The Gender War (The Gender Game #4)(90)

I looked back at the young men in front of me and took in a deep breath. “Okay. I’m listening.”

Jay met my gaze head on, his blue eyes dark and his face grim. “We’re not kids, Violet,” he said, and Tim nodded emphatically next to him. “This is our war, too. My mom is responsible for all of these explosions and deaths. I hate it. I hate being related to her. I want to stop her. I… I have to try. I’ve been fighting this war all my life.”

Tim chimed in. “No cages. No boys… like me. No more.”

I stared at them, my heart heavy.

“We’ve been pulling our weight this whole time,” Jay continued. “We do the same things as any adult. And…” His voice was shy, but his eyes burned. “We’re stronger. We can do things that nobody else can.”

At that point another voice cut through, reedy but completely confident. Thomas. “They’re right, Violet. Their advancements give us a tactical advantage, increasing the odds of our survival by seventeen percent… In fact, my personal odds of survival are increased by thirty-three percent!”

I gaped at him, unable to formulate a response to that cold, selfish statement. Thomas, having imparted his wisdom, simply turned back to the computer.

“But…” I said. All my arguments were melting away, but I couldn’t shake the fear. “Tim, Jay… if you guys got hurt… I couldn’t live with myself.”

Tim took a step closer to me, pointing to my chest, then to his. “You, me,” he said. “Same. Scared.”

My heart gave a huge jolt as I realized what he meant. And then he continued bravely, “We fight together. Nobody… Nobody hurt. Nobody… die.”

“We don’t want to lose you either, Violet,” Jay said abruptly, then looked away, his cheeks flushing.

I raised my hand to my mouth and realized I had tears in my eyes. Tim and Jay were right. There wasn’t a single thing I felt for them that they didn’t feel for me, and for everybody in this group. It would be stupid to try to keep them from a fight they’d been raised in… a fight they had been fighting since long before I had even known it existed.

Tim patted me on the back, and didn’t pull away as I grabbed him for a quick hug. Then I hugged Jay, too, trying to apologize through the gesture for initially cutting them out. At the control panel, Amber had turned away, her face stoic, and she started and flushed a little as Jay called out, “You guys too. We’re all on this team. We gotta do this together.”

Thomas looked around at the group, frowning. “I don’t… I don’t have to hug anybody, do I?”



Only a few minutes later (after I’d slipped back into the bathroom to relieve myself), the plan had been modified and adjusted to incorporate my brother and Jay. I had still made sure they were out of the thick of it—I’d tried to do that for everybody but me. I stood behind Amber, peering out the window as she kept us low to the ground, adjusting the digital controls with confident moves of her fingers.

“That one?” I asked, pointing out a vehicle on the side of a small dirt road. Amber scanned it, then reoriented us with a twist of her hand that I barely felt from inside the craft.

“It’s functional,” she confirmed, and I turned, nodding to the others. Tim and Jay quickly grabbed the repacked bags of equipment, and moved toward the cargo bay, Thomas following close behind—his eyes more on his handheld than on the path in front of him.

I approached the king, grabbing his upper arm and hauling him up. He struggled, but since he was gagged and bound, it was easy enough to push him in front of me. I approached just as Thomas opened up the rear, the gangplank dangling out into the air.

Instantly, the roar of the engines filled the bay, making me wince. I had forgotten that the inside of the heloship was soundproof. I watched the ground grow rapidly closer, until the descent slowed and we were hovering only a few feet over it. I pushed Maxen out the door in front of me, enjoying a grim satisfaction as he stumbled onto his knees. I followed him, keeping my knees soft to absorb the impact.

Tim was close behind, and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes as Jay gave Thomas a little nudge before jumping too. Amber pulled away as soon as we were all on the ground, using the auto-controls to close the door to the cargo bay behind her. I watched her disappear, and then turned back to the others.

“Let’s go,” I said.





34





Violet





I hit the brakes hard, causing the car to jerk violently to a stop, the seatbelt cutting into my chest as I leaned forward. My right hand gave a twinge of pain every time I twisted the wheel. “Sorry,” I said, looking in the rearview mirror, where the king, Thomas, and Jay had all been smashed forward. In all fairness, it was my first time driving a car, and even after watching Viggo and Owen, I still barely knew what I was doing. How did they make it look so easy?

Tim reached over from the passenger seat and patted me gently on the arm, and I looked at him, still adjusting to the fact that he was sitting here next to me. It must have shown on my face, because he frowned. “Careful?” he asked.

After puzzling through his question, I smiled at him. “Only if you promise to be too,” I responded.

Tim’s only answer was to squeeze my arm and then pull open the door and get out. I waited as Thomas and Jay exited the back of the vehicle, Jay dragging Maxen out behind him. The king was then ushered into the front passenger seat next to me. I looked over at Thomas, who stood awkwardly at the side of the car. “Be safe,” I said, and his eyes flicked over to mine before he gave me a tight nod.