The Gender Lie (The Gender Game #3) by Bella Forrest (i have read the book a hundred times .txt) 📕

as he fired. The bullet impacted a space between the rungs where my chest had been. I reached around and grabbed my rifle, bringing it up—one handed—and hip fired, catching the man in the shoulder.

He fell to the ground with a scream, clutching his arm, and I dropped the rifle, letting it dangle from the strap as I scrambled the rest of the way up the ladder. By the time I was at the top, Solomon had reappeared and was holding the door open for me, waving at me to hurry up.

The sound of more guards arriving sent waves of anxiety through me. I reached up a hand to Solomon, and his hand encircled my wrist, hauling me up. I kicked at the door as I slid through it, slamming it shut with my foot.

“Much better than ventilation ducts,” I gasped, sucking the cool night air in through my lungs.

Solomon grunted in agreement as he placed his hands on my side. There was a small tear in the fabric, and I was bleeding, but fortunately, the wound was shallow. I pushed his hands away. “I’m fine,” I said, as I got up.

I had been hurt worse during martial arts training. I was pulling my gun over my shoulder when a spattering of rifle fire filled the air. After exchanging looks, Solomon and I raced over to the side of the building it had come from. The scene before us was that of a nightmare—dozens of wardens filled the yard. Their attention was on the warehouse on the other side of our building, but there were too many for us to risk a mad dash to where we had left the van.

I checked my watch—only three minutes for us to get to the van and get out. I looked at Solomon, who returned my gaze, his face ashen.

We didn’t have to say it—it was readily apparent that we were in deep trouble. I knelt and started going through the items in my bag. Solomon dropped down beside me, his expression inquisitive.

“Here,” I whispered, thrusting a bundle of rope into his hands. “We’re going to tie the rope to that vent there, and then, when I give you the signal, you’re going to rappel down. I’ll buy you some time.”

He studied me for a long moment, and then shook his head. “No, I’ll buy you the time. You have people to get back to.”

I growled in irritation. “So do you. Besides, they’ll want me more than they’ll want you,” I said, meeting his gaze with a hard one of my own.

“What are you going to do? Stand on the edge and announce ‘Hello, my name is Violet Bates, come and get me’?”

I frowned at the dismissive quality of his voice. “It’ll get their attention,” I argued.

“You’ll get as far as, ‘My name is—’ and catch a bullet.”

“I can’t have your death on my hands,” I hissed at him, standing up.

“Well, that isn’t your choice to make, Violet. We’re a team. We need to—”

Whatever Solomon intended to say was lost in the explosion. The force of it shook the building, and instinctively we fell to the floor, curling our bodies into fetal positions to absorb the impact tremors. We stared at each other, waiting until the roar had slightly diminished.

I heard frightened shouts from the wardens below, and I stood up, running over to where a bright glow could be seen. Smoke plumed, filling the air with the smell of fire. Below me, the wardens were running around, panicked.

I scanned the area of the warehouse and spotted two lone figures loping away from the scene toward the van. There was a flash of gold as one of them paused, looking back, and I realized it was Owen.

But where was the laser? I looked at his hands but saw nothing. Was it possible that they had decided to abandon the mission?

Solomon came up beside me. “There’s a path that’s clear to the south. If we hurry, we can make it back to the van in time.”

I whirled and gave him an incredulous look, unable to process what he was saying. “Owen doesn’t have the objective,” I said.

He looked over my shoulder and his face tightened. “He’s also missing a man—I don’t know if it’s Amber or Quinn, but if he had to abandon them in the warehouse, then the mission is over.”

A fresh wave of panic bubbled up to the surface. “No! We can’t just leave it there! We need it—Viggo needs it!” I grabbed his forearm, my fingers digging in tightly. “The wardens, they’re distracted—we can just—”

Solomon yanked his hand out of mine. “No, Violet. We can’t go get it now. The wardens are everywhere, and even more will be coming.”

I shook my head, refusing to see reason in his words. I backed away slowly, pulling my gun around my body and putting it between us like a shield. “No,” I said. “There’s still time! We can do this.”

He took a step forward, his hands raised. “Violet… please… see reason. We need to go, now.”

Tears were beginning to form in my eyes. My vision blurred and I blinked, trying to keep the panic growing inside me at bay. I thought of Viggo’s face, and it grounded me. I knew what he would do: He would go in after it anyway. I had to do the same. For him.

“You… you go back to Owen. You tell him to wait. Buy me time. I’ll go get the laser and I’ll find a way to get it to you.”

Solomon took another step closer and I backed away from him. “Please, Solomon,” I said, my voice breaking.

He paused and looked at me. Really looked at me. I couldn’t imagine how I looked in his eyes—probably like some insane woman about to commit suicide. I didn’t care—he just needed to know that I was serious about what I was saying.

“All right,” he said reluctantly, and my knees buckled in relief. “If you’re going to go, I think there