Page 22 of Inceptive (Ingenious #3)

22

WILL

D ry northern winds had rolled in overnight. Unhindered by sticky mud, Will walked faster, his footsteps leaving shallow imprints on the drying road.

At noon, the men reached the next rest station. A road crew had cleaned mud off the road from this point to town and restocked the station. Belle scouted ahead and told them the bridge was still foggy. She flitted about the shed, grumbling that the tasties had been chased out.

Will shook an energy booster into a canteen of water and offered Zach a cup, telling him Dante had said it was safe. The bitter drink faded aches, and soon, their knees bounced as the booster kicked in.

Zach reached for his hand to help him up, then caressed his cheek. “I wish we had more time together.”

Will’s eyes softened when he met Zach’s frustrated gaze. “Before we say goodbye, I’ll be your first, not your last. Understand? No guilt because you must court and marry.”

Zach understood. “I want to be your first, too, William van Diehn.”

Will lifted a brow. “Technically, according to a marriage of two men, I’m a virgin until you let me inside.” He pumped his hips.

Zach reddened. “Among my people, a man loses his virginity to his bride after shaving.”

“Huh. Wrong cheeks. For me, it’s riding a smooth ass.” He tugged Zach’s scruffy beard. “Or a hairy one.”

“I’m not hairy. I looked in the mirror.”

“Stars above! Zach Braxton spread his cheeks in front of a mirror . I’ve corrupted him like the grid corrupts a chip.”

The rampart was visible from miles away, and the red flag waved, signifying that the bridge was closed. Static lifted Will’s hair. The air crackled, followed by a hissing wave of hot wind. The ground trembled, and they dropped to hands and knees, searching the sky for a lightning storm.

In the distance, what appeared to be a red cloud blossomed, rising high, then spreading and fading to dirty gray before flattening over the ocean. The air tasted like burned metal.

“Was the rampart attacked?” Will asked Belle.

Belle soared high, anxious eyes scanning. “Rampart safe. Clouds of smoke by Island.” She flew away, then returned minutes later covered in dirty gray ashes. She pulled her feathers in tight and squirmed behind Will’s backpack, her heartbeat frantic. Zach and Will muffled their faces with scarves and loped toward the village.

“Was that laser fire?” Zach asked. “The infected never rampaged in the basin. They got quieter.”

“An explosion that size isn’t possible without a huge energy source. Someone used the grid’s power. Not just someone— a team of sane engineers with sets of access codes. A team of infected couldn’t coordinate such an explosion.”

Belle communicated with Dante, who calmly confirmed the grid was involved, likely compromised by incompetence from ailing engineers.

For hours, ashes continued to fall like the proverbial snow, covering miles of green fields.

A faint haze hung in the air when they reached the outskirts of town. Otherwise, everything seemed normal to Will. The rampart appeared intact, and the red flag over the gate signaled the bridge was still closed. Sentinels walked the rampart with their bows slung over their shoulders, indicating there were no signs of enemies crossing.

A stable owner greeted them, recognizing Zach and tipping his hat to the new mayor. He completely ignored the indentured servant. “Has the tunnel opened early? You need wagons and teams? What the hell was that explosion?”

“The basin’s still closed. Dark times are ahead, my friend,” Zach replied. “I’ll save my breath for the council. Spread the word. I’m here to claim my title and speak of events.”

“Astrid isn’t expecting to see you so soon. Hell, nobody is.”

“She never expected me to return at any time.”

He laughed. “Nah. She knew you’d be back and has lined up prospective wives. Her kin, of course. She knows her mayoral days are numbered. The council’s in session to address the odd blast. Dark days, you say?”

“Gather the people to the meeting house. It’s a long story that I’ll tell once before I sleep a day and a half.”

“Clean up in the steam lodge and change clothes. You look like a corpse.”

Zach and Will walked to the lodge where a shaved young male attendant tipped his hat and greeted them. The teen opened vents to fill the pool with hot water from the spring. He didn’t address Zach as Mayor, but his deferential manner said he understood the exchange was coming. He handed each a bar of plain soap, then dashed to the meeting house.

The steam lodge was a rectangular building with cubicles for changing into the white robes and towels hanging on pegs. A large soaking pool of blue mineral water occupied most of the central room, with small showers at the corners. Zach scooped fizzy salts from a bucket into the pool.

“Where do I sleep tonight?” Will asked.

“In a guest room in the meeting hall.”

Will stripped, soaped beneath a rainfall shower, then stepped into the pool’s silky water. When he sat on the bottom step, water rose to his shoulders, and he groaned as the heat soaked into sore muscles. The spring water had tested negative for the protein when Belle brought a sample to Dante, so it was safe.

Zach soaped, then waded to the center of the pool, the water rising to his waist.

Will moved to the top step, leaned back on his elbows, and spread his thighs. He grinned as he heard Zach’s soft “Damn” and saw him stroking his cock.

The door opened, and Will covered his crotch with his hands. Zach sank to his shoulders.

From his brown town suit and plain-brimmed hat, the man was a merchant. He examined Will as if he were buying a pony. “This one has no fieldwork in him. Scrawny.”

“Hello, Abner. He watched my back, cooked, and cleaned. That’s all I asked. Will, meet Abner, best tailor in Fort Hope.”

“You do look well-fed, Mayor Zach. I brought the wedding clothes that Astrid ordered, and you owe me because she never paid. Brought new overalls and undershirt for your servant. Thought he’d need them, seeing as how she wants to meet the man who ruined her wedding. Folks are lining up at the meeting house. The town’s in a stir from the explosion and ashes, then you show up. Council’s waiting for you. See you there.” Abner left them alone.

Zach dried off and dressed in his wedding finery—a black jacket, plain black pants, black shoes, and a white shirt with wide turn-back cuffs.

Will put on the stiff pair of striped overalls and a soft gray tee.

General stores, bakeries, and craft shops lined the main street, with tidy rows of residences away from traffic. Houses weren’t pretentious—they were clean, neat, and painted in subdued colors. Window boxes bloomed, with lush strips of grass between each house.

Merchants sweeping the walkways paused when they saw Zach in his suit. They dropped their brooms, closed shop, and joined the people gathering outside the three-story white stone meeting hall.

Zach nodded to folks they passed. “We’ll walk in and claim my rightful title, chair, and gavel, then drop the harsh news,” he said to Will.

“Before you utter a word, she’ll crack your skull with the gavel for spurning her offer.”

“There’s no law against a groom backing out of a wedding. Especially when everyone knew it was a marriage for the bride’s benefit and when I remind the council that she’d have let Riley die if I hadn’t agreed.” His voice cracked when he said Riley’s name.

The raised flag over the meeting hall confirmed the council was in a closed session. Belle cackled, acting pleased with herself, and Will suspected she’d pooped on the flag. She loved a grand entrance for shows, and stars above, this entrance promised to be spectacular. Belle was proof the sanctuary was found. The ladies would fall off their chairs like the saloon’s drunks.

They climbed the steps to the meeting hall. Outside the door, Zach finger-combed his bangs and beard. “I’ve sweated years for this moment.”

He looked like a confident barbarian in his black suit. Will glanced around at the eyes on them. He heard as many cries of Good luck thrown at Zach’s face as he heard Damn shameful, if you ask me muttered behind his back. Someone opened the door for them, and they walked inside. He knew what to expect from Zach’s description of the council.

Mayor Astrid sat at the head of a table with the ten largest landholders seated on each side. She was attractive, with brown hair in a crown of braids that accented her high forehead. Her figure was generous. She’d have smothered Zach with her bosom. Two elderly men, elected by popular vote as honorary representatives, sat at the opposite end of the table facing the mayor. The women sipped tea and talked to each other, and a sheet cake with berries had been served.

Belle stirred on his shoulder, and Will tapped her beak. “No snitching berries,” he whispered.

Zach strode to the head of the table. Without preamble, he pulled out Astrid’s chair. “I’m claiming my land, my trust fund, my votes. Right here, right now. Ladies, new seating arrangement. You know how it works.” Teacups rattled, and tea sloshed down the coveted lace collars of a council member.

Astrid gripped the arms of the chair, refusing to relinquish her title. She glared up at him. “How did you survive with one old servant? Where’d you get the money for supplies?”

Will stepped forward, pulled the cake plate over, and sliced off a piece. “I loaned Zach the money. I’m William van Diehn, son of Viceroy van Diehn.”

Astrid frowned. “The viceroy’s son is dead. The town sent a potted shrub.”

He decided to admit the truth. Because why not? “I staged the fall to avoid marriage and found work at the Wild Pony Saloon. Perhaps your husbands have heard of the amazing Miss Glorianna?”

The elderly men slapped their knees. “She was something with her bird act.”

The bird strutted up and down the table. The women screeched as she snatched berries off their plates.

“Bad ladies. We come to save you.” Belle dodged forks and gobbled berries, enjoying the commotion.

Will ate the cake with his fingers, protein be damned. “I escaped bounty hunters by signing an indenture to Zach. Damn, this cake is good.” He tossed a berry to Belle, who caught it midair. “A long story.”

Astrid’s knuckles whitened as Zach jiggled her chair. “We have time to listen.”

Zach bent and said, “No, we don’t. This delicious cake and all food and soil is contaminated by a toxic protein that kills Islanders after years of consumption. Fort Hope’s people are immune, and our perfect blood flushes out the protein when freshly transfused. Blood is a treatment, not a cure. The protein will accumulate again and again. We must evacuate before an invasion.”

One by one, faces reflected the consequences.

Just like that, Zach became mayor, and Astrid stepped down to become vice mayor. The ladies stood, switched seats, and the one eliminated from the top ten sat in the front row.

Astrid sat to Zach’s right and steepled her fingers. “We heard the explosion. What’s happening, and what can I do?”

Where were the shouts, arguments, tears? She handed over the title held for twenty years as simply as serving him a slice of cake. Sure, Zach had vouched for a polite turnover, but Will had foreseen an ugly confrontation because that was how Islanders handled differences.

“Will and I believe that an outbreak on the Island caused the explosion.” Zach drew a breath, sweeping his gaze around the table before explaining the last few months. He emphasized that their creator, Dante, had shut down to enable the sanctuary to regenerate power, then reboot. Dante had never abandoned Fort Hope.

A long silence fell as the council grasped the information. They had listened to the new mayor. Now they watched Astrid’s reaction.

Astrid swallowed hard. “Whatever our personal grievances, our people come first. We have an evacuation plan if threatened by invasion, but why leave if Dante is awake to defend the rampart?”

“His mandate is the continued survival of the true descendants. Fort Hope and the basin belong to the Islanders,” Will replied.

“You’re lying.” Astrid’s voice sharpened.

“Dante will be shut down if aiding us hurts the Islanders,” Zach said. “Will believes the Islanders will launch gas grenades over the rampart, then scale the gate. Archers and catapults can’t defend us if the Islanders are determined to capture Fort Hope. We’ve always known this threat existed.”

“Perhaps the explosion was a test of a weapon.” Astrid’s statement jolted Will. “Something to knock down the gate without destroying the town. They need us alive.”

Belle squawked and fluffed as the chip on her collar glowed. Her crest stiffened, and her tail feathers lifted. Then her orange legs folded and she deflated.

“What’s Dante saying?” Zach asked.

“The explosion tested a weapon to blast the gate.” She flew out an open window on the second floor as if summoned.