The Gender End (The Gender Game #7)

Hold on to something, he ordered, and the next thing I knew, everything jolted as Viggo took the car up over the curb, driving down the sidewalk.

There weren’t many people in the way, but the few who were out walking scattered to avoid us in a panic. I had a moment to spot a newspaper stand ahead—and then Viggo hit it with Ashabee’s reinforced vehicle, catching the inside of it and pushing it out into the road with a bang. The vehicle behind us, still on the road, swerved to avoid it, but kept pace, coming up on the curb right behind us.

Viggo grinned, and I hurriedly put on my seatbelt, my hands going to the dashboard.

Viggo? I said as I saw the columns of a nearby building in front of us, the ones being used to support the second-story balcony. And then he crashed into the first one.

I couldn’t believe how easily it fell apart. I jerked forward against my belt, and then we hit the second, shattering it in a plume of dust and stone. He jerked the wheel to the right and we came back on the road, just as a corner of the balcony began to break apart. I turned, searching it for people, and was relieved to find none—it was too chilly to be eating outside.

This is the intersection! Thomas announced as Viggo darted through it, and two more vehicles joined the first, still trailing dust after escaping the collapsing balcony. I groaned and began to unbuckle the belt, when Ms. Dale’s voice cut across the comms. She must have been listening in on our channel the whole time.

Viggo, turn right.

He immediately swerved to the right, then cursed and violently jerked the wheel. Just where we’d been headed, I saw a flash of my mentor standing in the middle of the street, a familiar-looking tube thrown over her shoulder, a smoke trail billowing out from behind it as she braced herself against the kickback of a shot.

The rocket caught the lead vehicle behind us right underneath the engine, and the SUV flew into the air and rotated, the tail end coming forward until the entire thing was upside down. It landed with a crash, crumpling the cab, as Viggo slammed on the brakes and came to a halt.

I blinked, trying to clear the dizziness caused by our spinning retreat, and looked back to see Ms. Dale picking up a second launcher and firing it. The shot caught the second car in the side, and it rolled, slamming into a building.

Ms. Dale tossed down the second tube and raced toward us, the third and final vehicle slamming into the burning wreckage of the other two cars and flipping onto its side.

Are you crazy? Viggo demanded as she opened the back door and climbed in.

Coming along on this mission was my bloody wedding gift to you, she practically snarled as she slammed the door. To keep you safe! I can’t do that if you won’t let me.

That’s no excuse to—

Shut up and drive already, Viggo, she ordered, her eyes narrowing. You can bitch at me about the mission after we get to the palace.

Viggo opened his mouth and then slammed it shut, putting the car into gear and driving off.

There was a long period of silence, and then Thomas cleared his throat. It’s, uh… It’s all clear ahead, he announced awkwardly.





28





Violet





The streets were darker now, lights shutting down overhead as it grew too late in the evening for anyone to be out. Businesses were closed, everything shuttered and eerily quiet.

I felt more exposed like this, like someone could see us easily, and Viggo dimmed the lights as we drove. I looked out the window as the streets curved around, staring at the buildings and down the alleys that periodically broke them apart, their edges lit by the silver light of the moon.

It was full tonight, illuminating everything in pale blue tones with highlights of white. That was what allowed me to see the palace through the buildings as we flew down the road. Lights were on, giving it a warm and approachable feeling, but I knew what lurked inside. That mad chase through the city had only been practice. This was where everything got really dangerous.

Viggo drifted right as the road forked, and the buildings went away as we moved down a slight incline, suddenly surrounded by trees and vegetation. The road rolled underneath us in a slow S curve, then leaned slightly more to the right, until it ended rather suddenly at the edge of a wide meadow.

Morgan, Amber, Logan, and Tim were already there, unloading their car. We pulled up next to them, and Viggo shut the car off and climbed out. The rest of us followed suit, and Owen and I moved around to the back to start pulling our gear out. Who knew how long we had to get ready before they found us? We worked quickly.

One by one we stripped down to our Liberator suits, moving silently. Our bulletproof vests would be worn underneath them tonight so that they wouldn’t show when we used the cloaking function, but there was nothing we could do about our bags or guns, other than put them down or try to stand behind something, using that to hide what we were carrying.

Viggo was busy as we got ready—he and Thomas were setting up a transmitter and pointing it toward Patrus, trying to boost our subvocalizer transmission so we could check in and update Henrik. I grabbed my husband’s (my husband’s!) gear and moved over, intent on getting him in it as he transmitted.

He nodded at me as I approached and then sat down, allowing me to unzip the top of his suit and maneuver the vest over his head, making sure the straps were well on. It was a clunky move and added time to our stop here, but we hadn’t been able to make up a plausible excuse to tell the Matrian guards why our prisoners needed bulletproof vests, so we’d had to go without protection during the earlier part of the plan. This part relied much more on stealth—if we got caught, there was no feigning innocence or talking our way out of it, and we would be needing these vests. I noticed that Morgan had already dispensed with her wig, complaining that her head itched.

“It’s ready, Viggo,” Thomas said. His subvocalizer was off, I assumed so as not to get in the way of Viggo’s transmission.

Viggo nodded. Patience, this is Harbinger, come back.

I squinted at Thomas, mouthing the word “harbinger” at him, and he shrugged. “Good names fill people with confidence,” he mumbled, and I smiled.

This is Patience, Henrik replied. Listen, there’s no time to talk. I don’t know where you are with Silver Fox—I looked at Thomas, and he mouthed Alyssa’s name at me—but we got problems here. More boys have been spotted on roads leading into the city. We’ve fortified our stronghold and ordered people to draw back to defend it, but it’s only going to be so long before someone starts firing.

We’re moving on to the second protocol, but they know we’re here. They’re expecting us, Viggo replied.

Then I hope you give them hell, Harbinger. And get us out of this before we have to start killing these boys.