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

"Yes, actually," he said. "I'll be at training throughout the day and then in the evening, I have a fight."

"Where?"

"Brunswick Arena."

Same small place as last time.

"I see." I wet my lower lip. An awkward span of silence descended between us. Suddenly neither of us were sure what to say—or, apparently, do—next. We stood, just looking at each other. Then, with equal awkwardness, we started speaking at once.

"I would—"

"You could—"

We both stalled, sharing a smirk.

"Ladies first," Viggo said, his eyes warming with his expression.

"I was just going to say that I, um, wouldn't mind tagging along with you tomorrow, if you don't mind."

He glanced down at his hands. "Yeah, I, uh… Seeing that you like fights so much, I was gonna say you could come to see my fight in the evening. If you wanted to. I could pick you up at about seven.”

My smile broadened. It's a date.

21

Viggo sped me back to Lee's home and stayed on his bike watching as I approached the house and made sure that I got inside okay.

Lee was still awake. He opened the door, emerging in his pajamas and carrying a mug of tea. I turned back toward Viggo to wave that he could go, but he was already riding off.

"How did the day go?" Lee asked. We headed to the kitchen. "You hungry?"

"No, thanks. And it went fine. Not much happened. Viggo had work to do in his office, then we headed to the Rosen-Cruz fight. We stayed until the end of the event and then he brought me straight back." I poured myself a glass of water before sinking into a chair opposite Lee. "Oh, and he's off work tomorrow," I added. "But he's invited me to attend his fight in the evening. Said he'd come to pick me up around seven. He's going to get there a bit early."

"Brunswick?" Lee asked.

"Yeah."

"Hm." He sipped from his mug.

"What?" I'd been expecting him to say something encouraging, like it was a good idea that I had accepted the invitation. I was supposed to be getting close to Viggo.

"Nothing," he said. He gave me a furtive glance. "I just, um… I don't want you to get carried away with this task."

"Carried away? What are you talking about?"

He sighed. "I just mean, keep sight of the goal… why you're seeing him in the first place."

My throat tightened. The "goal" in regards to Viggo was something I had to forget. Lee didn't understand. For my, my brother's, Lee's and Matrus' sake, I had to bury our plan for Viggo deep. Otherwise I couldn't do what was required of me.

"As long as you keep that goal in mind," Lee went on, "you'll automatically do and say the right things, and everything will run smoothly."

I nodded, though I knew I couldn't do what he was asking of me. I would pull this off in my own way. I knew myself and how I worked better than him.

I needed to change the subject.

"So what have you been up to?" I asked him.

"Preparing the site," Lee replied, rubbing his forehead. He looked exhausted. "It's not a simple process. A bunch of hoops to jump through, and each step has to be carried out gradually, slowly, and steadily, so that I don't cause suspicion in anyone. The attendees have been almost confirmed, also… even King Maxen might make an appearance this year… There will be a lot of moving pieces when the night finally arrives. A lot of moving pieces indeed."

I nodded briefly again before getting to my feet. "Yeah. Well, I'm going to bed."

"Good night, Violet," Lee said, looking up and offering me a small smile as I moved past him. A smile I couldn't quite bring myself to return right now.

I just wanted to shut myself in my room, throw myself into bed, and lose myself in sleep…

I slept in late. By the time I came downstairs, Lee had left already for the city. I had another empty day ahead of me before this evening.

I didn't want to risk taking Samuel out again. I had already pushed the law enough since arriving here. So, I found myself heading up to Lee's room. I sat in front of his computer, which had been left unlocked, then navigated to the map of Patrus and stared at the five red moving dots. I could guess which one Viggo was—he was already at his gym. I wondered what he was practicing now. Whether he even had a trainer, or if he always prepared for fights on his own. Then I found myself watching the other four dots and wondering who those people were. One of them was roaming the outskirts of the city, while the other three were near the city center, the latter, like Viggo, pretty stationary.

I lost track of how much time I spent sitting in Lee's bedroom. But as afternoon bled into early evening, I returned to the garden, a pile of psychology books tucked beneath one arm. My attempts to focus on reading were shattered, however, when… I heard it again—a woman's cry, coming from the other side of Lee's back yard fence. Number thirty-two.

Dropping my book, I hurried to the fence and listened, trying to catch the words that the upset woman was speaking. I was too far away to hear them. Her speech was muffled.

I ran back inside the house to the kitchen and looked up at the clock. Ten minutes to seven. Viggo should be arriving anytime now and then we could dash around the corner and he could witness the noise for himself. But, fearing it would stop again before Viggo got here, I began looking for some kind of recording device or a camera. I rummaged through all of Lee's cupboards but failed to find anything I could use. Dammit. I should have asked Lee if he had a camera. But then I heard a roaring engine entering the front drive of the house.

Viggo