The Gender Game 5 by Bella Forrest (uplifting novels .txt) 📕

It was hard, but this time, I let the raw emotion I had been struggling with slip into my voice. “In all honesty, I am grasping for straws here. With Quinn, Henrik, and Violet injured, we’re all infinitely more vulnerable. And we’re each infinitely more valuable to the enemy. We can’t all go—Ms. Dale needs to stay behind to make sure the mission will be carried on without us—but we also don’t have to compartmentalize this much. I want to be there to help if I can, argue when I must, and help ensure our survival overall.”

Owen picked up where I had left off, his face animated. “He’s right, Amber. They might not like it, but if we’re going to get them on our side, they need to face this reality sooner or later. Might as well get it out of the way sooner, rather than the later. Besides, by going in with Viggo, we show that we support him. We are allied with him. And we follow his leadership one hundred percent. They need to be on board with that, and all that it implies.”

Amber fell silent, her gaze drifting down as she thought about it. Then she nodded. “All right,” she conceded. “I don’t like it, but you’re right.”

I let out the breath I had been holding and held up my finger. “Okay. I’ll go grab my bag. Owen, would you and Amber mind packing up the equipment you listed, and I’ll meet you on the porch?”

Owen raised his hand to his forehead in a mock salute, which was spoiled by his wide grin. Then he and Amber turned and headed back outside to the barn to gear up.

I turned to Ms. Dale, who frowned as she met my gaze. “It’s good you’re going,” she said after a pause. “Just, please, be careful. I do not want to end up doing this alone.”

I gave her what I hoped was a reassuring smile, then headed down the hallway. Carefully, I pushed open the door to our room. Violet was just as I had left her—eyes closed, breathing deep and even.

She, Quinn, and Henrik were all sleeping in these rooms because they were either sick or wounded. The rest of us were relegated to sleeping in tents, which was only fair. Those of us in charge had decided early on that we needed to show the refugees we were all in this together. However, I was exempt for the time being, as I wouldn’t leave Violet’s side for longer than I had to… and sleeping next to a sick girl didn’t take up any more bed space in the house.

Grabbing my bag, which I’d left under Violet’s makeshift sickbed, I did a quick check to make sure my gun was there, then left space for the equipment Owen would be bringing me for our mission. I took the egg out—a gleaming silver case, deceptively simple in its design, but heavy in my hands. The egg had been at the center of all this mess, and while in some ways I owed my relationship with Violet to its very existence, I hated the thing for what it represented. If I had my way, we would toss the abomination into the Veil River and be done with it.

But the egg was still our most effective bargaining chip, if we could use it correctly. It was the physical manifestation of research started by the previous Matrian queen, Rina, and Mr. Alistair Jenks to create artificially enhanced humans. Elena had been the first child to receive this boost; her mother had allowed Mr. Jenks to experiment on her daughter in the womb. However, like most cutting-edge research, the treatment had a barrage of side effects, ranging from emotional to physical, which seemed to have made the advancement more of a curse than a blessing. I knew this firsthand after seeing the boys they had experimented on to create this supposedly flawless version of the egg.

It was Elena’s endgame—she was going to force humanity to advance, setting up a dynasty of super humans, but under her rule. It was ambitious, but horrifying.

But as long as we had this egg in our possession, we had something Elena wanted desperately. And now that everyone thought the real egg had been destroyed in the palace when Violet had detonated the false one and taken out Tabitha, it was even more crucial we kept this secret until we needed it the most. I tucked some spare pillowcases around the damn thing and rolled it under the bed for now, making a mental note to tell Ms. Dale where to find it and begin guarding it properly, as we probably should have from the beginning.

I shouldered my bag and made my way to Violet, kneeling by the bed. “Violet,” I said softly. She didn’t stir, which was for the best—with her head injury, her waking moments seemed to leave her in states of confusion, pain, or fear, and I didn’t want her panicking over me leaving without her. Or, worse, trying to make me take her with me. I hated the idea of leaving her without a proper goodbye… but we didn’t have time. The sooner I did this, the sooner I could come back with Dr. Tierney and the equipment to save Violet’s life. That provided maybe the only motivation that could have forced me to leave her side.

All this running through my head, I leaned over and kissed her forehead. “It’s my turn to go get you some help,” I whispered into her hair. “Please… please still be here when I get back. Please… just keep on breathing for me, okay, baby?”

Then I stood and headed toward the door before my tired mind could urge me to forget about going with Amber and Owen and instead climb into bed and hold Violet close until I drifted off into sleep. The image was sweet, so tempting, and I promised myself I would