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

“He’s not dead,” I screamed in her face, jerking away from her hands.

She grabbed my shoulders and began to shake me. “Not yet, but he will be. We need to go.”

I just shook my head, a deep numbness setting in under my skin. I kept pressing my hands to his wounds, ignoring her.

“You aren’t going anywhere, you bitch,” came a snarl from the other side of the room.

I turned my head, and saw Marina on the floor, cradling the body of her sister to her. Her eyes were glittering with a mixture of rage and tears, and it was directed at me. I stared blankly at her as she gently set down her sister's body and made her way to her feet.

“I’m going to kill you,” she said as she stalked over to me, her fists clenched.

37

Violet

I stared at Marina, numb and suddenly extremely tired. “Okay,” I responded simply.

She sneered, shaking her head at me. “You don’t care, do you? You really are a sociopath.”

I just shook my head at her. I had no words. It was like my voice had been stolen from me. I couldn’t cope with the fact that Viggo was fading, each beat of his heart pushing him closer to death.

Pain exploded on my face as she reached out and slapped me. “You killed my sister and my mother,” she snarled.

I felt her hands on my shirt, clutching it tightly and using it to lift me up off Viggo. I tilted my head to look at her, still unable to speak.

“Don’t you care?!” she screamed in my face, spittle hitting my cheek. “You’re a traitor and a murderer, Violet Bates.”

“I’m a pawn,” I whispered, my voice finally returning to me. “Nothing more, nothing less.”

She lifted me higher, and I looked down. I should have been stunned or surprised to see my feet dangling almost a foot off the ground, but I couldn’t seem to manifest any feeling. Not with Viggo’s blood staining my hands.

“You can’t even take responsibility for what you’ve done, can you?” she screamed, shaking me. “Well, I’m going to make sure you pay for this! And I’m going to make your death is as painful as possible.”

The look she shot me was one of disgust, disdain, confusion, and rage. She screamed again, and then suddenly I was flying through the air.

I barely registered it, but my body drew from years of muscle memory and braced for impact as I slammed into a cabinet. A line of pain across my back cut through the numbness that had enveloped my body.

As I lifted my head off the floor from where I had slid, I was aware of Marina’s footsteps growing closer. I started crawling away from the sound, my hands seeking a hold on the concrete floor.

I felt her hand grab my hair, yanking it hard enough to bring me to my knees, and force me backward. I grabbed at her hands, clawing at them in a desperate attempt to get her off.

Suddenly a flash of color darted past me, and I felt something impact Marina, causing her to let go of my hair. Looking over my shoulder, I saw Ms. Dale locking her good arm around Marina’s neck, hauling her back and away from me.

Shakily, I rose to my feet and turned toward the two. Marina had already peeled Ms. Dale’s arm away, and was twisting it around in her hand. Ms. Dale grunted in pain as Marina twisted her arm. She took a step into Marina’s hold, and then twisted her body and neatly flipped Marina over her back and onto the floor.

“You were never a good student, Marina,” Ms. Dale said as she placed her boot to Marina’s neck and pulled on the arm she was still holding.

I heard an audible pop, and Marina screamed as Ms. Dale neatly dislocated her shoulder. I took a step past them, spotting my gun on the floor near Viggo’s prone form.

Then Marina grabbed Ms. Dale’s foot with her good hand and heaved, sending Ms. Dale crashing over a counter through some lab equipment and landing heavily on the other floor. I reacted, racing toward the gun.

Marina kicked out her leg and tripped me. I caught myself as I fell, twisting to my side. I landed heavily, my back and hip protesting the impact.

I set it aside and began sliding myself toward the gun. It didn’t matter—Marina was on me in seconds. She straddled my body, and pushed me over on my back, holding me firm with a hand on my sternum.

I struggled, my legs kicking out to find leverage, my hands on her arm trying to push her off. I just needed her to move a fraction of an inch, and I could repel her.

Except she was so strong. It was like a mouse trying to fight off a cat. She began pressing her hand deeper into my sternum, and I felt it in my lungs. She cut off their ability to expand, making it impossible for me to breathe.

I reached up, going for her eyes, but she swatted them away with her free hand, and began pressing harder. I felt the weight against the bone. I tried to suck in air, but the pressure was too tight.

I began gagging, dark spots dancing before my eyes. I reached over my head blindly, my hand seeking the cold metal of the gun. Marina’s eyes followed the line, and she smirked.

I kept trying to suck in air. The dark spots were growing, and I could feel the fight leave me as I struggled to breathe. My vision darkened, and I felt my limbs going limp.

Suddenly, Marina’s weight vanished, and I was able to suck in a cool breath of air, my vision clearing. There was a deep ache as my lungs expanded. It felt like I couldn’t breathe fast enough. I was light-headed and dizzy, but I pushed past it as another burst of adrenaline hit my system.

Looking over, I saw Tim, his arms wrapped