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

“That’s it?” she asked, blinking up at him.

“That’s it,” he said with a broad smile. “Just leave it on for a day, and the bones will be completely healed. These”—he extended a hand with a packet of pills inside—“are for your internal injuries. Take one of each, twice a day, with food.”

The blonde woman accepted the packet, moving with a swiftness that belied her size. “Thank you, Mr. Sage,” she said begrudgingly, and he patted her on the shoulder. Not for long, as she took an alarmed step back, her hand going for a gun at her waist and then stopping halfway when she realized he wasn’t actually attempting to hurt her.

“Ah! The alien girl and her alien fiancé have returned,” CS Sage announced, seemingly oblivious to the blonde woman’s alarm. “Have you told them?”

“Not yet,” replied Raevyn from behind me, at the same time that Violet asked, “Told us what?”

“The council has decided not to meet with you after all,” Devon drawled, hooking his thumbs through the belt around his waist. “In fact, we have been asked to relay to you that you leave immediately, and never return.” He looked at the rest of the group, muttering, “Waste of resources, if you ask me,” and Raevyn frowned deeply at him, shaking her head, while Jathem and MacGillus stayed silent but seemed distinctly uncomfortable.

Warning bells went off in my head, but I was still blinking at his declaration—an abrupt departure from what they’d said just moments earlier. What could have changed their minds so suddenly? If their council had such an immediate influence on their minds, it must be a very controlling system. And the idea of such absolute control had never struck me as safe.

“Wait,” I tested, unable to really comprehend the decision, “never return? Why? Surely our two cultures could help each other in some way. Even establish a trade of some sort?”

It was Raevyn who answered. “Our system is perfect as it is. We lack the resources to support outsiders. What’s more, the council feels that even the knowledge of a society that exists outside of the tower could jeopardize everything, which is why we are going to eradicate all knowledge of your existence. If people learned there was another place they could survive in, they might panic or even try to leave.”

“Surely they should have that choice,” Violet started to say, and Devon gave her a look so derisive that she dropped the sentence, confirming my hunch—control issues in this society ran mile-deep.

The Knight Commander said archly, “Everyone in the tower has a function, a duty, a service that is essential to the operation of the tower. Ours is a delicate balance, one we cannot compromise on. If people decided to leave, our entire way of life would dissolve. The council has decided that, as advantageous as your technology might be to us, your very existence is a risk, and we cannot excuse your continued presence just because you want to make friends. We’ve already put ourselves out in order to heal you… I suggest you not waste any more of our time.”

Condescension and disdain were thick in his voice, and I fought off the urge to deck him, reminding myself that we were on their turf—and we did want to leave, after all. I also knew KC Devon wanted the heloships. For all I knew, he was trying to provoke one of us into violence so that he could be justified in acting in self-defense in an attempt to secure our technology. His eyes blazed in open challenge. It was probably better for his sake that I wasn’t a man who lost his head easily, and I met his gaze with a hard one of my own.

CS Sage looked from me to Devon and back again, the slow swivel of his head catching my attention from the corner of my eye. “Men,” he sighed, scratching the back of his neck. “Am I right, ladies?”

His delivery was as surprising as it was humorous, and I heard Violet struggling to keep a laugh from spilling from her throat. I turned away from Devon first to see her hand over her mouth, her eyes sparkling. Raevyn was not as amused: a dour frown hovered on her lips, and her eyes were troubled more than anything, sending additional warning signals to the base of my brain. Maybe it was just because she was used to CS Sage’s quirky sense of humor, but I got the feeling that something more was definitely up. But I had no way of knowing what, exactly. For all I knew, she didn’t agree with them asking us to leave, but couldn’t say anything at this point.

“Anywho, goodbye, little alien girl,” CS Sage continued, moving over to Violet and dropping a chaste kiss on her forehead. “If you come back, we’re going to blow you out of the sky!”

He held up his hand, his index finger and thumb held up so that they formed two guns, and then he made a pew pew sound as he mimicked shooting. Violet’s gaze moved up over his shoulder to find mine, alarm filling her gray eyes, and then CS Sage was moving away, Devon and Raevyn moving past us to head toward the door with him.

She turned to watch them go, and I moved up behind them. “I think we should go,” I murmured.

“No kidding. Just give me a second to talk to the Matrians, and we’ll get going.”

“You want me to join you?”

She tilted her head up at me, and then shook her head. “Nope, I got this. I’ll see you in a minute.”

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12

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Violet

I moved toward where Belinda and Kathryn had retreated inside the bay of the repaired Matrian ship. Kathryn saw me coming and gave me a brusque nod. “Seems your people came for you,” she commented warily, eyeing Viggo from over my shoulder.

“They did,” I replied. It was unnecessary, but it was nice we were keeping some semblance of