The Gender War (The Gender Game #4) by Bella Forrest (read novel full TXT) 📗

the room in time to see Jay hauling the king to his feet on Violet’s orders. The king glowered at all of us, jerking his arm out from the grip of her left hand.

“Don’t you dare touch me, you Matrian murderer,” he spat at Violet.

Violet’s eyes widened for a moment at the vehemence of his statement. Then, her surprise morphed into amusement. “I prefer ‘murderess’,” she said, grabbing his arm again. “Maybe it’s a pet peeve of mine, but I hate when the masculine version of the label is applied to me.”

The king ripped his arm out of her hand again and took a step back, the look in his eyes threatening dire retributions. “I’m not going anywhere without my guards,” he announced.

“You don’t really get a choice,” said Amber from the doorway, her gaze dark with the promise of violence. He opened his mouth to protest, but she speared him with a look. “Speak again, and I’ll put a bullet in your head and walk away.”

The king’s mouth snapped shut, and he scowled at Amber, trying to gauge how sincere her promise was. “No,” he finally said, shaking his head. “I won’t go with you—I’ll never go with any woman who doesn’t understand her role. HELP! Guards, guards, HELP!”

My patience had finally reached its end, and I leapt forward and swung, my fist connecting squarely with the king’s jaw. That would be the third man I had punched today—but this punch was the most gratifying. I’d never dared to dream that one day I would see the king of Patrus crumpling to the floor in front of me like a puppet whose strings had been cut all at once.

Ms. Dale grinned at me as she moved to open the door in her tiny room, letting Quinn in. He took one look at us—mostly a curious one—and then shrugged, wisely keeping his mouth shut.

Violet moved up next to me, her eyebrows furrowed. “Seriously, Viggo? Jay could’ve easily gotten him there.”

“What? He was being difficult!” I argued, but I wasn’t angry. I felt more amused than anything. Which was weird, considering that this place was about to become a hornet’s nest of angry guards at any moment. And if we were caught with the king, they were going to shoot us first, then shoot us again, and possibly again, before ever asking a question.

“Punching someone’s lights out cannot be your solution to every problem,” Violet replied, and I flashed her my most charming smile.

“Well, it worked, didn’t it?” I asked as Jay helped Ms. Dale out the window, then stooped to pick up the unconscious king, throwing him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. “Let’s get out of here—you can continue chastising me in the truck.”

Violet gave a deep sigh—one of eternal patience—and then stepped back, following Jay into the gray hallway ahead.

12

Violet

All the guards we had seen when we first came into the corridor were dead or dying—blood pooling around them from numerous wounds. I shot a condemning look at Amber, but she scowled back, completely unbothered by my disapproval. Still, their sad fate didn’t stop me from scavenging a pistol, a loaded handgun, and some extra ammunition.

There were more weapons lying around, and others in the group who had been frisked before coming into the tunnel outfitted themselves as well. A little uncomfortable shock ran through me at the sight of my brother holding a pistol in his hand. I opened my mouth to say something, but quickly shut it again when I realized he was going to need it, whether I liked it or not.

Viggo was at the door to the tunnel, his hand on the knob, naturally taking charge. “The truck we’re taking is across the tunnel from us, in a parking space behind a concrete barrier. I’ll go first, followed by Ms. Dale, Violet, and Henrik. We’ll take up positions around the truck and give covering fire to Jay and the king. Jay, get the king in the back and stay low. Owen, Amber, Quinn, and Tim, you’re with them. Your first priority is getting the king to safety. It looked like there was a lot of construction debris in the tunnel, so remember, there could be guards anywhere.”

We nodded, and I pushed past everyone to line up against one wall, between Henrik and Ms. Dale, taking a moment to raise my gun and click off the safety. Viggo looked at us steadily, watching the rest of the group line up against the wall on the other side of the door, waiting in silence for everyone to be ready. As soon as we were, he swung open the door and peered out, the two groups of us lining the walls on either side.

The tunnel was quiet for a moment. From my position I could just see the bodies of more guards strewn about the steps we had gone up, an abandoned escort vehicle sitting in the middle of the two clear lanes we would have to cross. Amber’s group had certainly left destruction in their wake.

And then, just as Viggo was about to step through the door, a burst of gunfire bombarded the doorway, bullets thudding into the wall across from our group. If any one of us had been standing in the doorway, we’d have been dead.

Owen, who was closest to the door on the side opposite me, peeked out and shouted over the gunfire, “Looks like they barricaded this side of the tunnel!”

Viggo swore. “It’s gotta be the rest of the king’s guard. Plan’s still the same. Take cover in the construction zone, and then cross the lanes when they have to reload.”

During a momentary pause in the shooting coming toward us from the left, he leaned out and returned fire, and I heard somebody shout from the tunnel.

“First group!” Viggo yelled. “Let’s go!”

And then we were running out down the stairs, hopping over the bodies of dead guards. I pointed the pistol in