’Til the World Ends (18 page)

Chapter Fourteen

According to Thorne’s contacts, the kids were fine.

Which meant the goon had been bluffing, as predicted. Stavros might know about Al and Elodie, but he wouldn’t live long enough to use the knowledge. His men had turned; this was the pivotal moment in Snake Ward.

Relief swept me, even as I listened to the offer. It came from the same guy who had looked in on Al and Elodie, carrying the message from Stavros’s people.

“Henry wants to meet.”

This was what we had been waiting for. I shifted against the wall, exhausted beyond bearing. No question but these had been the longest days of my life. I had lived on the back of Thorne’s bike, catching sleep in corners and crevices, moving on before I felt rested. Others might thrive on chaos and conflict—not me. I missed my routine and seeing my sibs every morning. By the time I got back, I was gonna owe Nat so big I’d never be able to repay her.

“He can set the time and place,” Thorne said. “As long as it looks clean, I’ll be there.”

“It’s not a trap. I’ll leave word in the usual place.”

“What does that mean?” I asked after the courier left.

“I have a system. Notes left, answers retrieved. It’s safe.”

A day later, he was proved right when we set up a meeting at the border of Snake Ward and Junkland, far from Stavros’s HQ—and out of the way enough—that nobody should catch Henry parlaying with the enemy. So weird to think of myself in those terms; I had spent so many years just trying to get by, but now there was no question I’d become one of the powers in the zone. Going forward, people would know who I was outside my neighborhood, and that might make my life more complicated.

Still, I couldn’t fret about that when we were on the downhill run. Against the odds we had stayed alive long enough to get Stavros’s men to flip on him. To make the day even better, Thorne found a place for us to clean up. It wasn’t much, a public bathhouse, where an enterprising old woman sold purified rainwater, homemade soap and buckets, but after so long, I took it gladly. While he kept watch, I washed up, then donned a clean outfit. My clothes were all dark, nondescript, well-suited for my line of work, but not all of them smelled so ripe.

Then I stood guard for Thorne, making sure nobody crept up on us. This was the longest we’d stayed in a public place since the hit on the mobile market in Hazmat Square. Fortunately, he’d traded for enough food to keep us going. Once we were presentable, we split again and ate breakfast on top of what had been an overpass at one point. The road was broken, shattered by one of the early quakes, and I perched at the edge of the rubble, legs dangling. It was a safe sort of risk, as the tectonic plates had stabilized years before—and I had good balance, no risk of me getting vertigo and tumbling over.

“Come away from there,” Thorne said, low.

I shifted, brow raised. “Are you afraid of heights?”

“No. That’s just...not a good idea.”

Wow. The imperturbable Thorne Goodman was wigged out by high spaces. He would die if he saw some of my best aerial maneuvers. Oddly, it made me feel better. It was excellent to know he had a weakness. Nobody should be as cold and collected as he had been through this ordeal; it made him seem inhuman.

“Why?” I asked, testing him further.

I set aside my food and slid to my feet, nothing but air behind me. His face tightened, but he didn’t move toward me. Watching his face, I took a step backward, my heels nudging the cement. Though he didn’t know it, even if I started to fall backward, I wouldn’t. I could flip onto solid ground through years of practice...but to someone untrained, it might look as if I was taking a foolish risk.

“Mari, so help me—” The words came out through gritted teeth, and then he bit them off entirely, his face pale. Sweaty.

I realized then that he wasn’t just scared; he was on the verge of puking or passing out. The game lost its savor. I bounded toward him, light on the loose rubble, and he seized me when I got within reach. He pulled me to him, shaking, and I let him. For the first time, I put my arms around him when I wasn’t on his moto. It was another turning point, but I didn’t know what it meant. Thorne held on to me like his knees might give out if I wasn’t there to prop him up.
Damn
. I hadn’t meant to do
this
to him, just screw with him a little.

Worried, I stroked his back; that he permitted it spoke volumes on his state of mind. “Did you see someone fall?” I asked.

Thorne shook his head, eyes shut. “She jumped.”

And I made you relive it.

This, I knew instinctively, was the grudge he had against Stavros. By dying, the mysterious, unnamed female had given him reason to go to war. Something Stavros had done had driven her off a ledge. Not a romantic interest, I thought, but someone Thorne had felt protective toward. If she had been his lover, then Stavros wouldn’t buy my role in this drama.

“Who?”

“Veronica.” The name grated as if it was crafted of broken glass, too painful to speak.

“I was never in any danger,” I said, but he wasn’t listening.

His eyes opened, livid with fear, anger and something else that sparked like lightning, an emotion I’d never seen before. I couldn’t have named it. He ran his hands up my arms to my shoulders and then cupped the back of my head, fingers lacing in my still-damp hair. His touch burned with insistent heat. For a wild, pulse-pounding moment, I thought he would kiss me. Thorne gazed at my mouth, his breath coming fast.

Then he opened his hands and stepped back. “You got me. It usually takes more to get me going...but I guess I’m on edge.”

Disappointment tasted bitter at the back of my tongue. With some effort, I banished it. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know that was your trigger.”

He shrugged. “Never has been, but I never saw anybody dare gravity to kick their ass before, either.”

I changed the subject. “I’m done eating. We should go pick up the meeting info, right?”

“Yeah. This is almost over. Soon everything will be back to normal.”

Which meant Thorne taking over for Stavros and me never seeing him again. The prospect didn’t fill me with as much joy as it had in the beginning. Damn him, anyway.

Chapter Fifteen

That night, we showed in good faith, knowing these negotiations would decide the future of Snake Ward. Thorne arrived early, and I verified there was nobody lying in wait by going to the top of a couple buildings and scouting that way. He was tense the entire time.

“It’s clear,” I reported when I got back.

That left us to wait for Henry, who arrived soon after. As promised, he came alone. “Stav’s out of control,” he said in lieu of greeting.

Thorne’s mouth firmed. “I saw it when Veronica died, but nobody else seemed to agree.”

“We noticed, brother, but changes in management can be complicated...and bloody.”

Given the body count Stavros had thrown at us, I had to concur. I kept quiet because it was the role Thorne had assigned me early on. As if he was thinking the same thing, he reached for me, encircling my shoulders with his arm.

“So what’s your play?” Thorne asked.

“I’ll bring him to you. I expect you can handle the rest.”

“Stav still trusts you enough to make this feasible?”

Henry laughed. “Shit, I’m the only ‘loyal’ gun he’s got left. The ones he’s got beating the bushes for you are hired help, hoping to sign on if they bring you in.”

“What about the others?”

“Mike’s dead,” he said flatly. “He was my boy, you know. I told him no good would come of going head-to-head with the bossman, but he wouldn’t stand down.”

“Because of the people Stavros was killing?” I asked, speaking for the first time.

Henry cut his eyes to me. “Yeah. Mike didn’t approve of taking out families for no reason. Neither do I, truth be told, but I wasn’t brave enough to speak up. Maybe if I had...”

You’d be dead, too,
I thought,
unless you were willing to drop Stavros then and there.

“Well, it don’t matter now. Bossman’ll get what’s coming to him.”

Thorne nodded. “You said you’re the only one left. The others dead?”

“Gone to ground. When the dust settles, they’ll be back.”

“Prepared to support me?” Thorne wanted to know.

That was key—and the whole reason he hadn’t executed Stavros the first night. He needed physical support for his coup. Taking over Snake Ward wasn’t a small job or somebody else would’ve knocked Stav off his throne years ago. People didn’t love the bossman, but they feared him, which was the next-best thing to popular approval.

Henry inclined his head. “They all know and like you. Back in the day, you tried to reason with Stav...and sometimes you succeeded. We remember that.”

“Your word’s good with me.” Then he smiled, but it was chilling. “If you play me, Henry, they’ll find you in pieces.”

“You think I’d sell you to Stav, after what he done to Mike?”

“No, but you might make a move of your own. Let me deal with Stavros, and then step up yourself with the men behind you.”

To my surprise, Henry laughed. “Shit, brother, you think I want the weight of this ward on my shoulders? What do you think drove Stav so crazy? I need liquor, food and a warm woman, that’s all.”

“I have only your word for that, but it’ll do until you prove otherwise.” Man, Thorne could be scary when he tried.

“You’ll see what’s what when it all shakes out. After I talk to the boys, I’ll set things up with Stav and leave word for you in the usual place.”

“You’ll tell him you found us?” I guessed.

Henry inclined his head. “That’s the only way he’s coming out. I’ll say you’re too wounded to move, likely to die in transit.”

Yeah, the prospect of being denied personal retribution would piss the bossman off. He’d been running Snake Ward so long it had given him a God complex. I hoped like hell that didn’t happen to Thorne. He might not be a good man, but he wasn’t insane, so far as I could tell—at least, not more than anybody else in the Red Zone.

The meeting concluded shortly thereafter. Thorne found us a bolthole near the drop point. He could keep watch from here, making sure only the messenger came and went. If he saw any unusual activity in the area, we’d bail. At long last, the waiting was almost over. But oddly, he didn’t seem more relaxed. He radiated tension, pacing our little hideaway with raw nerves.

“You all right?” Clearly he wasn’t, but the question was invitation.

“No.” He sat down opposite me with no warning, his gaze burning and intense. “I can’t stop thinking about what Henry said...how he doesn’t want this responsibility. I don’t either. This isn’t justice, Mari. It’s payback.”

“So it’s more about taking Stav’s life than his property.”

He jerked his chin in an agitated nod. “But somebody’s gotta drive the bus, right? We can’t all be passengers.”

“Maybe,” I said slowly, “you could be a different kind of bossman. Instead of taking, maybe you could give back. Build something.”

That was a pipe dream. Nothing like that ever happened in the Red Zone. Life had long since devolved into every man for himself. Sometimes people made friends, as I had with Nat, Seline and Edgar, but there were no larger connections. No public services or support network.

“I’m not a hero. Don’t paint me as one.” But I noticed he didn’t reject the idea.

Maybe it was so stupid he thought the ‘no’ didn’t need to be spoken out loud because the impossibility went without saying. But I let a little spark of hope kindle inside; I’d nourish it and keep an eye on the future. Maybe Thorne could drive the bus someplace better. Unlikely, but improbable optimism got me through the bad patches. In all honesty, Elodie shared that trait with me, which was part of why I found her so irritating.

“I’m not. It was just a suggestion.” One I hoped would work on him down the line.

“Duly noted.” He seemed calmer.

“If you want some free advice, don’t worry about the future. You worked, sweated and bled for this moment. Let yourself enjoy it.”

Thorne’s brow went up in sardonic inquiry. “How?”

I realized he thought I meant something personal, him and me, so I stumbled over my reply. “Just...savor the impending triumph. By this time tomorrow night, it will be over.”

“I can’t help wondering what comes after.”

“Sometimes it’s best not to,” I said.

He studied my face for a few seconds, expression unreadable. Thorne had a killer poker face, and I was pretty good at reading people. These days, it was a survival skill, knowing who to trust, who would screw you and when to run. Yet I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

“Yeah. Sometimes it’s better not to realize what’s coming.” Then he ran a fingertip down my cheek, a gesture that was beyond me to interpret.

I didn’t sleep well that night for oh-so-many reasons.

Chapter Sixteen

In the morning, we picked up the particulars from the drop site. The confrontation would take place near the Burn Ward border, along the river. It was a fitting backdrop, I thought. Today, the natives were restless. People stared as we sped along. Some raised their hands, calling out to acknowledge the new crown prince. Thorne didn’t wave back.

Not yet. He had unfinished business.

Wind whipped my face through the helmet, burning my skin with dust particles. But that speed couldn’t last, as our juice was limited. We needed to find a high, safe spot to power up the bike. Because we’d been moving so much, the panels never got more than a half charge, and Thorne had to hide it along with us. If he left it unattended, it would be gone.

It would suck to have a master plan derailed through lack of voltage.

He found the perfect spot in what used to be a parking garage. Or at least, that was what it looked like. Many of the ramps had collapsed, so it was unstable at best, yet he didn’t hesitate in taking the corners with a little too much speed. I held on tighter as he jumped a small gap in the cement, then curled higher, until we reached the very top level. Raw metal girders were exposed, along with tumbled concrete, but there was no barrier between the sky overhead and us, exactly what the bike required.

There, we set up a primitive base camp. It was a hot day, muggy, with smoke circulating in the air. I’d probably get a lung infection after all this exposure. Oh, I knew my house offered only psychological protection, but maybe the power of my mind kept me healthy. I didn’t encourage my sibs to spend a lot of time outdoors for various reasons.

“Is it getting enough light?” I asked. What I really wanted to know was,
will it have enough power to get us out of trouble?

Thorne nodded. “It’ll be fine by tonight.”

When everything goes down.

“What’s my role in this?”

“You played it...and well, I might add.”

Shock reverberated through me, then anger rushed to fill the gaps. “I don’t think so. I might play a damsel in distress, but I am
not
one. I’m in this with you...we’ll finish it together. You know my strengths...now tell me what you need me to do.”

To his credit, it didn’t take him long to reevaluate. “Backup then. You still have the gun. I’ll need you to find a good perch and cover me.”

“I can also scout the meeting site. Tell you where he’s likely to post gunmen.”

“Can you take them out quietly?” he asked.

Given what he’d seen of my skills, it was a reasonable question. While he’d been on the ground, he had watched me kill a man. My stomach roiled at the thought of doing it again, but I nodded. “I can. Is that on?”

“If he’s got guards, I want them out of the way before I move in. This ends one-on-one.”

I could live with that. Thorne needed to kill Stavros personally to assume control of his territory. It was primitive street law, related to possession and power. As long as you could hold something, you owned it...and if somebody stronger came along, you lost everything.

“Then I’ll back your play.” I’d never said that to anyone before.

My jobs tended to be quiet and lonely. I slipped in, stole whatever my client wanted, and got out fast. Usually it was routine. No excitement.

But then, I’d never broken into a fortress before. My specialty was braving buildings that were deemed unsafe for human habitation. Too old, unstable, likely to collapse at any moment, but that didn’t stop the rich from wanting to collect whatever old thing they had heard about.... That was primarily how I’d fed the family for the past three years, and before me, Dad had done the same.

I suspected my father wouldn’t approve of this job at all. In my head, I heard his shocked voice:
I didn’t teach you to kill, Mari.

No, Dad. That, I learned on my own.
When survival math came down to them or me, the calculation was simple. And Stavros had made it so we couldn’t exist without some subtraction.

Thorne leveled a somber look on me. “Can you really do this? Before, it was more fight-or-flight. They attack...you respond. This time, you’ll be hunting men. Executing them. I won’t ask for anything you can’t handle.”

I understood what he was saying. And he was right. The idea of being so cold, so calculating, horrified me. In the Red Zone, I’d fought for my life a few times. And I’d killed with the traps more than once, but this was different. This decision meant turning a corner—giving away a piece of my soul—and I couldn’t go back. Could never return to relative innocence.

“Do I want to?” I shook my head. “Not at all. But I can. I
will
. And I’ll find a way to deal, afterward.”

Though he didn’t look delighted, he accepted my response. He could see I understood the risks...and the potential for damage in my own head. “Then it’s settled.”

“Did you seriously think you could stash me and play the endgame without me?”

“I must’ve been crazy.”

I frowned, sensing sarcasm.

Apparently he read my look better than I could his. “No, I mean it. You’ve been amazing, Mari. No complaints, all-in from the jump. I know it wasn’t personal...you were looking out for your brother and sister. But still, I appreciate it.”

Wow. That’s unexpected.
True, in the beginning, everything I’d done had been motivated by the desire to protect my sibs. But now? Honestly, I wouldn’t leave Thorne swinging in the wind even if the kids weren’t a factor. But I wouldn’t tell
him
that.

“We make a good team,” I said, and then I wished I hadn’t, because he enjoyed putting a personal spin on everything.

This time he didn’t; he just nodded. I didn’t know whether to be offended or relieved. His teasing disconcerted me because I didn’t know how to take it. Men typically didn’t pay me much attention, and I preferred it that way. Because Nat was beautiful, she dealt with unwanted moves all the time, and I dreaded the day when Elodie developed to that point. It wouldn’t be long, a year or two, until the creepers noticed. Then I’d have to get good at killing them. So maybe this practice run was for the best, another life skill to acquire. Of course, knowing my sister, she’d knife a guy for looking at her wrong. She wasn’t the sunny-natured angel she appeared.

“What?” he asked.

I turned to Thorne. “Hm?”

“You’re smiling.”

“I was just thinking of Elodie.”

His expression softened, a look I’d never seen before. “Ah. It’s amazing the way you’ve kept them safe. I can’t even imagine.”

“What?” I raised a brow.

“A family who gives a shit.”

“These days it’s pretty rare, I know.”

“You know why my mother named me Thorne?”

“Because that’s what you were to her?”

“Good guess.” His tone was bleak.

Though I didn’t say so, it could always be worse. There were women who did everything they could to abort. Sometimes it didn’t work, and the baby was born...wrong. There was no recourse for such children. Abandoned by their mothers, they died in Junkland, whimpering their last breaths in such a way that I didn’t know how the permanent residents bore it.

“At least she named you. Kept you.”

“I’m still not sure why.” He got up then, ostensibly to check how the bike was charging, but the move was more to be sure I understood this conversation was over.

I wished I could comfort him, but that would require intimacy and attachment. Apart from my sibs, I was allergic to both. So I let him withdraw, and the silence stood, until dark fell.

Then it was time to roll.