Diamond (19 page)

“I’m good.” She winced as she said the words, and Diamond watched her closely as she looked around the shop. She didn’t look hurt, but after Bev had tried to spray them to death, she may not have gotten out of the way fast enough.

“Adya, come here.”

Her head swiveled around at the use of his nickname for her and her body locked with annoyance.

Nadya made her way over to him, and he watched her for signs of injury. The pulse at her neck beat rapidly, she was sweaty, and her hands had a slight tremble. Her pupils were large saucers. Something was wrong.

“Where were you hit?”

“Hit?”

“Where. The. Fuck. Were. You. Hit?” he yelled, his body shaking with fury. He didn’t have time for this shit.

“Diamond, man, calm down.” Lip tried to take control of the situation, but Diamond ignored the male.

“I’m not hit.”

“Then why did you wince? Your pulse is racing, you’re all sweaty.”

Lip took off her backpack and started to check her for signs of injury. She didn’t move, she didn’t do anything. She just stood there. She didn’t even flinch.

“Well?” Diamond asked.

Lip looked even more confused. “There’s nothing. Maybe she’s crashing, or she’s like, I don’t know, a junkie?”

She moved then, jerked out of Lip’s hold and pulled her jacket back on. “I’m not hit. Get over it. Excited after the fight is all. My body starts to produce too much adrenaline. I just have to wait it out. I’m not hurt. You’d know if I was hurt.”

That hadn’t happened at the theater.

“How do you know all this stuff?”

“Didn’t I mention I volunteered at a hospital before they were all shut down? The doctor I worked with had a lot of texts for me to read. I also know how to use a library. You know the place that holds books.”

Smartass.

“You mean; you don’t burn them for fuel?” Lip asked.

“Some of us tried to stay educated,
Philip.
”

“My name is Lip.”

Their back and forth was interrupted when Zira came barreling through Zool’s door.

“Why the fuck is Reka bleeding, Zool? Diamond is on–”

“I’m already here, Zira. You want to tell me why your girls have an image of a seven-foot-tall, fanged-tooth male as their version of me?”

“It’s just what Thys tells them so they don’t get any ideas. I think it’s because it’s been so long since any of us have seen you. The rumor got out of control and the legend just kind of grew.” She winced before shrugging her shoulders.

“Reka is bleeding because she shot at us, and Bev, her ass should be dead. She tried to lay waste to my entire team. If it hadn’t been for Adya, who knows what would have happened.”

“You have a new girl? Thys never told us.”

Diamond was confused. There was no reason to think he had a new girl or any girl. He claimed no one.

“No, Zira, she’s a new recruit and will be working for me at the Quarry. I need you to put the call out. We’ll be traveling through the Den. I don’t want any more mix-ups.”

Zira turned and headed outside where there were at least fifteen other women. All dressed similarly to Reka and Bev. Diamond and the others followed. Bev and Reka were among the group. Reka glared at Nadya, who winked and gave Reka a head nod before asking, “How’s your shoulder.”

“Fuck you, bitch.”

“Shut up, Reka,” Zira hissed. “Get the word out. Diamond and his crew are passing through the Den. If any of you shoot, or even spit in their direction, you’ll have to answer to not only me but Amethyst, too. None of you bitches want that.”

There were murmurs, and Bev stepped forward, her eyes downcast. “Diamond, sir.”

“Save it. I don’t want to hear whatever bullshit you’re trying to sell me.”

In a situation like this, with anybody else, he would have ripped into the female, even struck her. But the reality of the situation was simple, she was doing her job. Something he’d have to commend Thys for after he chewed her ass out for lying. However, he probably would have done the same thing.

He didn’t acknowledge Bev or any of the other females.

“We’re moving out.

The entrance to the Den of Thieves was covered by thick branches. There had been multiple entrances once. They were all walled up and covered with deadly foliage now. When coming into the city, Nadya had traveled through the park unseen. She’d scaled an outside wall at the west end and made it through in less than three hours. There were two women who stood watch at the gate. They moved out of Diamond’s way as he shoved past. He was still pissed about the shooting. It was his fault. He kept himself too hidden away from the outside world, holed up in the Quarry.

Anna had explained that men were funny when it came to their pride. Rory had been the same way. Criticized her if she did something he didn’t think was done in a way he considered the
right
way. Rory felt threatened by her strength. She was faster and had keener senses than Rory, she’d known it from the moment she’d met him. Diamond didn’t criticize, but his anger was evident in his posture, in the way he’d disregarded Bev and the rest of the females. That he was holding his anger in check was strange to see. It wasn’t a normal thing for him to do. The entire city knew of his anger. Or what was said about his anger. She’d heard the story about him killing a Rager with his bare hands. Her version was different. She’d heard he killed the Rager with his teeth and bare hands. The same teeth that were
not sharp.

Nadya huffed. War stories. They had a way of being over-embellished.

“What? You tired already?” Lip asked.

“No, was thinking.”

“About?”

“Our seven-foot-tall, long-tooth boss.”

Lip snickered.

Diamond ignored them and continued walking deeper into the park. Lindy fast on his tail.

“Diamond doesn’t like to be called boss.”

“Why? It’s what he is?”

“No clue, I just call him that to piss him off. But I’ve been with him since the beginning so I can do that. You, not so much.”

Lip was serious.
Noted. Don’t call the tall, dark, and mean man “boss.”

Her curiosity piqued, she asked Lip a question.

“What was he like before?”

Lip looked over at her and grinned.

“You’re not falling for him are you? ‘Cause if you are, gotta tell you straight up, sweetheart, you’d have better luck with a Rager than you will with him. Diamond doesn’t do relationships.”

That’s not what she’d asked. Nor had it been implied.

“Don’t want any attention from him in that respect. Just curious about the man he was before he became the man he is now.”

Lip slowed his pace, and Nadya matched hers to his.

“Well,” Lip whispered. “He definitely had better taste in women. Lindy, on a scale of one to ten, ranks ten for sure in the body department, but her soul is a negative ten. Diamond used to be good at sniffing out the bad ones. Now, he could care less. He’s a fuck and duck and won’t fix you breakfast kind of guy now. You’re in and you’re out. But before this, he was in a steady relationship. Don’t know if Cisco is still alive, but her and Diamond were supposed to get married.”

“I would have never pegged him for the settling down type. Well, at least not until I saw his house.”

“Yeah. I told him it was a bad idea staying there. He gets all nostalgic and shit. Starts dreaming the big dream of having a woman to go home to every night. But you see the shit we’re dealing with out here. He never leaves the Quarry, there’s always something.”

“Why doesn’t he just make his home at the Quarry?”

“He has.”

“No, I mean, like how the other place is. He obviously knows someone who can make it happen.”

Lip shook his head.

“That would mean he’s mixing business with pleasure. In his head, the two should have clear boundaries.”

She could understand his reasoning, but sometimes, people had to compromise. She was a prime example of that. She didn’t know who she was, and in the beginning, she’d struggled with trying to find out who she used to be versus who she was now. Trying to reconcile the two was a problem Nadya still faced. It was a toss-up—her memories could come sailing back at any minute, or not at all. Trying to fixate on her memory loss was a waste of time. Letting the snippets come naturally and then trying to wrangle them was her only coping mechanism.

“I guess you’re right, but we all have to sacrifice.”

“He’s sacrificed everything. He had a life on the Mainland, but out of nowhere, he upped and volunteered for this gig. I get it. Hero complex. But shit, I know if any of us had known we’d be stuck here, we may not have come.”

“You came from the Mainland?”

“Yeah, volunteered to help clear the city. Not all of us came from the Mainland. I thought I’d get the chance to go back home. It never happened.”

Nadya looked up and noticed they were getting closer to the west entrance where she’d originally come in. Maybe they’d reach Inwood in a few hours. Then they could get back to the Quarry and she could begin her training.

There was a large fallen tree covering the pathway.

“We’ll need to go around,” Diamond said as he backtracked and went in the opposite direction.

“You know,” Lip commented as they followed Diamond and Lindy, “I don’t think you’re going to fit in at the Quarry. At least not in the capacity you want. You should have asked to be a soldier. You have plenty to offer in that area.”

“Why do you think that?”

“I don’t think, I know.”

“Well, you’re wrong.”

Too much bloodshed was bad for her and everyone involved. She’d learned that the hard way, and it was something she didn’t like to think about. Those memories were better left in the past or forgotten.

“Oh, you mean your status as clean. Yeah, well, there is that. But after that, who’s going to sponsor you and your family? You don’t act like a female-female.”

What the heck is a female-female?

“What does that even mean?”

“You’re shaped like a board. Straight. There aren’t any curves. And your breasts are small.”

“The honesty is appreciated.”

Not.

Nadya didn’t need Lip pointing out her shortcomings. She knew exactly what she looked like.

“You do have an exotic look to you. I’d say…Russian?"

“What gave me away?” Though it wasn’t her true origin, she wouldn’t correct him. She was something exotic all right. The name Nadya wasn’t her real name, but an abbreviation of what was printed on her hip in symbols. She’d remembered what the symbols meant a few months after waking up in her own pool of blood, and hadn’t seen anything like them since on anyone else.

“Your eyes have that bright blue-grey tint, I see some silver and black in there, as well. Never seen eyes like that before. Must be a mutated gene compliments of Biel. I dig it. It goes perfect with your glowing skin tone and pouty lips. I can see where the appeal would come from. But it ends there.”

“Diamond said if I do exactly what he tells me, I can get what I want.”

“Shit, if he’s going to help, your chances have significantly increased a grip.”

“A grip?”

“A lot.”

Nadya liked Lip. He was honest and didn’t hold back. He wasn’t trying to hurt her feelings. He was laying things out the way he saw them.

“I like you,
Adya.
” Lip emphasized the nickname Diamond had given her.

“I was thinking the exact same thing,
Philip
.”

“Dammit, woman. You can’t call me that. No one calls me Philip. It’s Lip.”

“No one calls me Adya.”

“Except me.” Diamond’s deep voice cut into their conversation. She hadn’t thought he’d been listening to them. His sharp hazel eyes focused on the two of them before he turned and continued walking.

Lip bumped her on the shoulder, and she bumped him back. Talking to Lip made her feel a little better. If he thought Diamond could deliver on his promise, she’d made the right decision. The closer she got to Diamond, the closer she’d get to her true goal. They walked deeper into the thickening foliage and ran into another downed tree, this one covered in bright pink flowers with blue spots. The flowers themselves were massive, the size of an adult male. The petals opened slowly and a smell worse than death scented the air.

“Everyone. Take a step back, and do it slowly,” came Diamond’s tense voice.

Their entire group halted. Nadya didn’t breathe. Those bright pink flowers were a precursor to what would surely end up being their demise. Lip was the first to move, trying to retrace his steps. One wrong move and they were all going down. The flowers weren’t flowers at all. They were pods, and they held a type of skin-eating acid. The damn things were also sentient, using the vibration around them to catch their prey. They were large, smelled horrible, and they were hungry.