Page 18 of Enemy of the Heart

I’m feeling more like myself now that I have a handful of showers and a half-dozen murders behind me. The fact that we leave for Hawai’i tomorrow morning helps, too. It’s been five full days without Sean, and it’ll be another day and a half before I can lay eyes on him again. While I’m not happy about how long we’ve been apart, it was necessary to arrange things.

According to Viktor, the world-renowned arms dealer, it apparently takes time to gather everything needed for us to feed the mythological sea monster, Iku-Turso, a snack. Surely, offering nearly a remote island’s worth of inhabitants would satisfy both him and Näkki, the malevolent water goddess, so they won’t be tempted to damage our boats.

I’m humming the tune to a song by Swallow The Sun, one of my favorite Finnish metal bands, as I flounce into the armory.

“What’re you singing?” Sasha asks, at the same time Viktor snaps, “Where the fuck have you been?”

I answer the better question. “‘Moonflowers Bloom in Misery.’ Do you know how much music I have to catch up on now that I’m out of prison?”

“Where have you been, Louhi?” Viktor repeats sternly, interrupting the more interesting conversation.

With the door to the hallway open, there’s a faint popping sound that echoes through the thick concrete corridor, presumably coming from Conall’s indoor gun range.

“Mellowing out.” It worked, too. Mostly.

He narrows his blue eyes. “For two days?”

I shrug. “It took me a bit to…compose myself.”

“When’s the last time you slept?” Viktor asks.

“Who says I haven’t?” I deflect, stepping over to one of the metal shelves containing various grenades. I’ve snagged a few hours of sleep here and there, but every time I close my eyes, I see Sean being hauled away from me. “I’ll sleep on the plane. It’s a twelve-hour flight, anyway.”

I pick up a golf ball grenade and snort. This one looks more like an actual golf ball than the others I’ve seen. It must have come from Viktor; although, it’s clearly Conall’s now.

Viktor’s been arming me for years. His goods are the best, which is the only reason I’ve been exercising as much patience as I possess while I wait for him to get all our weaponry in order this week.

“How do you sleep before a fight?” Viktor asks.

“The same way I slept through death metal blasting through a cell block.” I crane my neck in his direction and wink. “Grit.”

One of Viktor’s wolfdogs nudges its head against my thigh, and I reach down and scratch her behind the ear. I’d love to see these beasts rip apart the flesh of the men that have Sean in their clutches, but they’ll be safer on the plane.

“Let’s go over the plan now that we’re all together,” Sasha suggests.

I hop onto the metal counter. “There’s nothing to discuss. I get in, grab the boys, get out. Then, we watch the island blow up from a safe distance like the best fireworks display to ever go off.”

Sasha frowns. Vik inclines his head and replies, “You do realize that we can’t explode the island, right?”

“Why not?” I sit up straighter, my eyes going wide with horror. “Don’t tell me you didn’t bring C-4.”

“Louhi, destroying an entire island would require an incredible number of explosives. More than we could realistically smuggle into that place.”

I huff, pursing my lips. “That’s lame. At least let me blow up something.”

“And here I thought you were into poisons these days.”

I grin. “I’m into everything, Viktor.”

Sasha rolls out the map I helped Viktor draw of Exile Island—at least the parts I saw. “Can we get back on topic now?”

Sasha starts pointing out the drop sites and logistical blind spots.

“There’s a chance they’ve brought in more soldiers after we escaped,” I mention once we solidify the first part of the plan.

“It’s a risk, but it’s hardly the only one.” That’s comforting, Vik. “I think the most dangerous part of this is what happens after the three of you leave the walls of the prison.”

I think for a moment, considering the various options and vulnerabilities. “What about a bazooka? That could help mitigate the potential firefight.”