The Gender Lie(34)

Owen didn’t waste any time—he slipped out of the water and quickly relieved me of the pressure, he and Quinn moving her further onto the platform and high above the water. I shook out my aching arms and then pushed myself out of the gunk.

Sweat was pouring off all of us, despite the cool air in here, and we were all breathing heavily.

“Do we need a break?” Owen asked.

Quinn and I looked at each other and shook our heads. We hadn’t taken a break since we started, but we weren’t going to stop until we got her aboveground and onto Alejandro’s boat.

“How many more junctions?” I asked.

Owen gave me a nod, and I moved over to him, holding Amber so he could check the handheld. After a long moment, he groaned. “Three,” he muttered.

I took another long slow breath and nodded. “Three, huh? Okay. We got this.”

Quinn smiled at me and I shot him a smile in return. Owen quickly took back Amber’s weight, and I moved over to Quinn’s side to give him a break. Looking back at Owen, I gave a small jerk of my head toward the tunnel to our left.

Straining, we lifted her up and continued moving. It took us forty-five minutes to get to the junction, but we made it. We had to set her down after we got to the third and final platform and once we did, Owen handed me the pack off his back. Inside was the laser for Viggo, and Amber’s and my costumes—the male ones.

“Help me get this on her,” he said, pulling out the tweed coat and slacks for Amber.

“No padding?” I asked.

“No time...” He checked his watch and nodded, as if coming to a decision. “We’re going to play this off like she’s drunk and we’re taking her home to her wife. Hopefully, no one will stop us, but we have to get her on her feet.”

While he talked, he rummaged through my bag and pulled out a familiar-looking patch.

“That’s adrenaline,” I said, and he nodded.

“Just one patch—it’ll get her on her feet and moving for long enough to get to the boat. After that, we’ll let her lie down. It’ll take us a day to get back into The Green, and another day to move her across the jungle, but I contacted Desmond—she’s going to send us some help so we don’t have to do it alone.”

I paused while my mind raced through every conceivable problem we might face. “What about the red flies?”

“The team will be waiting for us with a clean suit to put her in. As long as we neutralize the odor of the blood, we’ll make it.”

“Do you have any more of the blood patches? She needs more,” I said as I began slipping her shirt off.

Amber moaned in protest, her eyelids fluttering. I carefully peeled off the patches on her neck and slapped the one that Owen handed me over the spot I had just removed the old one from before buttoning up her shirt.

Owen and Quinn were already down by her feet, helping each other slip the woolen pants over her legs. As soon as I was finished with the buttons, I moved down to help them pull her pants up past her knees and over her hips, then button the front. Owen helped pull her up into a sitting position, and Quinn and I grabbed her arms and pulled them through the sleeves of the jacket.

I gathered up the riot of curls at the top of her head, smoothing them down and placing the wig on her head. I pulled a few pins out of the bag and hastily fastened the short brown wig to her head before placing the cap on top. Quinn and Owen, meanwhile, had been applying the special glue to her face before affixing the beard.

After we were done, I took a step back to look at our handiwork. It was sloppy and rushed, but for the short walk to Alejandro’s boat, it would have to do.

I looked at Owen. “Do it,” I said, and he placed the adrenaline patch on her chest, just under the neckline, so that her clothes and uniform would hide it.

Almost immediately, her eyes opened and she gave a gasp as she sat up, her hand gripping her side. She gazed at us groggily. “Where are we?” she slurred.

“We’re almost at the dock, Amber,” said Quinn soothingly, moving a few feet closer.

She dragged her gaze over to him and nodded, swallowing hard. “I feel awful,” she said, as we helped her to her feet.

“Yeah, and you look it, too,” I replied, quickly moving to pull on my own costume. Like Amber, I was going without the padding—it took too long to get on and we would be long gone before the wardens showed up, if things went according to plan.

Quinn moved over to the ladder, his own street clothes already on. “I’ll go up first to check if it’s clear.”

Owen nodded, his fingers flying over his shirt as he buttoned it up. “We’ll be good to go in three, right, Violet?”