The Gender Lie (The Gender Game #3) by Bella Forrest (ebook reader for laptop TXT) 📗

I hoped this wouldn’t be the last time I’d see Alejandro. There was a depth to him, and it felt like he was a kindred spirit.

Alejandro cocked his head and peered past Owen’s shoulder. “All right,” he announced, clapping his hands together. “Get your things, lads… and lady,” he said, dipping his head toward Amber. He also shot a wink at me, and I hid my smile behind my hand. “Your drop point is about two minutes away, give or take.”

He sauntered back up to the pilot’s station, humming. I quickly got caught up with the rest of the group as we started inventorying our things and organizing the bags. I pulled my backpack on, tucking the mask into it.

Then we all lined up on the bow. There was a wooden plank extending from the tip. Owen stood at the front of it as Alejandro steered us toward the shore. There would be no mooring the ship to disembark—we would have to jump over the water below.

I felt my heartbeat accelerate at the thought—the water might be diluted here, but that didn’t make it much less dangerous if one of us accidentally fell in.

Owen’s posture was seemingly free of that fear. He stood tall, one hand resting on the rail behind him, while the shore loomed ever closer. Then his muscles tensed and he leapt. For a second, he seemed suspended in the air, frozen in that moment of flight until time caught up, and he landed on his feet on the other side.

One by one we followed, until only I remained. Solomon was waiting for me, so I took a deep breath and launched myself at him. For a harrowing moment, I thought I had miscalculated and that I would plummet into the murky waters below. But then Solomon grabbed me as my feet hit the soft earth, and he held me tight until I was stable again.

Owen had already climbed up the steep hill and had dropped to one knee, surveying the terrain above. We waited in silence for him to give us the all-clear. I glanced back at the boat, but it had already turned and was moving away from us, downriver at top speed. I waved at Alejandro, but his back was to me. I felt a little sad that I didn’t get to say goodbye.

Just then, Owen let out a low whistle, and we were climbing. We crested the hill and looked around—the area was wide open, with barely any trees.

“Where’s our ride?” I asked.

He gave me an apologetic smile. “About an hour inland. We’d better get moving if we’re going to meet them in time.”

I grimaced, not looking forward to an hour long trek in my suit, and pulled my bag over my shoulder. I understood why Owen had made me change on the boat, but I resented the whole costume thing all over again.

Owen took point and the rest of us followed. Amber was holding up her skirt high as she pushed through the deep grass in the field, and I smiled.

Maybe my suit wasn’t the worst thing to be wearing out here.

6

Violet

The sun was uncomfortably warm on my head. We had been sitting for over an hour, waiting for our ride to show up. According to Owen, they were late but on their way. There wasn’t much to do during the wait, so most of the group elected to take a nap. I refrained, mostly because I didn’t want to worry about my disguise getting messed up from sleeping on the ground. Owen had also refused, saying that his contacts needed to see him first so that they didn’t shoot everyone and ask questions later.

He said it in a joking tone, but I wasn’t convinced. I was more than a little curious about the people Owen was using to shuttle us into Patrus.

I looked over to where he was sitting. He had his back to me and was staring at his handheld. We had both decided to sit on the massive rock jutting out of the ground, while Quinn, Amber, and Solomon slept below in the shade.

“Owen,” I called softly, so as not to disturb the others.

“Hmm?”

He didn’t even turn his head to look at me, and I gave an irritated sigh. Picking up a small rock, I tossed it at him, hitting him on the shoulder. He froze as the rock clacked across the boulder, skittering to the grass below.

Turning, he arched a brow at me, and I gave him a fake smile and a little wave.

“Yes?”

I ignored his annoyed tone and asked, “Who are the people who are picking us up?”

Owen frowned, a line growing between his eyebrows. “It’s not really important to the mission,” he said, starting to turn away.

“Great! Then you should be able to tell me, right?”

He turned back, his blue eyes trained on me. “Why do you want to know?”

I crossed my arms. “Look, I understand the need for operational security and all that, but the lack of information is starting to get to me.”

“I… I don’t understand.”

I gaped at him, but then closed my mouth when I saw the seriousness in his face.

“Wow. Okay… well...” I paused, searching for the words that could make him understand my position. “The last mission I was on, key details were excluded, which sort of led to me being in this mess. I don’t like walking into anything blind now, if I can avoid it. So… just give me this, okay?”

Owen considered my request as he leaned back on his hands and crossed his legs out in front of him. “All right,” he said. “The people who are coming to get us belong to a different rebel faction based out of Patrus. They have ways to cross in and out of the border that we don’t, so we employ them from time to time to help smuggle us in and out.”

I frowned—another rebel