”
Leah wasn’t restricted to the redoubt in any way. Simon gave her the full run of the complex, except for secure areas. She exercised and did the rehab treatment to get her eye/hand coordination back, exceeding the surgeon’s expectations.
She still stared in the mirror in the mornings and tried to tell the difference between the eyes and couldn’t. In a way, that was frustrating because she felt she ought to be able to tell an artificial construct from her own flesh and blood. Even more interesting, she couldn’t remember the ragged hole she’d seen in her face a few days after her first surgery.
Old habits wouldn’t die, though, and her curiosity about whatever Simon had learned from the Goetia manuscript chafed her. She knew his habits inside the redoubt. When he broke them and left, he even politely told her that he’d be gone for a few days and welcomed her to stay as long as she liked.
After he’d gone, she pulled her armor on, then some winter clothes on over that, broke her rifle down so she could lash it to her back under the winter coat, and filched a few supplies from the cafeteria. When Simon had a half-hour start, she set out in pursuit.
“Wait.”
When she heard the woman’s voice directed at her, Leah thought her intended subterfuge had been seen through. She calmed herself and turned around.
The woman was one of the Templar. Fiery-haired and full-figured, looking like an Olympic athlete in her armor, the woman stood half a head taller than Leah. Part of that height difference was the boots, but not much.
“We haven’t gotten to speak,” the woman said.
“I’ve seen you,” Leah said. “In the dojo.”
“My name is Kyra.”
“Pleased to meet you, Kyra.” Leah shoved her hand out. “I’m—”
“I know who you are.”
At the unfriendly tone, Leah drew her hand back. She waited.
“No one here blames you for coming to Simon to have your eye repaired,” Kyra said.
“Actually,” Leah said, “I hadn’t been aware that was something that could be done.”
“They worry because you seem to know more about the Templar than you should.”
Leah folded her arms. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“No one here trusts you.”
“Simon does.” Even as she said that, though, Leah felt guilty, since she planned to go spy on him. That wasn’t very trustworthy behavior on her part.
“Simon is an innocent to a large degree,” Kyra snapped. “Someone like you—”
“Like me?”
“A woman.”
“Ah.” Leah nodded. She understood a little more then. Jealousy was attached to the woman’s words. It was a tribal response. Leah represented an outsider female threatening to cut one of the males from the group.
“For all that Simon is,” Kyra said, “he can be played a fool by someone like you.”
“I suppose I should feel flattered,” Leah replied coldly. “But somehow I don’t. You could be suggesting that I’m overly attractive, or that Simon is dense. Frankly, I don’t think he’d be flattered, either.”
“This isn’t flattery. I’m suggesting that maybe when you leave this time—soon—that you shouldn’t come back here.”
While Leah tried to figure out how to respond to that, Kyra turned and walked away. Beyond her, three other Templar—all women—lounged in the hallway and made it apparent they supported Kyra. Feeling angry and disrespected, Leah almost headed into the middle of them just for spite. Even three on one, and them in Templar armor, Leah thought she might make a good stand.
It’s not worth it, she told herself. You don’t need the drama. But she didn’t like being told what to do. She never had. Without a word, she turned and headed for the door.
THIRTY
Bit of baiting the bull, don’t you think?”
Simon glanced over at Nathan and barely saw him against the stone wall of the underground tube. They were near Charing Cross, away from the Templar Underground. In addition to that, one of the Templar redoubt scavenging crews had reported a group of survivors had settled into the area. If they could recover those people and guide them to safety, they were going to do that.
“If there was another way to do it, we would,” Simon replied. He slammed his armored palm down on the steel stake he held in his other hand. Metal struck metal with the sound of an explosion. Sparks spat out from the contact. The stake drove down into the ground several inches.
Nathan leaned down and attached the
