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That maybe, if he gave people a chance, they might surprise him once in a while.

Chapter 13

The fence had gone up at the entrance to Mercale street, so in the small hours of the night, Will walked into the orange grove.

He’d decided to leave his shoes at the trailer this time, and started carefully through the flooded muck. Hard branches pricked underfoot and rotten fruit squished with every step.

The grove had lost all its fruit, and the trees had begun dropping leaves. Their bare branches scraped at him as he wove his way through. The water deepened from ankle to knee to thigh.

It was dark, almost the new moon. Will had to squint to find his way between all the shades of black.

Eventually, he made it through the grove. He trudged into the ditch of deeper water and then up onto the pavement. Onto Mercale.

He’d managed to come out past the construction trailer and across from the dig site. There were several new machines parked up on constructed mounds of sand and stone to keep them out of the water.

Will turned and headed for their tree.

Itori wasn’t there when he arrived, and his stomach lurched. He scanned the deeper waters, stomach coiling into a knot.

Then, he had the thought to hum. It unfolded out of him, louder than he’d dared before.

From a distance, there was a red glimmer that might have been eyes.

Heedless, Will plunged into the water. The eyes flickered out and then returned, closer.

“Itori!” Will cried, grabbing for him when he got close.

“I did not know if you were coming,” Itori said as they made it back to the road.

Will reached for him greedily, and they shared a soft kiss. “They put up a fence at the entrance; I had to come a different way.”

“I saw,” Itori said, pressing into him. “I felt it while I was sleeping earlier. But the machines did not move today.”

“Someone vandalized the site again,” Will said. “The police came by the store to ask about it.”

“Police?”

“Humans who enforce laws. They were trying to find out who did it.”

Itori tilted his head. “I thought you said the powerful men would help you?”

“Help us?”

“To prove the other humans are poisoning the land. To stop this.”

“Oh,” Will shook his head. “No, they… the police aren’t government officials. I mean, they are, but they aren’t. They… mostly protect property.”

“But not this property, not this land?” Itori asked.

“No. They work, kind of, for the people who bought this land.”

“I do not understand,” Itori said.

Will had to concede that it didn’t make sense to him either. The police should be on their side. They lived here too.

He sighed. “I know.”

“So they questioned you? They suspect you did it?” Itori asked.