The Gender Game 2 by Bella Forrest (audio ebook reader .TXT) 📕

I screamed until my voice was hoarse, until the tears stopped pouring from my eyes, until they all fell down. Sudden silence filled the air, until Lee began to move. He sat up, his broken bones creaking and snapping under the weight of his body. He picked up the silver egg between us, and advanced on me.

I backed away, but somehow he was faster than me. He slammed the egg into my chest, forcing it in through my skin. I screamed again as agony spread through me. Light began to shine from the hole as he forced it inside of me. “Together forever,” he leered.

Strong hands grabbed me suddenly, and I jerked against them.

“Violet!” came a soft urgent voice. The tightness in my chest intensified, and I struggled harder. I felt my fist connect with something, heard someone cursing, and I jerked awake.

I curled around myself, my stomach queasy and my hands shaking. I couldn’t shake the dream; the images I saw. I was panting, my heart sick with guilt even over the deaths I wasn’t the cause of, when the hands returned, touching me gently.

I jerked away, suddenly surprised, and looked up. It was… Viggo. Leaning over me, his rugged, stubbled face a mixture of concern and anger.

I cried out, covering my eyes, not willing to see him torn apart again. He grabbed my hands, pulling them away, and shaking me.

“Violet,” he hissed, his eyes intense.

I shook my head, denying his existence. “I can’t watch it again, I can’t. Please don’t make me!”

Viggo stared at me, teeth clenched hard, a muscle in his jaw pulsating. Finally, he yanked me into his arms and lap, holding me close. I curled up into a ball and clenched my eyes tight. I felt him stroking my hair. I was aware of him speaking to me, but the nightmare still clung to me too tightly. I kept waiting for him to die. For me to kill him.

Eventually, however, I accepted that he was real. The press of his strong hands on my back, rubbing my tense muscles, weren’t another figment of my imagination. He was here. It was his strong heartbeat next to my cheek, his rough jaw pressing against the top of my head, and his calm and even breathing filling my ears.

Confusion flooded through me.

“Viggo,” I whispered, suddenly aware of how parched I was.

“Yes?” he said, his chest rumbling.

“How are you here?” I breathed, lifting my hand to his shoulder.

He shrugged me off, and sat me on the ground. I was too weak to hold myself up, so he propped me up against the tree root. I looked around, blinking sluggishly. “This is a dream,” I said, aware of my voice slurring.

“No, Violet, it isn’t,” Viggo replied curtly as he picked up a canteen.

I tilted my head up to him, so I could look at him as he loomed over me. He pulled my mask off, and I gasped, weakly trying to reach for it.

Viggo is trying to kill me, I thought. I deserve it, a tiny voice added.

He deftly avoided my hands and lifted the canteen to my lips. I opened my mouth to protest, and he tilted the canteen, pouring cool water down my throat. I didn’t understand, so I coughed, water going down the wrong way.

He swore, kneeling down next to me, jerking me forward and whacking me on the back. I hacked until the feeling passed. He replaced the mask for a few seconds so I could suck in some air.

“You’re trying to kill me,” I croaked.

He gave a tsk of annoyance. “If I wanted you dead, I would have let you die from your bite.”

Groggily, I looked over at my leg. “It was venomous,” I said.

“I know.”

“Thirsty,” I said, feeling the rush of blackness returning.

He sighed, and slipped my mask off again, placing the canteen against my mouth. I was ready this time, and I drank the water as it poured in, my throat remembering what my mind couldn’t seem to. After a while, he took the canteen away and replaced the mask.

My stomach full of water, I felt my eyelids drift close. I forced them open, suddenly panicked. “Don’t let me sleep,” I whispered to Viggo, grabbing his arm.

He gently removed it, and shook his head. “You need to sleep, Violet. It’s the best medicine.”

“But they’re waiting for me! You’re waiting for me. I killed you. I killed others. Please…”

Viggo blinked, and sat down next to me. “Who did you kill, Violet?”

“Everyone,” I explained. “I mean, I didn’t kill all of them, but I did four of them. I’m responsible for four deaths! I-I can’t face them. They won’t let me explain. I’m sorry,” I choked, “I’m so, so sorry.”

I felt Viggo’s Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed hard. “Okay,” he said tightly, after a pause. “I will hold you, and if you start to have nightmares, I promise to wake you. All right?”

I couldn’t even respond; the darkness was taking me again. I struggled against it, fighting with all my might. Then I felt his arm come around me, holding me. It was like a weight that kept me centered, a shield that kept me safe from the people who haunted me. I exhaled in relief, and surrendered myself to sleep, confident that the nightmares wouldn’t find me as long as Viggo was there.

13

Viggo

I sat on one of the roots, the tree trunk to my back and the pistol on my lap, waiting for Violet to wake up. She was curled up around Samuel, who hadn’t left her side since we found her. It had been twenty-four hours since then, and another twelve since her nightmare.

I had only been able to sleep a few hours myself; it was too dangerous for both of us to be unconscious.

It gave me time to think. There was something more going on here, but I wasn’t quite sure what it was. I reached into my pocket, and