The Gender End by Bella Forrest (the giving tree read aloud TXT) 📕

Belinda immediately looked confused. “Why are you telling me this?” she asked, bewildered.

“Because I don’t want to leave you here without any protection. And I’m hoping that will mean that if something happens and I don’t make it back but you do… You’ll take Solomon back to my people and tell them what happened. And… give Viggo Croft these.”

I opened my bag and pulled out the wooden box Henrik had given me. Taking a minute to savor the smooth feel of the patterns, I felt the muffled clink of the wedding bands inside hitting the sides. I knew it wasn’t, but it felt like… like this was the end. I couldn’t shake the feeling that once I went inside that building, I would never get back out.

It took a moment to summon up the courage to straighten my spine and turn back to Belinda, holding out the box. “Tell him I’m… I’m sorry we didn’t have enough time to get married first.” My voice broke slightly at the end, and I hated myself for feeling the overwhelming urge to cry. I was being ridiculous, I knew it, but I couldn’t take the chance of not leaving a message of some sort.

Belinda stared at the box, her face suspicious. “What is it?”

“Oh, for crying out loud, Belinda, it’s a pair of wedding rings. They were a gift from a very dear friend of ours. When all of this stupidity was over, Viggo and I were going to get married. Will you please do this if I don’t come back? Please?”

Her frown deepened, and, after a teeth-gratingly long silence, sighed and shook her head. She reached out, and I flinched back, but all she did was push the box back to me. “You should keep it with you,” she said after a moment. “If he loves you, he’d want them with you. Then he could imagine you were actually married.” She blinked in surprise and then flushed, the sharp edges of her high cheekbones turning a mottled red. “Sorry. Besides, it is stupid for you to wait until this is over… We caught you, and we’ll catch your boyfriend soon and execute you both. Maybe if you’re lucky, the queen will allow you to get married before we hang you.”

My throat seized up, uncertain of how to even process her remark. On the one hand, I wanted to laugh—right in her face. On the other, that was a shockingly morbid thought, one that made my stomach feel as if a massive lump of ice had just formed inside it, chilling me to my core in spite of the sweltering heat outside.

I didn’t want to die not having married Viggo first. I didn’t want to risk another single moment of not having him be mine, forever. Even though we had discussed it, decided to wait, I realized I was tired of waiting. I wanted it, right then and there if he’d have me. Only he wasn’t here. He was back home, and I was determined to get back to him, no matter the obstacles set in front of me.

I withdrew the box and tucked it back into my bag. “You’re right. I was being silly.” Shouldering the bag, I turned around and gave her a look. “I told them if I’m not back here in an hour, you’re going to leave without me. Can you do that?”

Belinda gave me another suspicious look, and then nodded, but I wasn’t finished. “Can you also promise to wait an hour, just in case you finish the repairs before I get back?”

She hesitated, and then nodded again. “The queen wouldn’t like hearing that we left you behind. She really wants to execute you. Like, very badly.”

“I’ll bet she does,” I replied dryly. God, I hoped I could kill that woman one day.

“Excuse me, ma’am?” called Jathem’s voice from down the ramp, and I stepped to one side to see him and MacGillus standing there. My hand tightened around the strap, and for a moment, I felt a deep heartsickness.

“Promise you won’t leave without me?” I asked, and she nodded.

“I’ll give you one hour exactly, but after that, we’re gone.”

It would have to do. I exhaled softly and moved down the ramp.

Jathem greeted me with a polite smile, but it came off more as menacing, given that his eyes were squinting against the bright sunlight and the goatee he wore around his mouth somehow had a sinister tilt. He led the way, moving across the platform toward the base of the column. I lagged behind, wondering how I hadn’t seen them until they were almost on top of me, and then realized that the white suits used the waves of heat that made the air ripple, practically disappearing as they moved through them.

Not wanting to lose them, I sped up, my boots thumping loudly against the glass beneath my feet. As we neared the wall, it rose to even greater heights over my head, making my head spin with the implications of just how massive it was. I dragged my gaze down as we stepped into the sliver of shade cast by the edge of the building, the temperature dropping a few degrees.

Jathem approached the wall, confident and not the least bit confused as to his surroundings, in spite of the rows and rows of identical glass panels in front of him. He pressed on one, and it and the one above it popped open a few inches. Jathem gripped the side of it and hauled it back a few feet, revealing a dark corridor with a catwalk leading out from it, into the dark depths.

Hesitating for a second, I stepped inside, moving forward as MacGillus crowded in behind me. The door closed with a slow hiss, and Jathem let out a breath of relief. I turned, and realized both men were quickly stripping out of their suits. I didn’t have time to feel alarmed, because even as they undressed, I realized