The Gender Plan (The Gender Game #6)(94)

“Watch out!” Lynne screamed, and Morgan jerked the wheel hard. I turned as the end spun out of control, trying to see what we’d almost hit, and suddenly we were bouncing back the other way. I landed hard against Owen as Morgan slammed on the brakes, sinking down a few inches into the gap between the seats as we came to a lurching stop.

“It’s Solomon,” Lynne breathed shakily, and I sat upright, rudely grabbing on to Owen and hoisting myself up from off my back. I moved back to the window as Morgan gunned the engine, and confirmed that, yes, it was Solomon.

By the time I had found where to look in our turned-around car, he had the other man by the throat, his mouth bared in a silent snarl. The red fire behind him caught the definition of his broad muscles flexing as he lifted the wild man up by the throat. The man’s legs kicked out, catching Solomon in the jaw, and he stumbled back, dropping his prize. The man pressed his advantage, his fists slamming into the side of Solomon’s face once, and then Solomon reached out and grabbed the other man’s fist, stilling it, his head snapping back to look at him.

“He’s… protecting us,” I whispered as I watched him force the struggling man over, step by step, to the wall and begin smashing his head into the brick.

“Good,” said Morgan. “We have a mission to complete.”

She hit the gas and we sped off, leaving Solomon and the other man behind as they rapidly faded from view. Morgan hooked the next left, and I saw more fire, and people running around, fighting on the streets. A man picked up a rock and threw it at us, but it missed, sailing to one side and onto the street as we sped by.

I clicked over to the main channel, knowing I needed to give everyone a report. “We encountered an enhanced human—male, in his early or mid-twenties, dark black beard,” I announced quietly over the line. “I think Elena brought the boys in.”

“Yeah, Thomas told us, Vi,” said Amber. “But to what end? The place is a catastrophe. She’d lose more of the boys than she’d keep, in all likelihood.”

“She could be sweeping in behind us,” replied Logan. “Using these enhanced humans to pin us between a rock and a hard place.”

I frowned, my mind working. Amber was right. The fact that Elena had unleashed the boys here, and six blocks away from the water treatment plant, seemed careless. Like an afterthought.

Then again, maybe it had been. Elena’s plan was coming apart at the seams—maybe she was running out of solutions. Maybe we finally had her scared.

But that didn’t feel right for Elena. She wasn’t the same as regular people. She didn’t have the handicap of fear to distract her from the battle. Frustration, yes, but fear, not so much. The woman was a high-functioning sociopath with power. Whatever was going on, I doubted it had much to do with desperation. Not yet.

“Violet, keep an eye out for them and let Thomas know if you see any more boys.” Ms. Dale’s voice was firm, but I could detect the notes of exhaustion and concern in her words. “Clear the channel. We need it for the plant.”

“Roger,” I acknowledged, my heart a stone in my chest as I realized that Ms. Dale and everyone were going to attack soon, and that some of the brave people who were fighting with us were not going to survive.

Leaning forward between the seats, I grabbed Morgan’s attention. “Get us there fast,” I said. “We can’t afford to let Desmond disrupt their plan in any way.”

She nodded, her face grim, and sped up as the road in front of us seemed to clear. I leaned back in my seat, unable to feel relaxed as my eyes darted around, studying the road as we drove by. The streets had quieted down again, but I couldn’t shake the unsettled feeling in my stomach at the revelation that the boys were here.

There was something more to this plan, something we were overlooking. I just wasn’t sure what.





33





Viggo





“You and Drew’s team do your best with the barrels, cars, whatever,” I told Ingrid. “Just keep them from coming in behind us.”

The pixie-faced Liberator bobbed her head, her blonde top-knot bouncing. She swiped the back of her hand against her cheek, wiping away sweat and leaving a long black smudge along her jaw. “We got your back, Croft,” she said. “Stop wasting time.”

I nodded and approached the door where the rest of the team—now twenty-six of us—were heading in. The circular building was massive, and the area of the plant we needed to get to was buried in the heart of it. The place was also designed in a maze-like fashion that made it difficult to navigate, but Thomas had pre-plotted our route.

Cruz cursed, and I turned to see where April was finishing wrapping up his still bleeding shoulder. She tied a quick knot, eliciting another harsh sound from Cruz, and then gave him a sharp nod. “It’ll hold,” she murmured. “But you should really sit this one out.”

“And miss protecting your lovely self from harm? You would deny me that honor?” Cruz’s face was tight as he said it, his flirtatious tone lighter than usual, likely due to the pain he was in. Still, somehow, April gave him a wide grin.

“You never give up,” she teased, and he managed a half shrug as he stood up.

“I was never taught how to.” He looked around, his eyes landing on me. “We ready, Croft?”