Freeze (The Jewel Project #4)

5.3|| The Underworld

"Okay then," Tom said with a sigh. "I didn't want to do this, but we don't have a plethora of choices, so here goes nothing."

"Um, what?" Sam asked, tilting his head. "You mean you've been sitting on a solution this whole time?"

"Solution is a bit of a stretch. And you're not going to like it."

"I'm not exactly in the position to be picky now, am I?"

Truer words had never been spoken. Tom dropped back on his chair and leaned back until his head touched the white bricks. People fortunately avoided them like the plague so they had all the privacy they could hope for.

"About a year ago, I met this girl. She was a foreign exchange student from Paris and she told me about something called the Fraternity."

"That doesn't sound so bad." Sam sat next to him, already looking too hopeful.

"This Fraternity is an underground organisation stretching across the world, with headquarters in diverse cities. It's basically a place for people who willingly or unwillingly call the streets their homes."

"You mean homeless people?"

God, Sam could be so stupidly amusing sometimes. "No, not homeless people. I think they would more accurately fall into your definition of street thugs."

"So... Um..." Sam swallowed heavily. "This fraternity thing, it's legal, right?"

"As far from it as possible."

"Why would this chick even tell you about it then?"

"I sorta wanted to join in. I saw it as a solution for being kicked out of the orphanage at the time. Anyway, enough about ancient history. Are you in or what?"

Sam paused for a few moments as if digesting the latest information. "Not like I have a better idea. How do we do it?"

A weight lifted off Tom's shoulders and he stood again. "We need to find them first. I don't have time to fill you in on all the protocol so just let me do the talking. I'll just bring you in as my plus one."

"O-kay..." Sam said warily.

Tom moved towards the map of the subway, trying to remember a conversation that seemed to take place a million years ago. As excited as Mizrelle had seemed at the moment about him joining, she hadn't given him too much information about how to find them. Except for two small clues.

"We're here, at the Châtelet station. We need to get to the Opera." Which was fortunately just three stations away if they managed to get on the right train.

"That seems rather mundane."

"I'm sorry if my illegal society isn't spectacular enough for you." Plus, Tom wasn't sharing what followed next. He didn't want Sam to completely freak out.

They got on the next train and sat down quietly. Sam kept wringing his hands, his gaze fixed on his feet as if he wanted the floor to swallow him whole. Tom's chest filled with compassion as he watched him, realizing in that moment that, as much as they looked alike on the outside, they were very different on the inside. Sam was uncomfortable, even a little scared. Tom wasn't. He was too used to wandering the streets, to not belonging anywhere.

"It's going to be fine," he said.

"Empty words, but thanks," Sam answered.

The train pulled into their station and they got down. Sam glanced around, but Tom only had eyes for the train schedule display. The next one was due in three minutes. Time was not on their side.