by Mel Odom
“I’m not your jailer.”
“The inquisitor, perhaps.”
The woman smiled, and it was an honest and good smile. “Not even that.”
“Are you Greek then? I don’t see a horse in sight.”
A frown creased the woman’s face. “Sarcasm wasn’t overly noted in your field service report.”
“It’s a newly acquired skill.”
“I doubt that. You’re flirting with insubordination.”
“It’s hard not to be insubordinate to a command structure that throws you in lockup.”
“Yes it is. A few years ago, I found I wasn’t terribly fond of it either.”
Leah studied the woman and wondered if she were being played. Was this Command’s version of good cop/ bad cop? She wasn’t sure. The woman had sounded sincere.
“If this isn’t a good time, perhaps I could come back later.” The woman reached for the door control.
Leah wanted to force the issue and find out if Command would put her back on ice again. Unfortunately she felt certain the answer was yes.
“Come in,” Leah said. She threw her feet over the side of the bed and sat up.
As the woman entered the room, the door slid shut and locked behind her. “I’m Lyra Darius.”
The name didn’t mean anything to Leah. Of course, it could have been an alias. People in her line of work often had two or a dozen names.
“I’m afraid there aren’t any chairs.” Leah waved to the bunk opposite the one she sat in.
Lyra sat without hesitation. “So,” she said in an amiable manner, “here we are.”
Leah waited.
“I asked to debrief you,” Lyra said.
“I don’t know you.”
“Nor should you. We’ve never met.”
“Why are we meeting now?”
“Because, like you, I have an affinity with the Templar. I outed Patrick Sumerisle from the Home Office Ministry before he died at the Battle of All Hallows’ Eve.”
THIRTY-NINE
“I was the one who confirmed the existence of the Templar,” Lyra Darius continued. “Until I discovered that proof, they’d just been a myth, an urban legend that had been handed down from the days of King Arthur.”
Leah’s attention sharpened. “How did you manage that?”
Lyra smiled. “It was more luck than skill. As you know, the Templar are quite the masterminds when it comes to covert matters.”
“Yes they are.”
“I was still with MI-6 during those days,” Lyra explained.
“MI-6? But that agency is tasked with threats from foreign powers. The Templar aren’t foreign.”
“We didn’t know that at the time. We only knew there were stories that wouldn’t go away. Then the demon murders started. Do you remember those?”
Leah nodded. Prior to the actual opening of the Hellgate, ritual murders had taken place on October 13, 2020. The Metropolitan Police had drawn enormous negative publicity for their inability to solve the crimes. Four days later, a police constable was killed by what was then believed to be a wild beast.
“After that the killings escalated,” Lyra went on. “With everything that was going on in the world at the time, the Home Office chose to view the attacks as terrorist-based.”
“Because it was easier than believing in demons,” Leah said.
“Yes.” Lyra kept her face neutral. “MI-6 rolled in under the radar of the local media, but that was easy with all the military units that were mobilized to deal with the threat of the beasts. By that point everyone was convinced there was more than one.”
Leah remembered. She’d been assigned to South Africa at the time to work on a real terrorist threat that had melted in light of the Hellgate. When the call had come through for her to pick up Simon Cross’s trail in Cape Town, she’d already been in place.
“I’d been assigned to monitor Patrick Sumerisle,” Lyra said.
“Why?”
“His…specialized interests had become known to us. As you know, having to live a dual life is difficult. Sumerisle’s life—lives—was even more so. He had a long military service and was part of the Home Office Ministry’s Internal Affairs unit. Doubtless that was to keep us monitored in the same fashion that we were later trying to spy on him.”
“The Templar also helped increase the military’s technological advantage,” Leah said. She didn’t care that she was being openly supportive of the Templar. There was a lot to like about them. Even if they were idealistic dreamers. “The suit you’re wearing came from Templar designs.”
“I know. I’ve become quite enamored of what they’ve done in the last few hundred years. I’ve also learned a lot more about them. Unlike you, I’ve never had the opportunity to wander their Underground bunkers.”
Leah didn’t say anything. Everything she’d had to say about the Templar Underground was in the reports she’d filed.
“But I did get the opportunity to save Jessica Sumerisle before the Battle of All Hallows’ Eve.”
When Simon finished the primary Way of the Sword drill, he turned to the young Templar and saluted them. They were all seriousness for about five seconds, then they burst out cheering and high-fiving each other.
Simon grinned in spite of himself. At this moment, in this room, death and destruction by demons seemed a million miles away.
“Not exactly proper decorum, now is it?” Danielle asked.
“No,” Simon agreed. But he had to admit that he felt better now than he had after his own workout. He also noted that the exercise had drawn a larger crowd than before. Male and female Templar and civilians who had been drafted to the cause filled the area to standing room only. Simon had no clue when they’d started trickling in.
Wertham was there as well, and the old Templar wore a big smile of approval. He shot Simon a glance, tossed in a wink, and left the room.
“Maybe you should think about making this a regular event with the young ones,” Danielle said.
Simon shook his head.
Nathan joined them. “She’s right, you know. What you just did with these kids was a bloody righteous thing, mate. You gave them hope and spirit.”
“I don’t want them to think they’re invulnerable,” Simon said.
“Yeah,” Nathan said sarcastically, “I can see your point. It would be much better if they cowered in fear in this place and grew more certain that today was the day the demons were going to find them and kill them.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
Nathan placed his hand on Simon’s shoulder and looked him full in the eye. “Hope and spirit are two of the best things you can give these kids. They’re going to be asked to die before their time. All of us are. We risk death every time we leave this place, and the only way we can stomach that is to think that we’re strong enough and smart enough to do it. If you try to take that away from them, they’re not going to listen to the other things that you can teach them that will save their lives.” He paused. “It’s the same thing your father did for you, mate. And for me and a lot of the other Templar you’ve been leading into London.”
Simon took a deep breath and let it out. “It’s easier,” he said, “when you’re on the receiving end of it. Not when you’re dishing it out.”
Wertham reappeared and his face was tight with tension. Simon went to meet him.
“Terrence Booth has just sent a group of Templar into the area,” Wertham said. “They’ve sent us a tight-beam communiqué.”
Tension ratcheted up inside Simon. After what had happened with Macomber, it wasn’t surprising to learn that Booth and maybe the whole Templar Underground knew the location of the fortress.
“What do they want?” Simon asked.
Wertham shook his head. “They said they’d only talk to you.”
“All right.” Simon leaned down and picked up his sword and gym bag. Whatever Booth wanted, it couldn’t be good.
“When the Hellgate opened,” Lyra Darius told Leah, “
Sumerisle contacted me and asked me to watch over Jessica.”
As Leah watched the older woman, she heard the pain of the memories in her voice and saw the strain in her face.
“Jessica was just a girl,” Lyra said. “Eight years old. The demons were making a concerted effort to destroy the Templar. They obviously knew who Lord Sumerisle was because they came after him. When the Hellgate opened, I was with Lord Sumerisle trying to get Jessica to safety. At that point I didn’t know for sure what he was going to do.”
Leah sat silent and still. If Lyra Darius was playing her, it was the best work Leah had ever seen.
“We were trying to get to Temple Church,” Lyra said. “We didn’t make it. The caravan of ATVs Lord Sumerisle arranged was attacked by demons. The vehicles were demolished. We almost lost our lives. That was the first time I saw what a fully armored Templar could do. And I knew that the armor the military and we were given paled in comparison.”
“They couldn’t give away everything,” Leah said.
“I know. They have to protect their knowledge.” Lyra took a deep breath, but Leah knew the woman wasn’t in the barracks room anymore; she was back on the road to Temple Church four years ago. “Lord Sumerisle had me take Jessica. There was an underground tunnel to the heart of a Templar fortress under Temple Church. Keira Skyler was with us.”
It took Leah a moment to recognize the name. Keira Skyler had been one of the first Cabalists to come forward when the ritual murders started. She’d told everyone that the attacks were demonic in nature.
“But no one believed her.” Leah remembered the scuttlebutt that had come down the pipe at the time.
“No one. Except Lord Sumerisle.”
“Because he already knew that.”
“Yes. Lord Sumerisle and Keira Skyler were together that night when we were attacked. They’d planned on working to unite the Templar and the Cabalists to repel the demons. For the most part, those two groups don’t know much about each other.”
And those that do don’t trust each other, Leah thought. She remembered the black Cabalist with the ragged face who had been inside Akehurst Sanitarium. Simon had already battled him at some point.
“The Cabalists want to learn to control the demons,” Lyra said.
“The Templar want to destroy them,” Leah said.
Lyra smiled sadly. “So you can see how Lord Sumerisle and Kiera Skyler had a lot to work out.”
“It wouldn’t have happened even if they’d lived. The Cabalists and the Templar are too far apart.”
“And we’re not?”
Leah didn’t reply. Everyone had a side in the war being fought throughout London now.
“That night, Kiera and I tried to get Jessica to safety,” Lyra continued. “A second wave of demons followed the first. They attacked us at the church as we made our way through the graveyard. I got Jessica inside, but it was a close thing.” She quieted for a moment, took a breath, and went on. “Then everything went to hell in a handcart.”
“Simon Cross?”
Seated in front of the comm array in his armor, Simon turned his faceplate translucent and allowed the Templar at the other end of the connection to see his face.
“Yes.”
The Templar was young, but his face held scars and a wariness that only close combat gave. “High Seat Booth sent me to speak with you.”
“He should have come himself,” Simon said. “I’d have been more interested in talking.”
“He wants you to come to the Templar Underground.”
That puzzled Simon. He sat back in his seat. “Four years ago, the last time I saw High Seat Booth, he told me in no uncertain terms that I was unwelcome there.”
Displeasure showed on the Templar’s face. “Things have changed.”
“What things?”
“I’m not at liberty to go into that.”
Simon gave the man a cold smile. “Then we’re going to have a short conversation. Tell Booth when he’s ready to speak to me, I’ll be here.” He reached forward to break the connection.
“Wait.”
Simon held his hand on the disconnect key. “Give me a reason.”
The Templar thought quickly. “High Seat Booth wants to talk to you about Goetia. He knows about the manuscript from Akehurst Sanitarium. He says he can help.”
Simon also knew that Booth wouldn’t help anyone but himself if he could help it. But the fact that Booth had sent men out into the wilderness and across London told Simon that the High Seat didn’t know the manuscript had been burned to a crisp.
But Booth did know something.
“Where can I meet you?” Simon asked.
“A Reaper demon broke into the church where I’d taken Jessica,” Lyra said. “It had Keira in one hand. Before we could do anything, it killed her. Right there in front of us.” Unshed tears showed in her eyes. “There was nothing I could do.”
“That must have been horrible,” Leah said.
“We weren’t friends,” Lyra said. “I’d only met her the one time. But I could tell she was a good person. In spite of the horns and tattoos. In the end, she gave her life to protect Lord Sumerisle’s granddaughter as she’d promised she would.”
“But you got away,” Leah pointed out.
“Almost,” Lyra said quietly. “I fought with the demon, but it was too strong. I got Jessica to safety, though. I’d almost joined her when the Reaper demon caught hold of me and pulled me from the tunnel entrance.” She paused. “I knew I was all but dead then. So I did the only thing I could do. I had a sonic grenade and I used it, fully expecting not to survive.”
Leah watched as Lyra ran her left forefinger along the sleeve of her right arm. The armor obediently opened up and revealed a gleaming prosthetic arm.
“I’m not exactly sure how I survived that encounter. The next thing I remember was waking up in a medical facility that hadn’t been overrun with wounded and dying from the demon attacks. At that point, the British military was dead in the streets. Tanks and fighters jets littered Greater London. And the Templar were shedding their life’s blood at St. Paul’s.”
Leah stared at the prosthetic arm. She’d read about them and knew they were part of emerging technology, but she hadn’t known they were being used in the field.
“The injury should have mustered me out of MI-6.” Lyra smiled. “If the demon invasion hadn’t taken place, if London hadn’t become occupied territory, it would have. Instead, since I had been close to Lord Sumerisle and the Templar, I was repaired and put back into the field.”
Repaired. The term jarred Leah’s thoughts when she contemplated how the woman had been repaired like a piece of equipment and returned to service. But in the end, that’s all any of them were: parts of a well-oiled machine.
They were supposed to perform like a well-oiled machine, too. She hadn’t the past couple of days. By now Command probably knew it had been longer than that. Which was why she was where she was.
“Not many of our people believe in the Templar,” Lyra said.
“Command isn’t comfortable knowing anyone has had more information than they have,” Leah replied. “Especially not by a few hundred years’ worth.”
“The Templar haven’t been the only ones who knew things. We’ve had data. We just didn’t know how to interpret it. Like the tube you brought in with you. We’ve known about Goetia. We just didn’t know it applied to this mess we’re in now.”
Leah looked at the other woman and took a deep breath. All right, then. This is where we get down to it.
FORTY
W arren trudged through the dank expanse of the tube station in Bloomsbury. Night had fallen over the city again, and the demons hunted fearlessly. So far he had missed all of them.
Fear remained his constant companion. And the voice that haunted the back of his mind.
“I’m here,” the voice said. “Don’t be so tense. We’ve made a good plan, you and I. This time we have more control of the playing field.”
&n
bsp; Warren wished he felt as confident as the voice sounded. Merihim had visited him earlier to make sure he was taking up the hunt for Knaarl. When he’d been satisfied Warren was properly fearful, he’d vanished. But Warren had gotten the feeling that whatever the demon was working on was building to a crescendo.
Merihim’s obvious lack of interest in what Warren was doing bothered him. For four years he’d served the demon, not faithfully but out of self-preservation. He’d wanted to believe what he was doing mattered more than was apparent now.
“What you’re doing matters to Merihim,” the voice said. “More than you can know at this juncture.”
“Why is it more than I can know?”
“Because certain events have yet to be played in this. If you know everything you shouldn’t, you may change the things you are going to do.”
Warren came to a full stop in the deserted tube station. Buckled cars filled with the skeletons of unfortunates who’d died during the wrecks when the systems went off-line occupied the dead tracks. More corpses that had been prey to demons occupied the empty spaces. Warren had learned to simply walk over them. Bones crunched under his combat boots.
“You can see into the future?” Warren asked.
The voice was silent for a time. “I can’t see, but I can make predictions based on factors that I’m aware of.”
“Can you make a prediction about tonight? About what I’m getting ready to do?”
“Yes. I predict that you’ll have success if everything goes as we’ve planned.”
“You’ll forgive me if I feel somewhat underwhelmed by that announcement.”
“There are always mysteries that we cannot understand,” the voice said.
“That’s right. You didn’t exactly set out to get yourself bound, did you?” Warren wished he could have kept his mouth shut. But the words had tripped over his lips before he could stop them.
“No, I didn’t. That was an x factor at work. But so was the fact that I could communicate with anyone. My captors couldn’t have counted on that.”
