The Gender Game Read online

  But before I could even begin my attempt to move around them, Lee spoke up behind me.

  "Violet?"

  He'd come to see if I was all right. And he either had not been informed about my cousin or simply hadn’t seen or recognized him.

  I was already picturing Cad turning to Lee, and then following Lee's gaze toward me. I didn’t have time to think. My gut instinct took over and I found myself darting forward, past the out-of-order sign and into the ladies' bathroom.

  My heart raced as I gazed around the stalls. I spotted a window above the line of sinks and, kicking off my shoes and hanging them over one wrist by their straps, I climbed onto the sink and pushed it open. Gripping its frame, I hauled myself up to find myself above a trash yard around the back of the building.

  Swinging my legs over, I leapt and landed on the roof of a trashcan. I slid off, tearing the hem of my dress in the process, and landed on the puddle-strewn ground. I quickly slipped my shoes back on before hurrying toward the gates that marked the exit of the yard. Thankfully, they weren't locked. I rushed through them while trying to tidy my hair and straighten my dress. Taking a deep breath, I leaned back against the yard's wall.

  Lee would probably go barging into the ladies' room after me and suspect that I had climbed through the window. I guessed he would climb through, too. I would wait here for him to emerge, and then the two of us could roam back to the tables before taking our leave.

  I couldn't help but wonder what was going through his head right now, though. He might be doubting me, thinking that I'd decided I wanted to get out of all of this and tried to escape while I thought I could. If I hadn't had a reunion with my brother dangling ahead of me as a carrot, the notion of running away would probably be tempting, but even that would require a level of insanity I didn't possess. I'd be caught, and probably thrust into jail… And jails in Patrus were rumored to be a woman's worst nightmare. I would be better off in a Matrian detention center any day.

  As for Cad, I'd gotten out of the building before he had been able to see me properly. The most he would've seen of me was my back. Although Violet was not a very common name, I had to hope that he'd write it off as a coincidence and not think any more of it.

  I clasped my hands together, waiting tensely. The street was dark, except for a single strip light a few hundred yards away. It cast eerie dancing shadows on the brick work surrounding me.

  Where was Lee? Why was I still waiting for him? It occurred to me that maybe, rather than climb through the window, he might've gone around the front and would be making his way to the back alley now.

  I started moving toward the crowded street that ran perpendicular to the alley. I'd feel easier waiting where there were bright lights and people, but as I had almost reached the busy sidewalk, a group of men turned the corner. Big, heavy-set men with identical tattoos—a solid black square beneath the left ear. They had the rough appearance of farmers or manual laborers: sun-tanned skin, windswept hair, baggy clothes, and clunky boots.

  Almost colliding with me, they stopped abruptly, their eyes raking over me curiously. Balling my hands into fists, I kept my eyes firmly on the ground while attempting to dodge and slip past them. But one of them—a man with a pockmarked face and a jungle for eyebrows—apparently wasn't done looking at me. He moved directly in front of me, blocking my path.

  "What are you doing alone?" he asked.

  "What business is that of yours?" I said through gritted teeth. He clearly wasn't a warden.

  I moved to push past him but again he obstructed my way, taking a step closer to me this time.

  "She's too well dressed to be a stray," one of his companions muttered.

  I glared into the eyes of the man looming over me, refusing to be intimidated. I could have flashed my ring to show him that I had a guardian, but I wasn't a Patrian girl. And I wanted him to know it. He couldn't just push me around.

  I could tell that my stand aggravated him. His arm shot out to grab my wrist, but I had already predicted his movement and with a sharp chop of my right hand, I knocked his arm aside and jerked backward.

  His eyes lowered to where I had struck him, which would soon show bruising, and then raised to me again in disbelief.

  I hadn't been sure why Lee had been hesitant to come to this part of town, but perhaps men like these were the reason. The man surfaced from his surprise and lurched forward, giving me no choice but to remove my stupid heels again and hurry back. I was feeling angry and frustrated enough to get into a physical fight with him, but I wasn't quite that stupid. Even if I outsmarted him, which, judging by the slowness of his reflexes, wouldn't be all that difficult, now more than ever I had to control my temper. Plus, he wasn't alone.

  As I ran, the voices of schoolchildren chimed in my ears. Violent Violet, Violent Violet. My nickname at school. I'd become notorious early on in my life for finding trouble. But if I didn't stop now, I would only be digging a deeper grave for myself.

  The man, and now his companions, pounded down the street after me. I wasn't sure what he intended to do if he caught up with me. Beat me for my insolence? They were apparently on the lookout for "strays", a term I hadn't heard before, but I could take a good guess as to what it meant. Women who, for whatever reason, found themselves living in Patrus with no male to act as a guardian. No guardian in this country equated to less than zero rights. Unsupervised women became like lost children, wandering the streets at risk. According to my knowledge, this was one of the reasons why polygamy was allowed in Patrus—to give Patrus-born women plenty of options, and ensure they never had to be without a man.

  But even though I was aware of all this, my pride wouldn't let me flash my ring at my pursuers and my hands remained tightly balled. The guy would only take my show of a ring as fear, weakness on my part. And there was nothing I hated more than giving a bully what he or she wanted.

  Reaching the end of the alleyway, I glanced behind me. There was still a fair distance between us. Though my speed had been hindered by running in bare feet over the coarse concrete, I had gotten a head start.

  I looked left and right, sparing a couple of seconds to figure out which would be the most direct route, before hurtling to my right. I'd been in such a rush, I hadn't noticed a man crossing my path at exactly the same moment and I found myself slamming into a hard chest. I staggered back, gazing up at a familiar face. Not Lee's. But Viggo's.

  Based on the surprise on his face, he hadn't been sent to find me by Lee. He was obviously just doing his regular evening rounds. Next to him was another man, a warden I recognized from the profiles Lee had shown me the night before.

  My pursuers' footsteps behind me stopped short, and I twisted to see them do an almost comical abrupt about-turn and head off in the opposite direction.

  "What are you doing without your husband?" Viggo asked me in a low, disapproving tone.

  "I'm on my way to him now," I replied tersely. I considered turning the guys who had been chasing me into Viggo and his companion, because I was sure that harassing a woman the way that guy had was against the law. Even though females were supposed to never be unsupervised, it couldn't be legal for men to prey on "strays".

  Viggo gripped my arm firmly. His palm felt rough and warm. He pulled me out of the darkness of the alleyway and into the bustling street.

  "Where is your husband?" he repeated.

  "I last saw him in The Red Boar," I muttered.

  "You are not supposed to be alone," he said tersely, glancing at my ring, which was visible now that I'd unclenched my fists. "Surely your husband has told you that?"

  "I'm not alone," I said, probably too snappily considering I was talking to a warden now. "He's just around the corner. We accidentally got separated in the crowds."

  Viggo retained his grip on me as we headed down the street, but I shrugged him off when we turned a corner. I'm not a damn child. I had already put up with Lee holding me earlier, I didn't see a reason why I had to put up with Viggo when he wasn't even my "
husband". I didn't bother to check Viggo or his partner's reaction to my assertion of independence. But although he stayed close, he didn't try to resume his hold on me.

  We walked in steely silence until we reached the restaurant. Lee was bouncing on his feet near our table, looking bedraggled with worry while speaking into a phone. His eyes gleamed with relief as he noticed us approach. Relief, but also doubt and disturbance. A dozen questions must have been roaming his mind, but he would have to wait until later for an explanation.

  "Violet," he gasped, taking my hands and pulling me to his chest.

  Viggo cleared his throat. "With due respect, Mr. Bertrand, I would keep a better eye on this one… She has a rather adventurous mind for a bakery girl."

  Viggo's green gaze rested on my face once more. Then he turned on his heels, his long trench coat billowing in the breeze as he and his companion stalked away.

  12

  Lee was understandably shaken. The others looked confused too and I was forced to address all of them, even as I looked around for Cad, praying that he hadn't come back out here.

  "I'm sorry," I said. "I, uh, I needed to use the restroom but it was out of service. I found a back door and went through it. I hoped to find another restroom nearby, but I got lost." Here I turned to Lee, and tried to look apologetic. "I'm sorry, it was stupid of me. I guess I’m still getting used to the rules."

  Lee slid an arm around my waist before facing his colleagues. "I need to get my girl home, gentlemen. I apologize. Enjoy the rest of your evening."

  To my relief, he led me away from the restaurant, and firmly out of Cad's potential view. We returned to the teeming sidewalks, where Lee stopped to hail a cab—one of the dozens of blood-red cars roaming the roads at this hour. It was of course too risky to discuss anything meaningful in the back of a cab. We waited until we arrived back at the lab, where we had left Lee's motorcycle. Only as Lee started the engine and we rode off did he speak.

  "What just happened?" he asked. I could feel how tense his chest was as I gripped it.

  "I'm sorry," I breathed. "I spotted my cousin, Cad Thorne, and there was no way I could think to warn you. I had to get out of his sight."

  Lee let out a deep sigh—of relief, I could only assume. "Well, I'm glad that was the reason," he muttered. "I honestly thought you might've tried to do a runner."

  "No," I reassured him.

  "You'd be a fool to attempt it," he said.

  "I know." For more reasons than you might be aware of.

  I told Lee about the men I'd encountered in the alleyway, looking for "strays".

  He tensed up again. "God, Violet. Alleyways are the absolute worst place for you to stand at night. Especially in that part of the city. Guys like the ones you ran into are known to snatch even married women. They take females away from the city and surrounding suburbs, deep into the mountain region. There are a number of scattered towns in those harder-to-reach areas which are inhabited primarily by peasants, though frequented by city men more than the state would like to admit… Let's just say they're not places you'd enjoy visiting."

  I took the hint. Men seemed to be able to get away with using women for their own dark deeds here in Patrus, unlike in my homeland. Any untoward approach by a man toward a woman in Matrus would be the last thing he ever did. It virtually never happened.

  "Did you show them your ring?" Lee asked, rounding a corner and joining the main highway that led to the foothills.

  "Yes," I lied. It was easier to lie than attempt to justify why I had not.

  As he lapsed into silence, I recalled the last unsettling words Viggo had spoken. He had already guessed something wasn't right about me.

  "What did you make of what Viggo said?" I dared ask.

  "Well, obviously, getting into trouble the day after your arrival wasn't the smartest idea. Especially not with Viggo." Lee sounded pissed off.

  I blew out a breath. "Look, I'm sorry, okay? If Cad hadn't arrived, I wouldn't have left you. How does Viggo even know about me being a bakery girl?"

  "I told the guys in the lab," Lee said through his teeth. "I guess he overheard the conversation or was privy to office gossip."

  We spent the rest of the journey in silence; a silence that was broken only by Samuel as we entered the house.

  Lee headed straight to the staircase after locking the door, without a backward glance at me.

  "So what now?" I asked, hands on my hips as I stared at his retreating back. "You said you would finally tell me the actual plan."

  Lee paused in his ascent, but didn't turn around. "I know," he muttered. He hung his head, reaching to rub his temples. "But as I said, it's unfortunate it was Viggo who found you… Just give me a bit of time to clear my head and consider if anything needs to change. I'll still tell you the plan this evening. I promise."

  I watched in annoyance as he disappeared up the stairs, while I was left with a slobbering Samuel.

  I moved to the kitchen, and, since I hadn't actually eaten anything for dinner—I suspected Lee hadn’t either—I rummaged in the fridge. We had already finished all the leftovers, and there were no other precooked items here that I could see. I ended up grabbing a slab of butter and some bread from the cupboard over the sink. Pulling up a chair at the table, I buttered a slice and chewed glumly.

  Whatever was ahead of me, this sure hadn't been the best start.

  * * *

  When Lee came back downstairs, I was still sitting at the table, paging through an old newspaper I'd spotted on one of the seats. It was actually extremely interesting to see the way Patrus presented the news. Their excited tone when reporting their advances was so at odds with that of Matrus when covering the same news. And the types of advertisements that appeared in between the pages were also… interesting. I struggled to find a single one that didn't feature a scantily clad girl. Modeling is apparently one profession that is excusable for women here…

  I set the paper down as Lee took a seat opposite me.

  I raised my brows expectantly.

  "I've thought about it," he said, leaning back in his chair and rocking slightly. His demeanor was calmer now. "Tonight could have been worse." His expression softened as our eyes met. "I'm sorry if I was harsh earlier. You just have no idea how stressful it was not knowing where you went. When you ran, I honestly did believe you'd lost your senses and were trying to escape… So…" Pressing his hands together, he sat forward. "Now you've seen the egg. You know where it's located, and hopefully could find it in that lab in the dark if you had to… In a few weeks, the city lab's ten-year anniversary will take place. A banquet will be held to commemorate the occasion. It is not a widely-publicized event; it's reserved specifically for the scientists who work in the lab, and members of the king's council have also been known to attend. The night of this banquet will be the perfect time for us to strike."

  Weeks. My stomach plummeted—I had hoped this would be over in days. The thought of staying in Patrus for so long terrified me. If tonight's mini-fiasco was anything to go by, I was sure to mess up again. My nature wasn't designed to handle this environment.

  I stared at him, frowning. "I don't understand. On a night when so many important people are together in a room, wouldn't security be higher than usual?"

  "Yes," Lee replied. "But that shouldn't hamper anything, if all goes to plan… Give me a minute."

  He retreated from the room and returned a minute later carrying the same folder he'd brought in yesterday, along with a second green-colored folder. He opened the latter and pulled out a map. Unfolding it, he spread it out on the low table in front of us. It was a plan of the lab, each floor and all its rooms clearly marked.

  He pointed to the lowest level, a few doors along from the reception area. "This is the events hall, where the banquet will take place. What's required is a big distraction that will keep everyone's attention on the ground floor, leaving the highest floor"—his finger traveled up the map and rested on the large laboratory that held the egg—"unwatch
ed," he concluded. "We won't need long to do the deed anyway. Just a few minutes."

  "What kind of distraction do you have in mind?" I asked.

  "Explosives," Lee replied. "In the weeks to come, my plan is to install them inside the building near the hall so that when triggered, the blast will be so destructive, security's immediate occupation will simply be attempting to get everybody out alive."

  I realized that I had stopped breathing. "So, you're saying it's probable that some of the diners will lose their lives in this?"

  Lee nodded and I swallowed the lump in my throat. Having committed womanslaughter twice, claiming lives shouldn't be anything to make me flinch. But of course, those incidents had been accidents. These would be cold, premeditated murders. I wasn't a murderer. I was a girl with a difficult temper. "And the egg?" I asked. "I don't understand how—"

  "I'll figure out the distraction, while you will take care of the most important business: the egg."

  "I'd need explosives to blow the glass."

  "Yup," he said. "We'll have to work on equipping you with some. Then you will seize the egg—setting off a hot-wired alarm in the process, which will be ignored for a good while due to the commotion downstairs—and make your way up to the roof." He traced my route on the map. "There is a stairwell near the egg's lab, which leads up to the rooftop."

  "The roof? Assuming I actually manage to get that far, what happens once I get up there? And won't the building itself be shaken to its core from the explosions at its base? Won't it be alight and crumbling?"

  "I'll be careful in my choice of explosives," Lee replied. "The building will be burning, of course, but you'll be quick. Your focus will be extricating the egg and getting to the rooftop… I will meet you up there, and we'll have pre-arranged transport for the two of us."

  I glanced back down at the map. Transport for the two of us. I could only think that meant that Matrus would be sending an aircraft to carry us both back over the river to safety…