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

Violet and the others nodded and turned, beginning to run in spite of the clear exhaustion that was stamped into them. Fear was a powerful motivator, however, and they ran, ignoring their aches and pains with one singular goal in mind.

I followed closely behind, keeping an eye out behind us. The new sound I had begun to hear was exactly what I had hoped—the river. Hopefully the bridge was still there, but who knew how long we would have to search the banks before we found it. I wasn’t even sure if it was further to the north or south, and I only had Alejandro’s word that it was there.

Still, I clung to the hope that we would see it and be able to cross it before the boys behind us caught up.

Violet was the first to spot the river, and let out an excited, albeit ragged, cry. “Over here,” she shouted, her boots kicking up clumps of earth. I pelted after her, coming to a stop a few feet away from the water that seemed to glow. The trees parted here, allowing the light of the moon to illuminate the banks of the river.

I quickly scanned up and down the river and gave an audible sigh of relief when I saw a gigantic overturned tree connecting the two banks a few hundred feet north of us. “There,” I said, pointing to the natural bridge.

The others began racing toward it. The tree was ancient—probably the oldest thing in the forest, given its size. Even sideways, the trunk was wider than I was tall by three to four feet, and it stretched all the way across the water.

Violet was in the process of scaling the trunk to get on top when a sharp crack of a breaking tree branch came from the dense tree line directly behind us. I didn’t stop to look, just began shoving our group up the trunk as quickly as I could. I climbed up behind them, about to urge them to run, when I realized I didn’t have to. They weren’t wasting any time.

Normally, a crossing like this would be slow going. Even though the trunk wasn’t submerged in the water, the tree trunk was slick—one wrong move would send us into the water. However, we didn’t have the luxury of being cautious. We ran toward the other side. About halfway across, I heard an excited shout, and turned back to see two boys break through the tree line and leap up onto the tree trunk, not even breaking their stride.

Adrenaline surged through me, and I raced across to the other side. As I approached, I looked at Tim and Jay. “Push the trunk in the water,” I bellowed as I brought myself to a full stop, whirled around, and dropped to a knee. I pulled my gun and aimed at the boys who were still crossing. Immediately Jay and Tim began pushing, and I could feel Jay’s impossible strength as the tree that likely hadn’t moved in a long time shifted slightly.

The boys opposite me felt it too, and froze, their eyes bulging. I exhaled, trying to find the air to shout again. “Go back, boys, or we will defend ourselves.”

The tree moved again, rolling slightly under my knee, and I used one hand to steady myself, staring down the barrel at them. The boys took in me, the gun, Jay and Tim, and finally took a slow step back, much to my relief.

The log shifted again, and I met their gaze solidly. “Run,” I said.

They ran.

I held my position for a moment longer, and then staggered to my feet and moved toward the group, dropping down heavily on the ground. I moved next to Tim and Jay and pressed a shoulder to the tree, struggling against the weight of it. Violet and Ms. Dale shoved in next to us, and together we strained. The log resisted at first, but under our combined efforts, it shifted slightly. We continued to push for several more moments, our strength fading, when suddenly it began rolling so fast that I almost fell face first into the mud.

The massive tree rolled into the river with a splash, and we hurried backward to avoid the toxic water.

I looked at everyone and smiled. “Well… that was easy, right?”

Everyone groaned except Violet, who rolled her eyes at me—and then groaned.

38

Violet

Hours had passed since we helped Jay shove the giant tree trunk into the river. Viggo had led us several hundred feet down the riverbank before announcing that this was where we’d stay for the night. All of us had laid out the blankets and eaten some food, and I took first watch. I woke up Tim for the next shift, and then promptly passed out.

We probably would’ve remained sleeping had it not been for a loud voice calling Viggo’s name. I jerked awake with a start, managing to wake Viggo in the process.

“What?” he said as he bolted upright. I stood up slowly and moved over to the riverbank, looking down it. Ms. Dale was already there with her gun drawn, indicating that I had only gotten about two hours of sleep. A bright light was shining from the bow of a boat, blinding me with its intensity. I raised my arm, shielding my eyes from the light.

“Who’s there?” I called, holding the gun against my thigh and slightly behind me.

There was a metallic scraping sound as the light panned right and away. Blinking my eyes to rid them of the black spots dancing across them, I slowly focused on the image of a boat drifting closer. As I squinted, I saw a familiar head of white hair, topped by an equally familiar cap.

I started to smile when I saw Alejandro’s face, and then hesitated when I began to wonder what he was doing there.

Until his smile broadened when he saw Viggo, his eyes glittering with merriment.

“My boy!” he crowed, and Viggo laughed. I