Witch's Pyre (Worldwalker #3)(93)

“Sit,” Lillian said stiffly, making it clear that although she had saved Chenoa’s life, there would have been no love lost if she hadn’t. She gestured to a small camp table and chairs that were set up in the middle of her quarters.

“There was one Woven attack on our eastern flank while you were occupied,” Leto informed her. He helped her into her chair at the head of the table and stood behind her.

“Casualties?” she asked.

“Five killed, seventeen wounded,” he replied. His lips tightened as he looked at Alaric. “And there have been several brawls that have broken out since the arrival of . . . them.”

“Thank you, Captain,” Lillian said.

Lily called to her coven in mindspeak. Rowan, Tristan, Caleb, Una, and Breakfast all entered the tent and arranged themselves behind Lily’s chair at the other end of the table, opposite Lillian.

Chenoa narrowed her eyes at Breakfast. “I know you, boy,” she said.

“No, you know Red Leaf,” Lily corrected.

“Does he have the gift?” Chenoa asked. When Lily nodded, Chenoa cackled. “Watch that he doesn’t go crazy.”

Crusty old bat, Breakfast whispered in mindspeak.

Lily stifled a smile as Mary bustled into the tent with a grim look on her face and Riley in her wake. After Lily quickly introduced her to Lillian, Alaric, and Chenoa, Mary took the final seat at the table. Riley stood behind her as her second.

“The long and short of it is this,” Mary said with no preamble. “The below folk won’t go west if you’re just going to blow it up.”

“Many of my braves won’t go either. Not unless it’s for a home,” Alaric said.

Captain Leto made a dismissive sound as his eyes flicked away. Alaric’s nostrils flared in barely contained ire.

Lillian held up a hand to stave off an argument between them. “We can’t fight the Hive soldier to soldier. We’ll lose,” she said.

Mary and Alaric looked to Lily. “She’s right,” Lily said reluctantly. “They outmatch us in numbers and in strength. We can’t beat them.”

“Maybe not with the kind of soldiers you’ve provided,” Captain Leto said. “Walltop soldiers are different.”

“The only way to destroy the Hive is at its source,” Lillian said, defusing another argument between Leto and Alaric. “Bower City. Once we do that, the rest of the country is anyone’s for the taking.” She turned to Chenoa. “How much land would be lost if one of your bombs was detonated underground?” she asked.

“Depends how deep you go, what kind of bedrock we’re talking about,” Chenoa replied, palms up. “I could give you some estimates if you could give me some more facts about the terrain.”

“Whoa, wait,” Una said, waving her hands in the air. “You want to detonate underground?”

“From what Lily showed me, that’s where the Queen and the actual hive is. That’s where the bomb will be most useful,” Lillian replied.

“But isn’t Bower City, like, right above the San Andreas Fault?” Una gave a semi-hysterical laugh. “Someone please tell them why they can’t do that.”

“I hadn’t thought of that,” Lily said. She quickly explained what she knew about the unstable geology of the western seaboard and the positioning of Bower City. “Detonating aboveground or belowground is insanity. This should be a nonissue, everyone.”

Chenoa made a thoughtful sound deep in her throat. “I’d have to see some data before I’d advise against detonating,” she said. “Earthquake zones aren’t ideal, but in some cases it could be better if the contaminated land broke off and slid under the sea.”

“And then it would be safe to live on the land that was left?” Mary asked. She shifted in her seat and planted one of her thick fists on a hip. “The bald truth is that if I can’t tell my folk that they’re going to get a piece of land out of this, they’re not going to fight.”

Again, Captain Leto made a disparaging sound, and this time he went so far as to turn to Lillian. “My Lady, you don’t need to pander to them. Walltop’s loyalty doesn’t need to be bought. If you decide to bomb the city—”

“Easy to say when Walltop soldiers have a place to live,” Alaric said scathingly.

“We can’t do this,” Lily pleaded. “There are over a million innocent people living in Bower City. They don’t deserve to die.”

“Neither do we,” Alaric reminded her gently. “You’ve said yourself that we can’t win in a straight fight.”

“Not with the numbers we have,” she admitted. She turned to Lillian. “You, of all people, should be against this. Please, Lillian. What you saw in the cinder world—”

“One bomb won’t make a cinder world,” Lillian said loudly, as if she were trying to drown out a conflicting voice shouting inside her own head. “One bomb, detonated all the way out there, isn’t going to poison the Thirteen Cities or bring on a never-ending winter for the rest of the world. The only thing one bomb will do is destroy the Hive, end Grace’s dominion over the Woven, and bring the rest of us out of the dark ages. With Grace gone, the Woven won’t be driven to attack humans anymore. The whole country will be up for grabs.”