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

stood up, her brows drawn together. “But how did you know to grab the one in the cabinet?” she asked, taking a step closer.

Tim shrugged. “You’re sneaky. Also… don’t like Desmond. No egg for her.”

Violet grinned and kissed her brother on the cheek. “You did really good, baby brother,” she announced with a smile. “And you, Jay.” She rested a gentle hand on his shoulder. “I just want you to know how brave I think you are. And I want to thank you for believing in us.”

Jay blushed again, but beamed at her, his eyes glowing from her praise. Licking his lips, he tentatively wrapped his arms around her neck in a hug and she returned it warmly. The entire exchange was touching, but I could feel time marching merrily forward without us.

We needed to get going.

“We should keep moving,” Jay said, echoing my thoughts, as he took a step back. He looked over his shoulder, back the way he had come. “I spent some time laying a few false trails, but it won’t buy us a lot of time… Maybe an hour or two at the most.”

“I agree,” I said. “Everyone drink some water, but not too much—you don’t want it sloshing around in your belly while you run. Once we’re finished, we’ll begin moving again. Violet, help me repack the bag. The three of us will take turns carrying it.” I looked at Ms. Dale, who nodded at me, her face reflecting her tension and eagerness to continue our journey.

“The five of us,” contradicted Tim, his voice and stance carrying a stubbornness that I was beginning to recognize as a trait in the Bates family.

I smiled and nodded. “All right—the five of us,” I agreed. I handed the water bottles out to Ms. Dale, Tim, and Jay, allowing them an opportunity to drink first as Violet and I repacked the bag. Within minutes, we were running again.

We had packed the bag well—the contents weren’t shifting around or bouncing against my back as I moved, which was a bonus. While I ran, I turned my mind toward Desmond’s plan and the implications it might have on our world if she succeeded.

Who knew what Desmond’s political aims really were? She had only been clear on what she didn’t like—how could someone so tyrannical and cold-blooded be different than the regime before? I didn’t think it was possible or likely that much would change—instead I feared things would get worse in her grab for power. After all, if she was willing to use her own sons to carry out her dirty work, who knew what she would be willing to do to maintain power.

Power—there it was again. It baffled me how much people were willing to do and sacrifice in order to gain and keep it. There was a depraved lunacy in the pursuit of it that spoke to the darker side of humanity. I was content without power, so it was hard for me to imagine why anyone would go to such great lengths to acquire it.

That didn’t stop me from appreciating the irony of the whole situation. Here we were, so-called enemies of Matrus, tearing through The Green in a mad dash to save the very institution that had labeled us as such. Well, I wasn’t sure of my status, but I was pretty sure they didn’t expect a Patrian male to attempt to save Matrian lives. However, I was likely an enemy of Patrus at this point—I had failed in my mission to return Violet to Patrus to face justice for her crimes. And that meant that I was also working to save Patrus from a senseless war that it had no idea was coming.

It was enough to make me chuckle, and help me keep going in spite of the exhaustion that was sending warning signals rolling through my body that I needed to stop and sit down.

The sun had long since faded, and we had paused shortly before to pull out the flashlights that Jay had provided. Now we ran in pairs, with one person holding a flashlight to illuminate our path. Occasionally, Jay and Tim would break off to help disguise the trail to buy us more time. We paused more than once to drink water, catch our breaths, or pass the bag. Even with all that activity, the hours slipped by in a tense silence with no sounds save for our footsteps and labored breathing.

The steady sound was lulling us into a false sense of security. After hours of not seeing anyone other than Jay, we were beginning to nurture the hope that we had somehow lost any pursuers. I had thought it through, and I was fairly confident that the boys would have likely stopped when night fell. The forest was a scary place during the day, and for all of their enhancements, they were still young enough to fear the dark and the creatures that inhabited it.

It turned out that we were all wrong on that account.

Just as I began to hear something new over our falling footsteps, a shout came up from the forest behind us. I skidded to a stop, my muscles protesting the sudden change in status. Whipping around, I cast my flashlight toward the forest behind us; I was breathing heavily behind my mask, sweat dripping down my face and chest.

Ms. Dale had already pulled her gun, much to my annoyance, and Violet’s hand was twitching, like she wanted to hold hers. I held my breath, straining to hear.

The seconds turned into a minute as I listened intently, my muscles twitching from overuse. A faint rustling drew my attention, and I took a step forward, staring intently at the intermingled vines, branches, leaves, logs, and bushes, trying to make out anything through the wild chaos of the forest.

I heard the rustling again, drawing closer. Something was behind us, approaching at an alarming speed. I turned back to the others and nodded.

“Run. As fast as you can. Get to the