The Gender Fall (The Gender Game #5)(67)

“I hope not,” I muttered. Gregory gave me a wary look. “I’m not sure yet,” I told him honestly. “But I’m taking precautions. Report back to me in…” I checked my watch and did a quick count. “Seven minutes. Make sure the scout takes a subvocalizer, and tell them to report back if the heloship doesn’t show up in nineteen.”

He nodded and left, and I was glad of the fact that he hadn’t asked any questions. Time was a luxury at this point.

Almost as soon as he moved out of it, Lynne and Morgan pushed through the door of the den, followed by Jay. “Hey, Violet, what’s up?” asked Lynne.

“I need you both to start pulling the vehicles around to the front of the barn and loading them up. Food and weapons, guns and ammunition are the priority. If you find you need more people, then wake them, but do it quietly.”

Lynne arched an eyebrow. “Expecting trouble?”

“Like I just told Gregory, I hope not… but right now, until I know otherwise, I need to make sure we’re ready to go with all we can carry. I’ll know for sure if we need to start waking the rest of the camp soon. Jay, would you help them load?”

“Absolutely,” he said with a nod.

“Let me know if you have any problems, and try not to cause a panic. If anyone wakes up and asks what you’re doing, tell them to come see me, and I’ll explain.”

Lynne frowned and exchanged dubious looks with Morgan, who was managing to look sleepy and skeptical at the same time, her short black hair sticking up in all directions. “To be fair, you haven’t really explained it to us,” Lynne said, her green eyes narrowing.

I opened my mouth, realizing she was right. “Viggo and Owen went on a mission tonight, and it went sideways. They got bogged down, and we had to send Amber, Ms. Dale, Thomas, and one of our doctors to sort it out. No one’s hurt that I know of, but their last transmission didn’t have enough information, and, well… If they get back in—” I checked my watch again and blew out a breath. “Sixteen minutes, then we’ll call it an evacuation drill. If not… then it’ll be for real.”

“You mean you’d leave them all to die?” gasped Morgan, her hand going to her mouth. I looked calmly at her and nodded, taking a deep breath.

“My first priority has to be you and all the people here,” I said, my throat tight. “If Viggo and Owen have been captured, I will be the first one to mount the rescue mission, but I can’t neglect my responsibility to everyone else. It’s not what they would want.”

“She’s right, Morgan,” said Lynne, giving me an approving nod. “Let’s go move those vehicles and stop wasting time.”

As Morgan followed Lynne out, I finished sweeping papers into the box, then turned my attention to the computers, slightly less haphazardly pulling wires and setting the long boxes in a line on the table. They would need to be packed, but only if there was enough space to take them. If not, they were going to have to be burned.

Eighteen minutes later, I was still packing, Gregory silently helping me, my eyes focused entirely on the task ahead. I’d passed my deadline, but I was giving them an extra five minutes until I woke everybody up—I just couldn’t bring myself to really give the order until I was dead certain something had gone horribly wrong.

I had just looked down at my watch again when Gregory paused, his hand drifting up to his ear. I stilled, my heartbeat swelling like acid in the back of my throat. He mouthed something into the earbud, then reached up to turn his subvocalizer off.

“The heloship just landed,” he announced. “There were no signs of hostile forces. The vehicles should be back shortly.”

I somehow managed not to exhale loudly or choke in relief, and channeled it all into a nod. “Good,” I said. “But we’re not out of the woods yet. We still might have to proceed with the evacuation, depending on what they report. Have your men on standby—if the news is bad, I want first shift to head to the barn to help pack the vehicles, while second shift maintains the guard duties.”

Gregory nodded and placed his hand to his throat, a switch clicking and his lips moving. I grabbed the box I had filled with wires and slid it to the end of the table, my ribs stinging at the effort. Picking up full boxes was still impossible for me, but I could at least push them if they weren’t too heavy.

A few minutes later, Gregory gave me a look and then headed outside, and I dropped what I was doing, immediately heading for the door to the porch. I watched the lights of the guard’s car approach and then pull around to the front of the house. The night air was cool, causing my skin to pebble.

The car’s engine shut off, and I heard the doors slamming as the returning patrol got out. I nearly went weak in the knees as Viggo came around the vehicle, and my first urge was to go to him and make sure he was all right. But as he stepped into the dim light of the lanterns, I froze. His handsome face was bruised down the side, and he was favoring one leg. Worst of all, though, I could see even from this distance that his eyes were flat and hard, but it wasn’t the hardness of anger. No, this was a look I knew all too well… from Ashabee’s manor.

I looked around at the rest of the crew, watching as Amber, Ms. Dale, and Dr. Arlan came into view. Dr. Arlan was carrying a small boy, a red-stained bandage wrapped tightly around his thigh, in his arms. Thomas plodded into view, and my heartbeat quickened as I saw the same forlorn look all the others wore even on his face.