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

been too long,” she agreed. “Go get some sleep. Logan, you too. I’ll need you to take over for me in a couple hours.”

“You sure you want to stay awake by yourself?” I asked. “Everyone’s exhausted, and you aren’t immune to that either.”

“Viggo, I just saved us all from what I am going to call a death ray. My adrenaline is still pumping, and even when that fades, I don’t think I could sleep for quite some time after what we just witnessed.” Even with her back to me, I could see the slight shudder as she thought about it, and I didn’t blame her. Besides, while Amber was notoriously stubborn, she had always proven herself responsible. She’d wake us if her exhaustion grew too severe.

“Okay,” I conceded. “Just shout if you need anything.”

“Sleep,” she ordered. “Both of you.”

“I’m going to stay up a little bit longer,” announced Vox. “I want to run a few more systems checks, and I think there are a few minor things I can repair before I nap.” Amber gave him an irritated look, and he grinned toothily at her. “As long as I have your permission to do so, Captain Ashabee.” His tone was teasing and light, but even so, her spine stiffened and she turned away from him.

“Do whatever makes you happy, Logan,” she said after a moment.

I bit my tongue to keep from making a comment, choosing discretion and heading into the bay. I pulled out a few more blankets and made them up on the floor next to Violet’s bench. It was tempting to climb back on the bench next to her, but it was too uncomfortable, and we both needed sleep. I lay down on my back and closed my eyes.

“Viggo?”

I jerked upright, alarmed and confused. I could have sworn I had just shut my eyes, but it was clear several hours had gone by. Violet was kneeling over me, her small hand on my shoulder, another hand wrapped around a protein ration. I blinked groggily up at her, and then ran a hand through my disheveled hair.

“What time is it?” I croaked, my mouth dry.

Violet checked her watch. “Five p.m. We’ve been asleep for eight hours. I guess Amber is taking the long way back to Patrus. She said we won’t run out of fuel as long as we go slowly and use this tailwind.” She reached over and picked up a bottle of water that was sitting on the bench where I had put her to bed what felt like moments ago, and held it out to me. I quickly downed the entire contents of the bottle, feeling exceptionally parched, and then devoured the protein ration, my stomach so empty that I was certain it was wrapped around my spine trying to eat it for the lack of nutrients.

Violet was picking at her own food, playing with it mostly, and I reached out and touched her knee. “Baby, you have to try to eat something. I know it’s been a trying day, but I’m sure we’re almost home.”

The corners of her mouth tilted upward, and she shot me a grateful look. “You’re right, but I’m really just not very hungry at the moment. Let’s go check in with Amber and see where we are.”

I nodded and ran a hand over my face, trying to clear away the grit from sleeping. I craved nothing less than a shower and a bed, in that order. A long night of sleep with Violet next to me would do a lot to help ease the acidic nature of my stomach and the stiff aches and pains in my body, as well as give me time to process the emotional wounds that were there, still bleeding, just under the surface.

Climbing to my feet, I followed Violet onto the bridge to find Amber splayed out on her own mat on the floor, Logan behind the wheel. The sun was beginning to set, but as I moved to the bubble, I could see that we were definitely in familiar territory. The expanse of The Green hung just below us, the river on the right side of the aircraft.

“When did she zonk out?” I asked the man.

He clicked a few buttons and adjusted the controls before answering, his focus on the screen. “About three hours ago. We lost the river for a while, and lost some time in the process, but she wasn’t going to go to sleep until she found it again, and luckily…”

“You lost the river?” I asked, frowning.

“It went underground for a while, but we found it, so no big deal. Anyway, I followed the instructions and tried to contact Henrik an hour ago, but no response. You want to try?”

“Sure,” I said, taking the headset he offered me and manipulating the buttons so I could speak into it. “Henrik, Ms. Dale, this is Viggo. Are you receiving me?”

I listened intently, watching Violet as she stood by the window, staring down at The Green. There was a pop of static, followed by, “Viggo, is that really you?”

Chuckling at the familiar sound of Henrik’s voice, I hit the transmit button. “Yes indeed. What? Didn’t think we could make it back from The Outlands?”

“Oh, don’t get a big head, kid,” Henrik grumped, before letting enthusiasm that would match a youngster’s bubble up in his voice. “Did you find Violet? I’m assuming so, or we wouldn’t be talking.”

“Yeah, I got her,” I said, and she flashed a smile over her shoulder at me before turning back to The Green below. “We’re all safe. We even got Solomon, and… well… We’ve got a lot to fill you in on, but we’ll do it when we land. Speaking of which, where are we landing? What’s the status of Patrus?”

“Well, thanks to the heloships you helped to procure this morning, we were able to remove the remaining Matrians from the guard posts quite peacefully. I can’t say I blame them—it’s kind of hard to keep fighting with