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

But still, there was no lock on the door, so there had been nothing to keep her in. There had also been that evening when she had risked her life to come see me, after I had rescued her from Porteque… It was a little odd that she had been given so much freedom, and such nice things, for being a hardened criminal and murderess.

Hm. It didn’t quite add up.

I placed the dress on the bed and moved out of the room, letting the questions dance around in my brain.

I moved to the other bedroom, which wasn’t much larger. This was clearly Lee’s room, and after a quick glance around, I crossed to his desk, turning on his computer. While it booted up, I began to sort through his papers. Most of it was business; related to the lab, a lot of scientific jargon. He had circled the word Benuxupane a few times.

Benuxupane. The new drug that the lab had been working on. It was a point of contention between the two regimes of Patrus and Matrus. Matrus had always supplied the pharmaceuticals for Patrus, in exchange for the produce that Patrus generated. It was one of the things that had allowed the two countries to operate peacefully in the past. But recently, King Maxen had been pushing to become more independent of Matrus, leading to heightened tension between the two countries.

Why was Lee so interested in the manufacture of Benuxupane? His bombing had certainly set the work on it backward, but why was that so important? If Lee had been acting in service of Matrus, then the bombing of the laboratory could have been an attempt to keep Patrus dependent on Matrian drugs. But there was that weird silver egg thing that they had stolen…. What was it and what role did it play in everything?

The computer booted up, beeping for my attention. It was password-protected, but I possessed a file that allowed me to log in as an administrator—given to me by one of my more technologically savvy wardens. I plugged in my handheld and loaded the program. It took only a few seconds, and then I began to search through the files.

There was nothing on the hard drive regarding the bombing, but, luckily, this wasn’t my true goal. I scrolled through the programs and found what I had come here for; clicking on one of them, I held my breath.

A map booted up, showing the streets of Patrus. Good, Lee hadn’t bothered to wipe it. I used the mouse to drag the image around… but found nothing. Then I dragged the map to the east, over Matrus. It took a few seconds for the graphics to catch up to the computer, and I began to scan the streets and buildings. Still nothing.

Tapping my fingers impatiently on the desk, I dragged the map to the river and ran down the length of it. It would be difficult for Violet to hide there for long, but it might buy her some time to figure out her next move… Yet, again, there was nothing.

Frustrated, I grabbed the image, pulling it down so I could see the mountain range. I must have pulled too hard, because the next thing I knew, I was staring at the blinding green canopy of The Green.

And there, buried in its heart, was a little red dot.

I exhaled the breath I hadn’t been aware that I was holding. It was Violet—it had to be. I leaned back, the chair squeaking under my weight. I felt a rush of relief, and frowned. I shouldn’t be relieved to find Violet alive, it made my job much more difficult.

Then again… it would be nice to see her again, if only to shake her and demand answers from her. My stomach knotted at the thought, and I resisted putting my fist through a wall in anger. This girl had no right to make me feel so conflicted. I pushed the feelings aside and focused on the task at hand, knowing that logic, more than any confusing tangle of emotions, would help me now.

I downloaded the program to my portable; my mind already whirling. Violet had taken refuge in The Green. It was, in one sense, smart—the toxic environment and dangerous creatures were a massive deterrent to most people. But it was also risky—if she didn’t have the tools to survive, or the knowledge, she could be dead in a matter of hours.

The program finished downloading, and I unhooked it, slipping it into my pocket. I had an idea how to get up there.

I left the bedroom, my mind already ticking off everything that I would need for The Green. But as I crossed the hallway and headed for the stairs, a sound at the front door halted me.

Peering down, I saw a man entering, stepping past the door I had broken. Etched into the skin beneath his right eye was a dark triangular tattoo. He was a Porteque gang member. The group had kidnapped Violet in an attempt to re-educate her in the proper role of being a woman, and had been planning on murdering her. His eyes shot up to me before I could step back.

We froze for an instant, staring at each other. I reached for my gun and he did the same.

Then two gunshots exploded, shattering the silence of the house.

4

Violet

The motorbike and I crashed through the treetops, hitting branch after branch. I had time to cover my face, but then something hit my head, sending shockwaves through my brain and knocking me out.

I awoke a short while later—at least, I thought it was a short while—hanging upside down, my lungs on fire. I opened my eyes, the latent adrenaline lending itself to awareness, and looked down. I was suspended probably seventy feet from the ground. I grew dizzy looking down, and focused my attention on a tree branch as waves of nausea ran through me.

It got a little better,