The Gender Game 5 by Bella Forrest (uplifting novels .txt) 📕

made a fuss over the detour. Viggo, Owen said, his voice low. There are guards coming back. I can hear them. Let’s go.

Take my gun, I replied. Try not to throw this one.

At the same time, Violet’s voice rang through my ears. “Viggo, I’m not sure what you’re doing down there, but they are closing in on you. Go straight through the tents ahead. Cut your way out if you have to.” From the hard edge in her voice, I could sense our luck was running out.

Got it. I nodded to Owen, who immediately went for the tent in front of us. I stepped up behind him, waiting, breathing through my teeth as he cut a hole in the fabric and then stepped aside for me. I raced for the next tent, and Owen followed, repeating the action. We were at the fourth one when Violet spoke again.

“The other boy is close. You need to move.”

Owen’s response was to rip another hole, his hand jerking on the knife, and motion me through. I stepped through, and, outside the door of the last tent. I finally saw the trodden-down empty space between the fence and the rows of death tents. There was still that thirty feet of open land between us and the hole we had made in the chain link. I felt a sinking in my stomach, despite all my preparations. We weren’t going to make it.

I had opened my mouth to tell Violet as much when her voice crackled in my ear, so loud it was practically a shout. “I’m going to create a diversion for you. Go NOW!”

I had no time to ask what that diversion would be before my ears picked up something whizzing lightly by overhead. I caught a glance of Violet’s drone as it headed toward the trailers. The humming of the motors died away as it moved out of earshot, and then an explosion rocked through the night.

All the lights that had illuminated the camp fell dark at once, and shouts erupted behind us, the guards’ voices farther than I would have expected, and—thank God—getting farther away still. Owen and I took that as our cue, breaking into a run as a fireball rose up from the spot where Violet had crashed the drone.

Owen reached our escape hole before me and yanked the fence aside, letting me go first. I turned sideways and slipped through it, taking care not to catch Cody’s dragging limbs on one of the jagged ends of the wire. After a few seconds, we were both through, racing toward where we had parked the car.

Our footsteps thudding through the darkness, we made it through the tree line and to the car without alarms ringing out or bullets flying after us. Owen opened the back door first, and I deposited Cody’s limp body into the backseat; then, as Owen climbed in shotgun, I raced around the car and practically dove into the driver’s seat. Jamming the key into the ignition, I slammed the car into gear and took off, not even bothering to check what direction we were going. In the review mirror, I saw Owen peering back at the darkened camp behind us, clearly checking whether we were being followed.

I clenched the wheel tighter and pressed the accelerator, too tense to feel any form of relief.

23

Violet

We made it to the car, Viggo announced over the radio, breaking the tense silence that had stretched out between us. I exhaled sharply, leaning back against my chair as a wave of relief hit me hard, making my muscles sag on my bones. Around the room, the rest of the group was visibly relieved as well. Ms. Dale had one hand on her hip, the other braced on the table, which looked to be the only thing holding her up, and even Thomas seemed shaken.

“What was that?” I asked Viggo. “What took you so long?” I’d been monitoring the area around Viggo and Owen, watching the guards and the person—it must have been the boy—who was racing around the camp at impossible speeds, his body fiery colors. As desperately as I’d wanted to hover over Viggo and Owen, watching their every move, I hadn’t had time to stop my surveillance and really see what was going on where they were located.

We took one of the boys, Viggo told me solemnly. It doesn’t look like we’re being pursued, but we need advice on how to proceed.

I turned back to my controls, prepared to use the drone to give them some information about the area, only to remember, as I saw the black screen buzzing with static in front of me, that I had crashed the drone into the generators. I slid my hand out of the metal tubes, almost sadly. Beside me, Thomas’ fingers were flying over his keyboard as he spoke.

“Do not come back here,” he said into his mic. “We don’t know who’s tracking those boys, or how. I’m researching an area remote enough to direct you to. What direction are you heading now?”

I frowned and cocked my head, shooting a glance at Ms. Dale, who was bobbing her head in agreement with Thomas. I stood and moved over to her, shakily stretching my limbs. Seeming to catch the question in my eyes, the old spy told me in a soft voice, “Thomas is right. We could lead them right back here, and we can’t compromise the integrity of this base. Especially since we don’t have a fallback location ready yet.”

I bit my lip and nodded, feeling slow for not recognizing that earlier. “Of course,” I said. “That’s smart.”

Ms. Dale gave me a conciliatory smile and placed a hand on my shoulder. “I’m sure you would’ve puzzled that out for yourself soon enough. You did really well tonight.”

I ran a hand down my face. “I appreciate you saying that, but I’m not so sure. I mean, I should’ve used the thermal scanning on the tents. Then we