The Bones of Valhalla (Purge of Babylon, Book 9) Read online

  Keo was unable to hide the surprise on his face. Even Rhett hadn’t gone that far.

  “We all saw the pictures the scouts brought back,” Mary said. “The towns, the people in them. When the planes took off, we knew what they were going there to do.” She shook her head and there was genuine sadness in her eyes. “So yeah, I’m grateful for what you did, Keo. I don’t have any problems admitting that. A lot of us are, even if we won’t say it out loud. The truth is, not hating you for what you did is the same as condoning it, which is then the same as admitting they’d allowed themselves to be blindly led by Mercer all this time. It’s...not an easy thing for people to confess, so you have to give them time.”

  “How much time?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe your friend coming here will help them get there.”

  “They know about Lara?”

  “It’s a small island, Keo,” Mary said. “Secrets don’t stay a secret for very long around here. You should know that by now.”

  “I’m beginning to realize that,” Keo sighed.

  17

  Lara

  If Rhett had been drinking water when he climbed off the twenty-footer and onto the swimming platform at the back of the Trident, Lara was almost certain he might have done one of those spit takes from the movies. Instead, he just stared at her for a second or two, long enough to reveal his surprise, but also to quickly recover.

  “Lara,” he said, extending a hand out toward her.

  She shook it. “Rhett.”

  “You’re not what I was expecting.”

  “Is that good or bad?”

  “I don’t know yet.”

  “Well, if it helps, you’re exactly what I expected.”

  He reached up and rubbed his bald head. “Riley told you.”

  “He might have mentioned it, among other things.”

  “All good, I hope.”

  “I don’t know yet.”

  He chuckled and she smiled before turning and leading him onto the lower deck while Nate and Jolly remained behind, watching the lone man who had guided the offshore boat over from Black Tide Island.

  Lara liked having Jolly around—he made for an imposing figure clad in the stripped down urban assault vest. Nate wasn’t entirely out of place next to the bigger kid, but he wasn’t quite as intimidating. The extra day’s rest had made Nate the healthiest he’d been since returning with Gaby and Danny, and she was glad he had given up trying to get her to reveal Gaby’s location. For now, anyway. According to Carly and Maddie, he was still asking around, but doing it a little less obviously.

  “You got Jolly too, huh?” Rhett was saying as they walked side by side along the boat’s railing.

  “He volunteered,” Lara said.

  “He already looks at home. But I guess it’s not too hard to like living on a luxury yacht.” He glanced around. “Where’s Peters? I know he’s around here somewhere. That guy’s like a gargoyle, always perching high above you.”

  “You’re right, he’s around here somewhere.”

  “You had him watching us on approach, didn’t you?”

  “He volunteered, too.”

  “Of course he did.” Then, “Would he have shot us if we’d tried anything?”

  “Funny, but I asked him the same question.”

  “What did he say?”

  “You know him better and longer than I do. What do you think he said?”

  Rhett grunted. “That’s going to help, you know.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Getting Peters on your side. People respect him. Hell, having Peters on your side’s going to do more good than having Riley. You were smart to give him a home.”

  “Speaking of homes, I was expecting to see Keo with you.”

  “You didn’t say he was part of the package.”

  “I just assumed he’d want to come back the first chance he got.”

  “Circumstances being what they are, I’d have a full-blown riot on my hands if I let him waltz off the island after what he did.”

  “So he’s still your prisoner.”

  “Not quite.”

  “Then what is he?”

  “I have him on lockdown for his own good.” Then, when she gave him an unconvinced look, “He’s not my prisoner. In fact, he’s armed to the teeth.”

  “You let him have a gun?”

  “Guns. Like I said, he’s isolated at the moment, for his own good.”

  “Let me guess: Not everyone has been as benevolent towards him as you?”

  “That’s putting it mildly. You already know about the first attempt on his life. There was a second one earlier this morning.”

  “But he’s okay…”

  “He’s probably busy right now trying to get into my nurse’s pants, so what does that tell you?”

  She smiled. “Sounds like Keo.”

  They walked along the railing instead of going into the deck where most of Riley’s people were currently housed. Faces peered curiously out of the windows as they passed by, and Rhett stared back.

  “Speaking of house arrest,” Rhett said.

  “Not exactly,” Lara said. “We had some complications.”

  “You too, huh?”

  “It’s a dangerous world, Rhett.”

  “The week I’ve been having agrees with you.”

  “I’m glad you came. You made the right choice.”

  “That remains to be seen.”

  “Still, it took guts.”

  “So did you, coming here knowing what we have.”

  “Your planes…”

  “Among other things.”

  “I guess we both know there’s more at stake here than just us.”

  “That we do.” Then, as they passed another window with civilians looking out at them, “Is everyone in there?”

  “Just about everyone.”

  “All squeezed into this little boat?”

  “It’s not that little.”

  “Smaller than the island.”

  “Most things are smaller than your island.”

  “True enough.”

  “But you came here to talk about the future. So let’s do that.”

  “All right.” He paused for effect. “You told me you had a plan to beat the ghouls. I’m frankly on pins and needles waiting to hear it. Like I mentioned on the radio, the last person who claimed to have a plan, well, we all know how that one worked out.”

  “I’m not Mercer.”

  “True, you’re better looking.”

  “Thanks, I guess.”

  “The fact that you’re not Mercer is why I’m here, alone, and unarmed.”

  “That’s not exactly true now, is it?”

  He chuckled. “No, I guess not.”

  They were both taking big risks this morning. Even now, with the Trident adrift five miles from Black Tide, she didn’t feel safe at all. She told herself she would never feel safe around Mercer’s people, even if Mercer himself was no longer around to command them. These were, after all, the same men who had been razing towns full of pregnant women and children. People like that were not to be fully trusted, if she could help it.

  So why are you here?

  Because I don’t have a choice. Because I need them. Because Will’s chances go way up with them on our side.

  “You have an inside man,” Rhett was saying.

  “What makes you say that?”

  “What else could it be? Besides, Keo confirmed as much.”

  She nodded. “His name’s Frank. He’s in-country right now.”

  “And Riley’s met him?”

  “He has.”

  “What’s he doing out there?”

  “Making preparations for what’s coming.”

  “You mean if we go along with your plan.”

  If you go along with the plan. If all of this wasn’t for nothing. If we don’t all die in the process.

  There were a dozen more ifs that she could come up with, but every one of them led down the same road:
Doubt. And right here and right now, she couldn’t afford that.

  “I think you will,” she said, and the words came out so confidently that she almost fooled herself. Almost.

  “What makes you so certain?” Rhett said.

  “Because I’m offering you the opportunity to end this war. Really end this war in a way that doesn’t include slaughtering innocent civilians.”

  “You’re going to keep hanging that over our heads, aren’t you?”

  “Why shouldn’t I? You did it.”

  He sighed. “Yeah, I guess we did.”

  They walked the length of the yacht in silence for a while, and she led him up one staircase at a time. She could have taken him up using the ladder at the back when he first boarded and drastically cut down their walking time, but Lara wanted to get a feel for him out here in the open, with no one else around but the two of them. She needed to know if she could trust this man.

  “All right, I take it all back,” Rhett said when they reached the final floor. “I can see you not wanting to abandon this place anytime soon. Not every day you get to call something like this your base of operations.”

  “It’s nice,” Lara said, “but it’s never going to be home.”

  “So where is home?”

  “Texas.”

  “Ah.”

  “You?”

  “Kansas. I was on a business trip when the shit hit the fan,” Rhett said. “What were you doing before all of this?”

  You mean how old am I, don’t you? she thought with a smile, and said, “At home.”

  “Doing what?”

  “Sleeping.”

  “I mean, what were you doing. As in, your former occupation.”

  “Why don’t you just ask it, Rhett.”

  “Ask what?”

  “My age.”

  “All right. How old are you?”

  “Old enough to keep everyone on this boat alive when no one else could, through more trials and tribulations than you could possibly imagine.”

  Rhett chortled. “You wanna ask me how old I am?”

  “No.”

  “Aren’t you curious?”

  “Curiosity has nothing to do with it. I don’t think your age matters. The only thing I care about is how capable you are and if I can trust you with the lives of my people.”

  “And vice versa,” Rhett said. “So convince me, Lara, and I’ll see what I can do to convince you back that I’m worth allying with.”

  It was just the two of them inside the conference room, with the morning sunlight streaming through the port window. Rhett had listened to her in silence, interrupting only when he needed clarification. In all, he broke in a total of six times.

  When she was done, he leaned against the table and looked across at her as if really seeing her for the first time. She read him back, but couldn’t tell whatsoever if she had convinced him or if he had concluded she was insane. The fact that he hadn’t laughed in her face or turned and left was, she thought, a good sign.

  Maybe.

  “So that’s your plan,” he finally said.

  She nodded. “That’s our plan.”

  “This Frank. Can you trust him?”

  “With my life,” she said without hesitation.

  “Even though he used to be one of them,” Rhett said. It wasn’t a question.

  “He turned on them a long time ago,” she said, marveling at how easily the lie came. But then, was it really a lie? Will had turned on the ghouls very early on, didn’t he? “It doesn’t matter what he was before; he’s one of us now. I trust him enough that when the time comes, I’ll be committing lives to his plan; lives that I spent a lot of time trying to protect. He’s seen things no one else has. Knows things people don’t even know to look for. He risked everything to get this plan to us. And now he’s risking everything again by going back out there to take point.” She paused to let all that sink in before continuing. “So yes, Rhett, I trust him implicitly.”

  “Even so, what you’re talking about, it’s dangerous. Hell, it’s borderline suicidal.”

  “No more dangerous or suicidal than doing nothing. How long before they completely overrun us more than they already have?”

  “Maybe it doesn’t matter. You’re on a boat, and I’m on an island.”

  “They can’t get to you, but their human lackeys can. How long before they send an armada out here for you?”

  “Have you looked around the Gulf of Mexico, Lara? There are no more armadas. They went around sinking every boat they could find along the marinas and shorelines a long time ago.”

  “They only need a dozen boats with machine guns. I’ve seen it, Rhett. If the blue eyes want something badly enough, they’ll commit everything they have to take it. I’ve seen it. I’ve fought it. I barely survived it.”

  He stared at her before finally nodding. “I believe that you have.”

  “Besides, it’s no more dangerous than sending kill teams on hit-and-run missions all over Texas.”

  “There is one big difference: those guys were fighting collaborators. Human beings. More importantly, a limited number of human beings. What we’re talking about here is taking on the entire ghoul population.”

  “Not all of them. Just the ones in Houston.”

  Rhett grunted. “How many people were in Houston before all of this? A million?”

  More like two million.

  “The vast majority of those people are ghouls now,” Rhett continued. “That’s a hell of a lot to contend with, Lara, and we’re going to run right into the thick of them.” He shook his head. “It’s almost certainly a suicide mission.”

  “Most of the fighting will be in the sunlight.”

  “But not all of it. We’ll have to go into the dark eventually. That’s their turf.”

  “Frank knows what he’s doing.”

  “Frank’s one man.”

  “He’s also our best chance to end this. Now. Not a week from now. Not a month or a year. But now, Rhett. This is our best chance.”

  “You keep saying that.”

  “Because it’s true. We don’t know how long the target’s going to be there. Right now, it’s vulnerable. But that might change in twenty-four hours. In a week. If we don’t take advantage of this opportunity, we might not get another one. Ever.”

  “I get that you believe everything you’re saying, but what you’re asking…”

  “Is a lot, I know. But it’s not any more than what your people were already committed to under Mercer. The only difference is, this time your bombs will be dropping on the real enemy, not kids and old men.”

  Rhett sighed and looked down at the map, as if the answers were down there. She could have told him it wasn’t because she had lost count of the number of times she had done the exact same thing. It was just a map, and it didn’t shed light on anything.

  He returned his gaze to her. “Just to be clear, I can’t order them to be a part of this. I wouldn’t, even if I could. It’ll have to be their choice.”

  “I’m not looking for a conscripted army. I want volunteers.”

  “Just volunteers?”

  “I’m not ordering any of my people to do this, either. Everyone who is involved is doing so of their own free will.” She thought of Nate and Danny, and added, “Some of them want to do more, but I won’t let them.”

  “You have people anxious to get killed?”

  “No. I have people who know what’s at stake, who know this is our single best chance to take it all back.”

  “And they trust Frank.”

  “He’s earned our trust. Over and over again.”

  “And you just want volunteers,” Rhett said.

  She nodded. “I just want volunteers.”

  Rhett looked back down at the map and didn’t say anything for the longest time. She could almost picture the gears turning inside his head. Had she done a good enough job of selling it? Maybe. It was hard to gauge how convincing she had been. How convincing could she even be if she s
till had doubts about the plan herself? Even after sending Gaby, Blaine, and Bonnie out there with Will?

  God, you better know what you’re doing, Will.

  Rhett finally stood back from the table and glanced around the room. “I can’t help but notice it’s only been you and me in here since I arrived. Where’s Riley?”

  “He’s around. I asked everyone to give me time alone with you.”

  “You wanted to make sure you could trust me.”

  “And vice versa.”

  He sighed again. It was the sigh of a man with too much on his mind and the weight of the world on his shoulders. She knew the sound and the look because she had heard and seen it countless times from herself.

  “So what do you need from us?” Rhett asked.

  “Whatever you can give me,” she said.

  “It might not be nearly as much as you think. R-Day was a success by every stretch, but we did suffer casualties. And not everyone made it back home when I gave the recall order.”

  “We’ll work with what you can give us. My people are very adaptable, Rhett. We were already prepared to go at this alone before we learned about what happened to Mercer.”

  “You’re telling me you were going to do all of this by yourselves?”

  “That’s what I’m telling you.”

  “Then you’re crazier than I thought.”

  “We’ve been called worse.”

  Rhett chuckled. “Yeah, I guess that makes two of us.”

  “Did he go for it?” Danny asked when she stepped onto the bridge.

  “Maybe,” she said. “He’s with Riley now. Maybe Riley can nudge him to where we need him to be.”

  “What if they say no?” Maddie asked from behind the helm.

  Lara shook her head. “I don’t know, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”

  “I don’t know about you, but five miles doesn’t seem like that long of a bridge when the other guy’s got warplanes,” Danny said, turning back to the windshield and looking out at the tiny black dot blinking in and out of existence underneath the morning sun.

  Danny was right—five miles felt way, way too close given what was parked on Black Tide Island’s airstrip. It was hard to believe how potentially dangerous the speck of dirt staring back at them at the moment was.