“Why does Dino think we have to get his support?” Josh asks. “We have all the other Free Cities on board.”
I smile into my drink. You can take the Hiver out of the Hive, but he will always saywewhen talking about his people.
“They’re the second largest Free City after Blue Moon, and they use jetpacks,” Timothy says. “It gives them an advantage in combat.”
I’ve heard about those things, yet I need to see with my own eyes if a man can fly and still be able to fight.
“Have you been back to your village recently?” Finn asks River.
“Yes. My garden is very demanding, especially the cauliflower. My people all like Josh now. They use their real voice with him.”
I catch something in Josh’s eyes I’m not sure I can decipher. Not wishing to put him on the spot, I lean forward and ask quietly, “Have you guys heard anything about lizard men?”
“We have,” Josh says. “You hear a lot of crazy stories out there, but the lizard men have been mentioned more often recently. You think that Hector is controlling them? Or maybe one of them is controlling him?”
I shake my head. “I can’t imagine anyone controlling him with how he acted, but who knows? None of us would’ve known an old AI was controlling the New-Humans just by looking at them.”
“Father didn’t control them,” River says. “He gave them purpose, and they followed him willingly since the day they were born.”
“Saying they were bornis a bit of a stretch.”
River narrows his eyes. “Was I not born?”
Well, shit.This isn’t an argument I want to get into, especially since I don’t care if he was born, created, or hatched. “Didn’t mean anything by that.”
“Well, whatever those things are, someone has been trying to keep them a secret, or at least low-key,” Timothy says. “Word of such creatures should have spread much quicker.”
“That’s about to change,” I say. “Hector wouldn’t have shown them to me if he still wanted to keep them a secret.”He arranged an entire bloody showcase.
Timothy nods. “True. Something must have made him change his mind, or maybe that was his plan all along.”
I hate how clueless we are about any of this. It feels like we should know more before going out to war.
We try to talk about less heavy subjects while we eat, and once we finish, Finn says, “I’m really tired. Can we call it a night?”
I ask Josh, “Mind sharing a room?” I don’t know if I’m stepping out of line, but it feels strange not having alone time with him after all these months.
He asks River, “Do you mind?”
“No. I will stay with Finn and Nanny Spider.”
We exit the restaurant and find people still celebrating in the streets. I stop to speak with my team—I don’t yet feel comfortable thinking of them as my squad—and we divide shifts to guard the motel. We should be safe now, but we’ll all sleep better knowing one of us is keeping watch.
I go to take a shower while Josh stays outside to catch up with Trey. They never served together, but we orphanage kids tend to stick together. The shower is wonderful, the water hot enough to untangle my stiff muscles from all the riding. When I hear Josh entering the room, I call, “Be out in a minute!”
He enters the bathroom. “Are you shy now?”
I see his silhouette through the shower curtain as he takes off his clothes, then he steps into the stall. “Shit, are you trying to melt me?”
I lower the temperature. “Still a pussy, I see. Turn around.” I rub soap over his upper back. “You’ve gotten bigger.”
“We spent a month helping build a wall around a small settlement to the east. It took a lot of work.”
I like that he’s doing some good out there, even after giving up on being a Defender, though maybe he still sees himself as one. Some things go beyond uniforms and ranks.
“Is it okay for us to shower together?” I ask.
“I’m not aware of any rule book I have to follow. If you can keep your cock away from my ass, I think we’re good.” He turns around to face me. “I’m sorry I didn’t keep in touch more.”
