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

me, and then turned his gaze back to the road. “I was wondering when you were going to ask that question,” he said tiredly. “Truthfully, it’s not up to me, and I’m not sure.”

“Well… have you told them the truth about Desmond?”

Amber snorted next to me, and I ignored it—I knew she still didn’t fully believe us, and likely wouldn’t unless she saw it for herself. For now, though, she seemed to be helping us, and that would have to be enough.

“It’s not so easy, Violet,” Owen said. “For one, even if Desmond is out doing secret errands with the queen of Matrus, she’s not going to just let the Liberators run their own operation. To them, nothing has changed, except that Patrus is now undergoing a big regime overhaul—which is one of our… ah, their ultimate goals. Desmond is still completely involved with the Liberators, have no doubt… and they’re still willing to follow her commands.”

He must have seen me open my mouth, unconvinced by his argument, because he sighed and continued. “That loyalty won’t be easily broken. Even if we tell them what she did, not everybody will believe us… and not everybody will care. Desmond personally recruited most of us—we all have some sort of relationship with her. She’s changed a lot of their lives for the better.”

I frowned and shook my head. “But you know that once Desmond finishes with them, she’ll likely have them all killed, right? She can’t let anyone live who can link the pieces of this together.”

Owen looked pointedly at Amber. “She might not even need to send somebody to kill them if she sends them all out on suicide missions. I probably would have died in that bombing… Did she give you guys a backup plan if you succeeded in killing the king? Or did she just leave you to fend off the entire king’s guard, just the three of you?”

“It would have been worth it—if we could change how things are run in this rotten country,” Amber said simply, then crossed her arms, turning to gaze out at the passing farms. We were deep into the farmlands now, and I hadn’t seen this much produce in a very long time. I hadn’t even known that corn grew on stalks taller than a man—a discovery that surprised me in a good way, even though the topics we discussed were so heavy.

Owen turned back to the road, shaking his head in the face of Amber’s stubbornness and addressing me again. “I wish I could go back and help them, Violet. I wish I knew that the rest of them would be safe, that there was another way for them to fix society. But I can’t see how it will work. None of them will even believe us anymore, probably. I doubt that Desmond has forgotten to tell them about me… defecting. I know how she works. She could have ordered me killed on sight as a traitor. And even if I wanted to take my chances… she still has Ian.”

Owen’s voice had fallen into deep sadness, his face portraying how trapped he felt. It took me a moment to figure out that Ian was his brother, one of the boys who had been taken from a Matrian family. Just like Tim… I remembered Owen had mentioned it, but he hadn’t used his brother’s name before. I wondered if all this had gone through his mind when he’d decided to join us instead of run back to the Liberators from the Matrian palace.

“Owen,” I said softly. “I’m so sorry.” I had my own brother here with me; Owen hadn’t been able to save his. When I’d lost my brother, I’d been willing to do just about anything to save him. The thought woke a dark anger in me. “We’ll find a way to get Ian back,” I told Owen. “I don’t know how yet, but we’ll do it. And we’ll do it the right way. We won’t make compromises with Desmond… We’ll just have to beat her.”

Owen’s expression was ashen as he looked out at the road, not saying anything for a moment. Then he looked at me. “Thanks, Violet,” he said, swallowing. “If anyone can do it, you can.”

His confidence warmed me. I felt a little bit better for making the promise, even if I had no idea how to go about it yet.

In between me and Owen, Amber had turned sullenly silent. She seemed unaffected by the emotions passing between us, and I watched her sadly. I disagreed with her, but she was my friend too, and I wished she wouldn’t be so closed off. Since she clearly wouldn’t talk any more about this subject, I tried a different one.

“So, what can you tell us about where we’re going?” I asked her.

Amber sighed and lifted her legs, placing her boots on the dashboard and sinking deeper in the seat. “It’s a large estate, guarded by built-in automated defenses. It will have provisions and space. If the perimeter is breached it will be hard to defend outside of the house, but the inside has defenses. A small, armed unit could theoretically hold it for days.”

It sounded impressive—exactly what we were looking for, actually—but I had been hoping for something a little more personal from her. After all, Amber was in an odd situation, Patrian-born but fighting for the Liberators, which consisted mostly of families who’d had their sons or brothers taken from them by the Matrian government. I knew only a little about her history—that her father had tried to give her to another man—and wasn’t sure that explained the full extent of her reluctance to go home.

“What about our reception?” I asked, but Amber’s only response was to give me a stony look, and then turn back to the window.

All right then. I’d tried, at least, but it was clear she wasn’t going to say more. I had to trust that she would tell us if the situation were dangerous. Otherwise,