The Mysterious Stranger (The Confidence Game 3)

And he selfishly wanted to be alone with Rory.

“What did I miss?” Rory said, slipping into the seat beside him at their near-empty table. “Cadence wouldn’t talk to me.”

“Who was that guy you were arguing with?” he said darkly, making her shake her head.

“You first,” she said.

“Susan scared Cadence off. She tried to strike a bargain. A bond with her gets me into the inner circle.”

“That would be an advantage.”

“But?”

“It would be an advantage,” she repeated, and he couldn’t read her. Not her tone or her expression. She’d deliberately locked him out behind whatever hand she was holding.

“It would be the same advantage if you bond with Orrin.”

“But?”

He should be clinical about this. Professional. “He’s dangerous in a way Susan isn’t.” Close, but he had a tell and his tell was Rory in trouble and she knew it.

“That argument was about me leaving the town square. I don’t have permission to leave.”

He’d seen others come and go from the edges of the area. “Limiting your movement.”

“I know how dangerous Orrin is. I don’t need you to remind me. What are you going to do?”

He should bond with Susan because Cadence couldn’t help him get closer to the center of things. If he matched with Susan, Cadence would be forced to bond tonight, expected to have sex and get pregnant, all of that under duress.

The was no simple decision except the one that ended this quickest.

A tap on the microphone made him glance at the stage. Spencer tapped it again. “Good evening everyone. Are you all having a good time on this fine evening?”

There were hoots and cheers. “Macy, your crew has outdone itself again providing this fine food we share.”

Rory put her fingers to her mouth and whistled into the enthusiastic clapping. He looked for Cadence and spotted Susan watching him a couple of tables to his right. She could’ve bonded easily, she was staking her all on him.

“Once again it’s time for a bonding ceremony. As the summer ends, we prepare for autumn and plant the seeds for our future.”

Zeke grunted. “Did he really say that?” Rory’s elbow met his rib and he grunted again but this time with a smile. That elbow was old Zeke and old Rory. He took it as a sign they were going to work through this new strange place they were in.

“I expect a bountiful crop of new Continuers in nine months, give or take. As is our custom, those couples who have prearranged a bond or determined to stay together for another season will sign the Origin book first. Everyone else wait your damn turn.” That got a laugh. What a side-slapper. “Your name will be called from a hat and you know the rules. But first we have some announcements.”

He tuned out Spencer’s roll call of births and pregnancy announcements and reached for Rory’s hand under the cover of the tablecloth. She batted him away and he couldn’t fault her for it. He was pathetically needy for her and he shouldn’t have done that. He tugged at his hair in annoyance. Seconds later she reached for his hand, weaving her fingers through his and his tension eased. He loved her for understanding he needed that softer contact as much as he’d needed the jab in the ribs.

From the podium, Spence said, “We have some sobering news from the decay.” There were murmurs and a woman cried out as if in pain. “There’s the usual litany of issues. The Ebola crisis has worsened. There’ve been more outbreaks of leprosy. There are severe wildfires in Oregon and flooding in Miami, Texas and New Orleans. This time it’s much, much worse. New Orleans is being evacuated as we sit here.” He let everyone react and then went on. “There’s no way to save the city now. Two hundred thousand people are refugees.”

Wildfires and flooding weren’t new disasters, but Tres would’ve mentioned something as catastrophic as a threat to New Orleans and what Ebola crisis?

“Unfortunately, there is more bad news. The US economy is staggering, and race riots have all but shut down Washington, D.C. Martial law has been declared in too many state capitals to name and California has begun the process of seceding from the United States.”

All of these events might be true; strung together, they were apocalyptic and the effect on folks around them showed that. There were more loud cries now. More conversation burbling for Spencer to speak over. Bastard was eating it up. It would be one of his greatest pleasures to set the truth raging on Spencer’s lies. He rubbed his thumb across Rory’s knuckles. Another pleasure, and a lie of circumstance he could live with for now.

“There’s been another severe outbreak of bird flu that started in Asia and moved across the globe killing millions.”

“Another. All this bullshit has just enough substance to be plausible,” he muttered.

“We knew this was coming. And we’re prepared,” Spencer said. Yeah, he wasn’t the only one. “There’ll be more newcomers on their way to join us in the next few months, but they’ll be the last before we lock down. We think it’s time to practice austerity and ready our defenses.”