The Gender Game Bella Forrest (best young adult book series TXT) 📖

shouldn't be too much of a challenge. My years spent in detention facilities had made me good at that. Blinders on, head down, same routine day in and day out. Just get through the day. I had to see this mission involving Viggo Croft like everything else: threading needles, sifting flour, or shoveling crap.

This was all simply another detention, where I had no choice but to do as I was told.

Once I adopted this mindset and stopped considering consequences, I felt lighter and I was better able to engage in Lee's conversation.

"Viggo knocked out the other guy in the first round," I told him.

"Yup." Lee smirked. "No surprise there."

I wished that professional fighting was a thing in Matrus. If it had been, I might not have ended up in so much trouble with the law. I'd have had other ways to let off steam.

"If I was a man," I muttered, "that's what I would be doing.” This was probably the first time I'd ever truly considered what it would be like to be a man.

"Fighting? It's not all it's cracked up to be," Lee said. "It's a hard, hard life."

Yeah, well, life is hard whatever you do.

Reaching the foothills, we let the quieter atmosphere halt our conversation: the gentle mountain winds, the fragrance of the soil at the end of a warm day.

Samuel was asleep when we returned to the house. We headed immediately to Lee's bedroom and drew up chairs at his desk. He switched on the monitor and pulled up a detailed map of Patrus. Roaming it, I spotted four flashing red dots. They were all stationed near the city center.

"You're tracking other people, too?" I asked.

"Yes," he replied. "There are a few whose help I've needed, and I've had to keep an eye on them. There's Viggo," Lee said excitedly. He pointed to a red dot that I hadn't even noticed yet. It was up in the mountains, some distance away from Lee's home. While we were situated on the southwest side of the palace, he was northwest.

It seemed that he had already reached his home by now, as his dot appeared stationary.

"So," Lee said, leaning back in his chair, looking relieved. I reached up to peel off my mustache. "Step one is completed," he said. "You successfully tagged him and we can now monitor his movements in real time."

"Next, I suppose we need to figure out his schedule," I muttered, pulling off my wig and removing the rest of my scratchy facial hair.

"I agree. We need to know what, if anything, he plans to do on the night of the banquet. This should be easier than what you did tonight. Viggo has little time to vary his schedule. When he is not working as a warden, he's typically either fighting or preparing for a fight. He trains at a gym in the city, and behind the reception desk is a schedule of all the booked sessions, as well as each of its members' upcoming fights. You'll likely need to hang around for a bit and wait until the receptionist goes for lunch, but the arrangement would be similar to tonight. I'll drop you there and give you about half an hour—I'm sure within this time you'll find an opportunity. There's usually only one receptionist behind the desk and since we'll be arriving just before lunch, he'll have to take at least a short break to fetch his meal… We'll do it tomorrow—leave here at eleven-thirty in the morning, okay?"

Okay… Another risk for me. But I understood why; Lee was more valuable than me in Matrus’ eyes.

I sat with Lee a little longer, staring at the map and watching the red dot that was Viggo.

Then I left his room and headed to my own. Entering my bathroom, I removed the suit, took a quick shower, and changed into my nightclothes before climbing into bed.

As I drifted off to sleep, I returned to the Brunswick Arena. The electrifying atmosphere flooded my mind: the bright lights, the roaring of the crowd… The mass celebration of physical prowess.

That night, it was me in the cage instead of Viggo, and opposite me, a stocky blonde female inked with green tattoos, whose face uncannily resembled a shark.

16

I decided to wear the full-body suit for this lunchtime's excursion to Viggo's gym. Since I would be roaming in the daytime, rather than lurking anonymously at the back of a shady arena, I figured that I would feel less nervous with it on.

Lee donated three outfits to me: jackets, shirts, and pants, and I spent the morning tailoring them so that they would fit me properly. I pulled the pants' ends up by a few inches before adjusting the jacket and shirts. My time working in the textiles factory had been useful after all.

As for my shoes, I decided to wear my own again, the same as last night. They were kind of scrappy, but they'd do.

I also took four Deepvox tablets two hours before we were due to leave.

By eleven-thirty, I was ready to leave. My voice had sunk deeper than the night before, not fight-announcer deep, but deep enough to pass as a real man.

I couldn't stomach a lot of brunch, and it seemed neither could Lee. He was just as nervous as me.

Lee headed upstairs briefly to check on Viggo's location, and returned to report that Viggo was near the palace, as expected. He also placed a small red rectangular object in my hand, and a miniature notepad and pen in my pocket. I stared at the red object, turning it over in my palm. On one side was a blank screen.

"It's an advanced pager. Smaller and less conspicuous than a phone, it will vibrate when I trigger it"—he drew out an identical red object from his right pocket—"and a message will pop up on that screen. You can also send a message to me if you need to. As for the notepad, use it to note