The Gender Lie(91)

Alejandro nodded, and shot a few of us some considering looks, but remained quiet until the end of Viggo’s story. Once Viggo had finished, Alejandro took a moment for himself, silently considering the implications of everything.

“So, let me get this straight—Violet stole a stolen egg with a partner who tried to kill both of you. Violet flew that partner’s flying machine into The Green and crashed. Meanwhile, Viggo gets assigned to hunt her down, but in the midst of this, Viggo shoots Ms. Dale, then y’all find a building built mostly underground. An abandoned building, save for some one thousand boys who were experimented on and given advanced abilities. You were discovered by a rebel faction, led by Violet’s now dead partner’s mother, and she wants to manufacture a war between Matrus and Patrus so that she can destroy both and assume control over both nations, uniting them under her command?”

“Yes,” I said, nodding emphatically. “That about sums it up.”

Alejandro blew a breath of air out of his mouth, fogging up the plastic visor for a few seconds. Cursing, he whipped it off his face, used the sleeve of his shirt to wipe it clean, and pushed it back on. He then leaned forward and gave us all a look.

“This is serious. Patrus is already buzzing like an angry wasp’s nest.”

“What do you mean?” Ms. Dale asked.

Alejandro studied her for a moment and then sighed. “After the bombing of a storage facility, rumors started up, speculating who was responsible. With no one coming forward to take credit, the rumors shifted toward agents of Matrus, trying to undermine the Patrian regime. A few days later, there was another explosion—this time at a hotel hosting a meeting between government officials. Only two were killed, but several more were injured. Later, a bomb was discovered on a boat that was supposed to carry King Maxen that day. The next day, another bomb detonated in one of the hospitals. In one of the children’s wards. A male children’s ward.”

I felt suddenly nauseated. It had to be Thomas, working under Desmond’s orders. Possibly even with other Liberators—ones I hadn’t met or who were working for Desmond from the inside. All those people… all those children. It was beyond cruel.

Alejandro reached out with one hand and took my other hand into his own, his eyes glistening from unshed tears. “So, what I mean to say is… how can I help?”

Viggo shook his head, his face pale. “This is the first step of Desmond’s propaganda war,” he said. “Her plan is to make it look like retaliation for the attacks on Patrus. It’s a tinder keg about to explode.” I could feel the tension radiating from him, and reached out with my other hand to take his, squeezing it gently.

“We couldn’t have known,” I whispered, and Viggo met my gaze. I could see his eyes were also glistening. I stared back at him. “We have to make this better. We’re going to, right?”

Viggo stood up and walked to the starboard rail, looking out on The Green as we slid past it. “How long would it take us to get to Matrus?” he asked, turning to face Alejandro.

Alejandro stood up and pulled his handheld out of his pocket. “I can get you there in… twenty-six hours,” he said.

I grimaced. It was cutting things close, but it was the best we could do. I looked to Viggo, and he nodded. “That’ll be great, Alejandro,” he said, reaching out for the older man’s hand.

Alejandro clasped hands with him, and they shook on it.

I looked over at Ms. Dale, who was wearing an expression I didn’t recognize. “Ms. Dale? What’s wrong?”

Startled, Ms. Dale turned to me, pushing a few locks of her hair away from her mask. “Something… feels off. This feels too simple for Desmond… I fear that we’re missing something.”

I frowned, considering her words. “You think there’s something deeper going on? Some deeper game she’s playing that we’re not seeing?”

Ms. Dale shook her head, her expression one of frustration. “I don’t know… it just feels off. I don’t have anything to offer as proof, Violet. Just a gut feeling.”

I fell silent, unsure of how to respond. However, I had a sneaking suspicion that Ms. Dale was right as well. This plan was grand, and impressive, but I also felt like something was off.

But experience had taught me that wild speculation would get one nowhere. Until we knew differently, we had to act on the information we had, and pray that it would help prevent a war.





39





Violet





I stood holding Viggo’s hand as crowds of people pushed past us, making their way to the temple. We had arrived a little earlier than expected. Docking had been… interesting. Ms. Dale had used her credentials to get us past the inspection officials, claiming that it was under Queen Elena’s direct order that we be allowed in, quietly and without any whisper of our appearance. I had kept my head down as she aggressively, but expertly, handled the situation.