The Bones of Valhalla (Purge of Babylon, Book 9) by Sam Sisavath Page B

not . There were so many possibilities, so many pieces that still needed to fall into place. And at the very center of it was Will…and her.
    Always the two of us, Will. Even now, after everything that’s happened, why does it still have to fall on our shoulders?
    “Lara?” Bonnie said next to her. “What did he say?”
    “I’ll tell you and everyone else later,” she said. “Right now we have more immediate problems.”

    * * *
    W ith Riley’s people confined to the lower deck, Lara and Bonnie made good time reaching the floor with the infirmary. Danny was there to meet them when they climbed up the stairs. He was leaning against the wall, sipping from a ceramic mug with steam rising above the rim. Danny had slipped on his old SWAT comm gear with the throat mic and earbud and a tactical vest.
    “Kendra was in the armory, counting the hardware,” Danny said when he saw them. “She said they swiped the mags with silver loads, the sneaky little buggers.”
    “I guess they didn’t know about silver not affecting him,” Bonnie said.
    “Oh, they affect him, all right. They just don’t put him down. It’s all about the ol’ noggin,” Danny said, tapping his temple with his free hand for effect. “It works on the black eyes so they probably assumed it was the same with the blue eyes, and you know what happens when you assume. Assholism.”
    “What’s the situation?” Lara asked.
    “Same-o, same-o.” He turned around and led them through the hallway. “O-O-O-O’Reilly hasn’t had much luck talking his boys down, before you ask.”
    “There’s two of them?”
    “A Bray and an Ethan.”
    “What kind of name is Bray?” Bonnie asked.
    “Redneckian, would be my guess,” Danny said. “As far as we can tell, they haven’t harmed anyone yet. The mucho importanto part being yet .”
    “You think they will?” Lara asked.
    “Dunno. They shot Benny and killed Carrie, didn’t they?”
    “I don’t think they meant to kill Carrie. The bullet hit her femoral artery. It probably wasn’t on purpose.”
    “You sure about that?”
    “No, but it doesn’t matter. She’s dead and they’re dead.”
    “Dead used to be dead,” Danny said. “Not so much anymore.”
    No, not anymore. Will’s further proof of that.
    The others were at the end of the hallway, gathered around the closed infirmary door. Riley and Hart were there with empty gun holsters, and she had expected resistance when she ordered Danny to disarm them, but Riley had capitulated without putting up much of a fight.
    Hart and Riley being present wasn’t a surprise, but Jolly was. The young man nodded when he saw her, and said, “Ma’am.”
    “I told you not to call me that, Jolly,” Lara said.
    “Sorry, ma—I mean, uh, Lara.”
    “You can call me ma’am all you want,” Bonnie said from behind Lara.
    Jolly flashed a shy smile.
    Riley and Hart glanced over as she approached them. The two men were leaning on opposite sides of the infirmary door, and Lara wondered what exactly they were going to do if Bray and Ethan decided to come out, guns blazing, at that very second. The only one with a weapon was Maddie, who stood slightly back in the hallway, with her M4 at the ready.
    “No luck?” Lara asked.
    Riley shook his head and frowned. “No.”
    “They’re stuck between the proverbial rock and a hard place,” Hart said, his voice purposefully low. “They might have had some semblance of a plan when Phil was still around, but after he left this mortal coil, along with those two idiots in the engine room, they don’t have any idea what to do next.”
    “That makes them even more dangerous,” Maddie said.
    Lara nodded. She was right, but so was Hart.
    “Gaby, Nate, and Zoe?” Lara asked.
    “As far as we know, they’re okay,” Maddie said. “I don’t know how long that’s going to last, though.”
    Lara could read it in Maddie’s eyes—the small Texan wanted to go in there and get it over with. She could tell that much just