Undertow (The UnderCity Chronicles) by S. M. Stelmack Page A

him lay beneath the surface.
    For below the streets his reputation spanned the city. He was a legend to be respected and feared. But it wasn’t the people that called him back. It was the tunnels themselves with their sudden twists and dark openings. It was as if he were traveling through a great, troubled mind that held the secrets and terrors of all humanity. He was forever drawn to this labyrinth, even though he knew it scarred his soul.
    Perhaps if he could help Lindsay he could prove to himself that, at his core, he was still the same man he’d been, though he scarcely knew who that was anymore. Like one who fumbles to recall a fading dream, he felt that once he must’ve been someone that Lindsay would hold hands with. Someone who could walk both worlds and not feel lost in either.
    As the train neared Grand Central, Jack became aware of uncharacteristic nervousness building in his hulking companion.
    “It’s okay, Reggie,” he said, “You’re right about helping her. I’m glad you did.”
    Reggie turned awkwardly to Jack, and seemed about to say something, then didn’t. Instead, he looked away in grim contemplation.
    They swayed in silence as Jack turned the situation over in his mind.
    “You let Seline in, didn’t you?” he asked suddenly.
    Reggie snapped his head around. “Who told you that?”
    Jack’s face was expressionless. “Nobody,” he replied evenly. “When you’ve got guilt in you, Reggie, you don’t hide it well. Too honest for your own good.”
    The man shifted on his feet. “Shit. You gotta know, Jack, I didn’t think it would go down like this. I gave her my name to drop. She blended in. She made friends easy. Never went too deep. How’d I know she’d go off and do something stupid?”
    Jack stared straight ahead.
    “Bet you’re pissed, huh?” Reggie asked.
    “Very,” Jack said, his voice impassive. “But I’ll get over it.”
    His response nudged a nervous smile out of Reggie. “Guess that’s two I owe you.”
    The train began to slow, preparing to stop at Grand Central.
    “Damn right you do,” Jack mumbled.
    Making his way topside, Jack quickly spotted Lindsay. She was sipping fancy coffee by the information booth, her bright hair in a ponytail, her long legs parted over a backpack between her feet. He felt his heart suddenly pound hard, and he stopped, unused to the hard beat here on the surface. Must be nerves about going underground for the first time in a year. As the swell of commuters expanded and contracted around him, he waited for his heart to calm. Waited so long that it was Reggie who reached her first and him playing catch-up.
    “Thank you for changing his mind,” he heard her say to Reggie. To him, she gave a quick nod of acknowledgement.
    His life and sanity on the line for her, and he got a nod. Figured. “You and I need to get some things straight.”
    She rolled her eyes. “Please, Jack. Don’t waste your breath trying to talk me out of this again. You know what I’m going to do.”
    “Wouldn’t be here if I was going to talk you out of it,” he said. “Set down the double latte and show me your backpack.”
    “What for?”
    Jack clenched his jaw so hard it hurt. Reggie slowly backed away. “I’ll be over here….”
    Lindsay stared after Reggie like a puppy after its departing owner, then she toed her backpack his way. “Have at it.”
    He forced himself to release a long breath and then knelt to rummage through it. “Not bad,” he said, pulling out her low-light goggles. “though mostly junk.”
    Lindsay dropped beside him. “Junk? That night-vision thing cost me eight hundred bucks.”
    “Uh-huh. How long is the battery life?”
    “Eight hours.”
    “Not long enough. You know this thing only intensifies light, right?”
    “Well, yeah.”
    “Too bad there won’t be any where we’re going. You won’t see shit unless you’re carrying a light, in which case you might as well be using a ten-dollar flashlight to make your way. If