’Til the World Ends (14 page)

Chapter Five

I froze, unable to credit what I was hearing. “Even Stavros isn’t crazy enough to—” I broke off...because in fact, the bossman was pretty damn psychotic. “But why?”

His expression was somber in the dim light. “Things are pretty good here, compared to other areas. You look out for each other...and you’re part of the reason for that, I think.”

“I am?” I had no idea what he was talking about.

“Your neighbor would’ve tried to stop me from hurting you, Mari. I’ve seldom seen that anywhere else.”

A hot flush swept over me. I just tried to get by; it wasn’t as if I’d rallied anyone to a watch program. Self-consciously, I shrugged. “We swap favors sometimes. It’s better than stabbing each other in the back.”

Thorne nodded. “More to the point, a few local traders have started refusing to pay protection money. And you know where that leads.”

“The guy gets the shit kicked out of him, learns his lesson and doesn’t do it again.”

“Not this time. Stavros thinks a bigger example is necessary. He wants the populace to fear him completely.”

“They already do,” I protested.

If a bomb went off here, so many people would be caught in the blast. There would be collateral and structural damage, bodies everywhere and, depending on what kind of chemicals Stavros used, it might poison everyone in the ward.
Thousands
would die, if somebody didn’t stop him. The sheer magnitude of the looming disaster locked me in place.

“I
will
destroy him,” Thorne said softly. “With or without you.”

“Is that why he hired me? If I fail, he kills me. If I succeed, he blows up my whole neighborhood.” My voice went sharp and bitter. “That’s win/win for him.”

“I suspect that’s why, yes. It amused him to think of you delivering the means of your own execution.”

With some effort, I squared my shoulders. “Does Stavros think I’m responsible for my neighborhood being a little less horrible than the rest of Snake Ward?”

“Probably. He doesn’t confide in me anymore.”

“Did he ever?”

Some indefinable emotion flickered across his lean features. “Once, yes. Not now.”

I made an instinctive decision. “Come in, quickly. But if you try anything—”

“You gut me like a chicken. Got it.” He didn’t have to sound so coolly amused at the idea I could do him harm. Just let him
try
to catch me in this house.

“I’m home,” I called as I closed the door.

“Did you bring anything to eat?” That was Al’s hopeful voice.

He was growing so fast. Already he was four inches taller than me, but he needed more food than I had provided lately. His arms and legs looked too long for his body, thin heading toward gaunt. A few seconds later I heard his footsteps on the stairs, and then he was in the front room with us. Al took a protective step in front of me, and I loved him for it.

“Who’s this guy?” His tone was hostile but not threatening.

“Is Elodie asleep?”

“Yeah. Answer me.”

“We’re in deep shit,” I said simply.

And then I summarized the sitch. Though I protected my sibs, I didn’t lie to them. Al listened with worry dawning in his green eyes. He looked so much like our dad that sometimes I couldn’t stand it—and more with every passing year. If he ever grew a goatee, I might burst into tears.

“So he gave you bad information to prepare for the job and now the whole neighborhood might blow up?” Al had a way of cutting to the heart of things.

I nodded. “That’s about the size of it.”

Al didn’t bother complaining how unfair that was. “And him?”

“Thorne used to work for Stavros, but he’s had a change of heart. He might join a monastery, meet up with the brothers in the Mojave.” That would surely tempt a smile from his stern mouth.

But it didn’t. Deadpan, Thorne offered, “Maybe someday, after my work’s done here.”

“What’s the plan?” Al asked.

“I need you to pack some stuff, not everything. We’ll be back.” I hoped. “You can stay with Nat for a few days while I...” I choked. “While I think of a way to fix this.” That sounded more confident than I felt, but Thorne must have a plan. If not, we were
so
screwed.

“Got it. I don’t mind,” my brother said.

No, he wouldn’t. Al was totally in love with Nat, even though she was ten years older and had a kid. I didn’t see that going anywhere for so many reasons, but try telling him that. Besides being Al’s crush, she was also the only person on our block I trusted with my sibs. She’d successfully driven off seven squatters determined to take over her property, maiming two, killing three in the process. While her daughter napped. Yeah, it was a well-known true fact that you didn’t mess with Nat. Her specialty was weapons; she could craft a beautiful knife out of scrap wood and metal, and she traded them to keep food on the table.

I just hoped she was willing to take on my two for a while. Though we were friends, she put her own family first for obvious reasons. There were so few resources that it didn’t make sense to bond when you might have to turn somebody away down the line. Less hurt. Less guilt.

Therefore, I was prepared to bribe her. I ran upstairs behind Al, who was taking great joy in rousing Elodie. She fell out of bed from his tough-love tactics, but I didn’t intervene. We needed to hurry. It wouldn’t be long before Stavros realized Thorne had gone rogue.

Dropping to my belly, I squirmed under my bed, removed a loose floorboard and drew out a lockbox. In it was everything of value we had left. Most, nobody could afford to buy anyway, except those who lived in the fortresses, but there were fences who brokered deals for rare antiquities. Rich people loved collecting things; it was passive and safe and you didn’t have to leave the comfort of your artificial habitat. I didn’t trust anyone enough to sell this or I’d have pawned it long ago to fill our bellies; I wouldn’t have done the things I had to keep body and soul together. I hoped Nat had better connections—that she could use the necklace. Otherwise...well, I wouldn’t worry about it.

I threw some things in a bag and called the kids. “You guys ready?”

“What’s going on?” Elodie demanded.

People said she looked like me, but I didn’t see it. For one thing, she was pretty. I was small and squirrelly. On the plus side, I had great hands, nimble, quick, ace with all kinds of locks. I could scramble into spaces to scavenge gear other people had long since given up as impossible to recover.

I studied her worried expression and nodded at Al. “Tell her on the move.”

They were great kids. Even my sister didn’t argue as we hurried out of the house in the dead of night. We’d never pulled a runner before, but she trusted there was a good reason. In the dark, I led them to safety through the traps, and then I went back to help Thorne with the bike. As soon as we cleared the front gate, I broke into a run. I didn’t check whether Thorne followed us to Nat’s. He wasn’t my concern at the moment—getting my sibs to safety was all that mattered. I heard his footsteps, though, coming behind us; he was smart not to fire up the engine just yet.

“How long will you be gone?” Elodie wanted to know, after she heard the story.

I was tired of thinking about it when I didn’t know how it ended. “Not sure yet. Help Nat with Irena, do what she says, and don’t piss her off.”

“I won’t,” she said, wide-eyed.

“And stay out of Junkland.”

Her mouth turned sullen. “I’ve found good stuff there.”

“Yeah, but you could be killed, too. Thieves, other salvage crews...and some of the piles are unstable. If one of them crashed—”

“I’d be crushed like a bug.”

Clearly I needed to work on varying my lecture material. But not tonight. I turned to Al as we drew closer to Nat’s place. “You. No backrubs, tender glances, or anything else that makes her want to punch you in the face.”

“Fine,” he muttered.

“Wait here.” Taking a deep breath, I slipped up to the door, dodging the triplines. I glanced over my shoulder, peculiarly reassured to find Thorne standing with my sibs. He looked as if he could handle himself in a fight, not just because of the scar.

A gentle tap on the door yielded quick results. There was no need for stronger measures; Nat was a light sleeper. In a few seconds, she stood in the doorway with her weapon of choice in hand, a simple claw hammer. Nat was fast and efficient with it, too.

“Trouble?” she guessed, glancing behind me at the kids.

“Yeah. It’s bad. I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t necessary,” I began, but to my surprise, she held up a hand to stop me right there.

My heart sank. That was a no, then.
She won’t even let me make the offer.

“You took care of Irena when I was sick last year. Made me soup. I figure I owe you. Of course I’ll look out for them, protect them like they’re my own.”

The tears surprised me. This was the first thing that had gone right in days. “Thank you.” My voice came out strangled. “Take this.” I pressed the lockbox into her hands. “If I don’t come back, you can sell it. This should keep all of you for a while if you’re careful.”

“Don’t talk like that,” Nat muttered.

I went on, “You can’t stay here.” Quickly, I summarized the threat from Stavros, and I gave her directions to one of my boltholes. “I’m not sure if he can find the chemicals he needs to complete the bomb, but I can’t take that chance. I need you out of here until I can be sure we’ve neutralized the problem.”

Nat inclined her head. “I appreciate the heads-up. Are you telling everyone else?”

I hesitated, unsure if we had time. Finally I said, “I’ll pass the word to Edgar. He can decide what to do about it, as we’ve got to move.”

“Good call,” Thorne said.

She wasn’t one for long farewells, so in short order, I hugged Al and Elodie and sent them inside to wait while Nat collected supplies...and her daughter. I hurried down the street and called to Edgar, who went silent and fierce when he learned what Stavros was planning.

“Don’t worry,” Ed promised. “I’ll keep it quiet on our end. We’ll move off a few at a time so it’s not obvious we’re evacuating, until we hear from you that it’s safe.”

“Thank you.” At last, personal business squared, I turned to Thorne. “I’m all yours. What’re we doing about Stavros?”

Chapter Six

“First, we get out of this neighborhood,” Thorne said. “We won’t give Stavros any reason to think you’re hiding nearby.”

I nodded. “Good thinking.”

He led the way toward his bike. My worldly goods hung across one shoulder, so little, really. But the ability to travel light was an asset. I told myself that, anyway, to ease the sting of uncertainty. As I got on behind Thorne, I stared back at the house. It was hard to leave, even knowing my sibs were safe with Nat.

“We need to do something to draw his attention.”

For what felt like the first time in forever, I smiled, liking the way he thought. “Something...memorable, maybe?”

“Exactly.”

“How angry are we trying to make him?”

“For my requirements? He needs to be foaming at the mouth.”

“That should help convince his other dogs that he needs to be put down.” I wrapped my arms around his waist, marveling at how much easier it was the second time.

“Dogs?” He cast a sardonic look over one shoulder as he gunned the moto to life.

“That’s what we call you, the bossman’s dogs. Didn’t you know?”

“It doesn’t tend to come up when I’m stomping somebody’s face.”

I tensed, unable to believe I’d forgotten, even for a second, who and what he was. Even if he’d drawn the line at blowing up a block, it didn’t mean he was a nice guy. Disquiet and shame whispered through me, chased by a pecking crow of conscience.
Don’t be an idiot. Don’t let him in your head. You might be temporary allies, but you can’t trust him.

Message received.

“I guess not,” I said, as the bike jerked into motion.

After that, I didn’t speak, but I held on. There were a few roamers out, looking to roll somebody or try a property coup. Squatters didn’t usually kill you, but you wouldn’t last long after they ousted you into the street. I felt their eyes following us, hot with envy. Good fortune got you killed in Snake Ward.

Stavros’s men were out tonight, paying calls. We passed a stall where a man bartered rotgut, and they were smashing up his stock. Maybe he was one of the guys who had refused to pay protection, but he didn’t deserve the repeated cudgel upside his head. By the time we left earshot, they had him on the ground, crying in agony. Farther down, Stavros’s thugs slammed a girl against the wall, taking the only thing she had left to sell. The sad part was, she didn’t even protest while the first bastard grunted on her. When we drove past, her eyes were wide and empty, fixed on the smoky sky. Business as usual.

This has to stop.

Before long, we pulled up outside a tumbledown building. Hard to say what it used to be, but it had lights strung all over it, drawing stolen juice from jiggered connections to the Erinvale fortress, the one closest to Snake Ward. Only Stavros would be so bold; I had noted as much the last time I’d visited his HQ. Which meant this had to be a setup. I leaped off the bike before Thorne could spin and grab me. Though he’d been kind enough to let me square my affairs, I wasn’t waiting for the knife in the back when he turned me over to the bossman. I was a block away before I realized he wasn’t chasing me.

Chagrined, I went back to find him waiting, arms folded. “You’re skittish.”

“Do you even know my name?” I demanded.

“Marjolaine Thistle, head of the Thistle clan.”

“That’s not funny.”

He sighed. “Let’s get this done, shall we? I’ve been patient, but...”

It wouldn’t last forever. Wondering if I was crazy, I said, “Fine.”

Thorne wrapped an arm around me. “Keep quiet, look helpless and play along.”

He led me across the wreckage-strewn pavement. Two men lounged outside the building, and they shoved away from the wall at our approach. Both held weapons: a sturdy length of pipe and a couple of knives. They looked as if they might be Nat’s designs.

“You’re late,” one of the dogs said, greeting Thorne. “Did she give you trouble?”

“Did you know Stavros gave her bad intel? That’s like sending you to guard a shipment unarmed and then killing you because somebody jacked it.”

The one who had spoken before shrugged. “I’m sure the bossman didn’t realize it was out of date. He’s talked about nothing but this score all day.”

“Why does she have to pay for that?” Thorne drew me against his side, and I stayed there. His jaw tightened. “It’s not right. Remember what he did to Veronica?”

The other man flinched. “I know she was like a sister to you...and I get what you’re saying, brother, but you don’t want to do this.” The guy took a closer look at me. “Not for this splittail. She’s not even tasty.”

Like you’d stand up to Stavros for me, if I was the sweetest thing on two legs.

“It’s gone on too long, Henry. This isn’t the first time Stav’s killed over something that was his own fault. He’s gone blood-mad...got a taste for death. Soon he won’t even pretend there’s a reason.”

Just then, screams rang out inside the building. They started loud and tapered off, as if the victim was losing blood and/or strength to resist. The smaller man, who hadn’t spoken, the one armed with Nat’s knives, closed his eyes and shook his head, as if that could block out the truth of what he was allowing to happen.

Henry seemed spooked, too, but it didn’t alter his stance. “Maybe that’s true, but I’m not going up against him. I like my head right where it is.”

Thorne tightened his arm on me. “You tell him she’s mine and I’m keeping her.”

I felt like protesting, but I kept quiet as the other man took a step back. “I’m not telling him that.”

“This will send the same message.” With that, Thorne strode over to a vehicle parked nearby.

The other two didn’t interfere, but they did go inside, presumably to alert Stavros. Thorne drew a tube from his coat, then siphoned some gas, holding it inside with deft maneuvering. I watched while he spattered the car with it. Next he inserted a slender cord, homemade and good for burning. Right away I grasped his intent; he’d just turned Stavros’s ride into a bomb. He lit the fuse, grabbed my hand, and sprinted toward his bike.

“Why not just kill him now?” I asked.

“I need Henry and Mike to spread word that I’m going to war over a girl.”

“Right. Otherwise they’ll think this is just another takeover.” I put on the helmet.

As the moto engine snarled to life, a boom rocked the ground. Smoke plumed toward the sky, and for the second time that night, we peeled away from men shouting and shooting at us. He drove toward the fringes of Snake Ward. To the east, we had Erinvale fortress. Junkland spread to the west. On the north side lay Factory Ward. And south, there was Burn Ward, called that mostly because its residents had a tendency to set things—and people—on fire.

“Tell me we’re not going to Burn Ward,” I called.

He shook his head. “I’ve got a place on the border. Stavros doesn’t know about it.”

“So we lay low while he rages and convinces everyone that he’s nuts?”

“That’s the plan.”

“When you hear they’re ready for a change in management, you step in.”

“It sounds so cold when you put it like that.”

Cold
didn’t describe it.
Icy, calculating
—those words came closer—but I didn’t care about Stavros. He
was
a mad dog who needed a bullet to end his foaming. He couldn’t be permitted to build and detonate a bomb that would kill thousands. Thorne’s regime would be kinder to Snake Ward; he wasn’t crazy, at least.

“I’ve heard that Stavros has crosses tattooed all over his body...that he believes he’s some kind of messianic figure.”

“Are you asking if I’ve seen him naked?”

“No.” At least I didn’t think I was. Thorne had a way of making me uncomfortable. It also felt as if this night would never end.

I was so tired. The feeling overwhelmed me, and I gave up on conversation. I was a prop in his scheme, so it wasn’t as though he wanted to talk to me anyway. Closing my eyes, I rested my face against his back, just letting the wind rush over me.