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

bullet made as it hit the ceiling. The remains of the slug fell down with a sharp ding, and I lowered the gun to aim it at the others, who were flinching, their hands cupped over their ears. Devon’s baton was in his hand, even cupped over his ears, while Raevyn was looking at me with alarm. Jathem openly gaped at me, his eyes wide, while MacGillus, sadly, cowered behind him, looking shaken and downright terrified.

I waited until they were looking at me, until they slowly lowered their hands, patiently counting the seconds in my head. At thirty-two they were ready to listen, so I spoke.

“This is a gun. I don’t know all the components on it, but I do know that inside is a ball of metal sitting on top of a small amount of explosive powder. When I fire it,” I gestured gently with the gun and was pleased to see them all flinch, “the explosion makes the piece of metal—we call it a bullet—move faster than sound, at speeds high enough to tear through human flesh and bone. Some guns are weaker, and that means the bullets might get stuck inside a person, sometimes even bouncing around and causing multiple injuries. Others are so powerful that they can leave a hole in you, sometimes so big that you can see right through it.”

I scanned the room as I spoke, keeping my tone clinical and light. “I have seen, firsthand, the damage these things can cause, and I know all too well what it feels like to be the one who has caused it.” I cleared my throat, suddenly dry-mouthed, and Raevyn slowly crossed her arms over her chest.

“What do you want?” she asked carefully.

“What I want is to know what message you just received that seems to have swayed your opinions against me. I guarantee if something is going on at my gyroship, then I have no previous knowledge of it. To be honest, those women and I aren’t even that close.”

“You aren’t?” asked Devon, his eyes blazing with curiosity and malice, and I nodded.

“We really aren’t. That being said, if you try to hold me accountable for something they did, I will be forced to defend myself.”

“You’ll never make it out of here in once piece,” sneered Devon.

I let him have a moment in which he felt he had the upper hand, and then smiled. “Maybe not, but I’d kill all of you in the attempt, and at least… as many more as I could before you stopped me. And I think we can all agree that would be less than enjoyable for all of us—and much harder for your people to cover up from the rest of the citizens. So, talk to me. What did they do?”

Raevyn exchanged looks with Devon, and then uncrossed her arms, pulling the edge of her shirt down over her pants. “CS Sage just informed us that another one of those crafts is landing,” she said frostily. “It has the same markings as yours, and the design is identical.”

My mind immediately went to Viggo, but with a heavy heart I dismissed the thought. The only heloship my group had was almost out of fuel. I knew he was capable of a lot of things, but manifesting fuel in the middle of a war-torn city was certainly a pipe dream. He would come for me, I knew that… but I also knew there were too many obstacles in the way for him to do it so quickly.

I realized that meant the heloship had to belong to Elena’s people. She had ordered them after us—someone had spotted us as we had flown over Matrus! She must’ve thought her sister and Desmond were still onboard.

Or somehow known I was. I shuddered, and lowered the gun slightly. “Listen, the ship after us, it is our people but it’s not… they aren’t my people. I’m from a neighboring country, and I’m falsely accused of a litany of crimes, but really, I discovered a plot…”

I trailed off and sighed, running my other hand over my hair, feeling the odd plastic patch breaking up the growth of hair. “Look, we have problems where I’m from. We’re embroiled in a war, and that ship outside is the side that is winning. Only their leader…” I gave a dry chuckle as I realized this was pointless. Nothing I could say was going to come out right, and in fact, saying anything else was probably going to make me look like a criminal.

I sighed and leaned back against the wall, thinking. After a moment, I just shook my head. “Look, all I can say is that I mean you no harm. The leader of the other faction, on the other hand—Queen Elena—she’s dangerous.”

“You just fired a bullet at us,” Devon pointed out.

“Not at you, at the ceiling. Believe me, if I had wanted to hit you, I would have. But I really don’t want any harm to come to you or your people. And I also really enjoy being alive. I have a future I’d like to get to with a man I love. If you give me to them, you’ll be guaranteeing two things. The first is my death, which I get isn’t really your responsibility, but it would still be a pretty messed up move for you to let them kill me while I am in your custody.”

“What’s the second, Miss Bates?” Raevyn asked, pushing off of the wall.

“That Elena will have a way in, and she’ll use it. She’s devious, a manipulator, and she cares no more for your people than she does for our own. You would represent another thing to control. She might promise not to come back, but she would.”

Raevyn absorbed that and looked at Devon, her eyes wary. He too was considering my words, and I felt a burst of hope. If I could convince them that Elena was the bad guy, then maybe I could just….

Do nothing and stay here forever. Unless