Diamond (32 page)
“I may not be able to break the deal, but I can break you.”
“Fuck you, Attia.”
“No, fuck you, Lavarious, and for the record, I only have one more word to say.”
There was silence over the line. Diamond was ready to hang up, but he didn’t.
“Say what you gotta say, Attia.”
“Boom.”
The ground beneath him rumbled. The building shook. Diamond was on his floor, the twelfth floor. But he knew what was happening before he could even decide what the best course of action was. He was standing on solid ground and then he wasn’t. He was being swallowed alive by his entire building.
V
Attia watched as the Quarry caved in on itself. Sacrifices were a necessity. She’d lost a lot of good men and women today. But they were replaceable. Like all things. If Diamond made it out alive, she’d be surprised. Each one of her soldiers were outfitted with C-Tech. The fool thought he had the market cornered on the material. But he didn’t. Men. So full of themselves, but mostly full of shit. Attia hit her comm button and was immediately connected to Phyr.
“Quarry’s down. Now bring me my daughter. I held up my end of the bargain. You need to hold up yours.”
“Deal’s off. You lied.
Attia shook her head. Again, men were simple-minded creatures. They only focused on what they wanted now, not what they needed.
“My man will meet you at the rendezvous. Nadya better not be harmed.”
“I said, deal’s off.”
Attia ended the call. Phyr knew better than to go against her. She’d bring the city down to get her daughter back. She pressed her comm again, this call she was dreading. This call, she didn’t want to make just yet, but he had eyes on her. Everywhere.
“Where is she?”
“Safe for now.”
“Does she know?”
“All she knows is that I’m her mother.”
The voice on the other end of the phone grunted.
“That’s all she needs to know right now. Don’t fuck this up, Attia. Is Diamond out of the picture?”
“The Quarry’s down.”
“Good girl. Now bring me our daughter.”
The comm went dead, and Attia walked in the direction of Trio, her horse.
“Come on, girl. The game is only beginning.”
“You sure you really want to do this?” Phyr asked Nadya as they walked towards the Quarry. The building was destroyed. There wasn’t much left, and those who had survived were severely injured.
“I said I was sure. Are you sure? You double-crossed Diamond and my mother all in the same day. Don’t know if I should applaud or run the other way.”
Phyr grabbed her by the arm and pulled her towards him. Their chests touching.
“I’m sure. It’s time I get what I want.”
He’d been saying that a lot. Since they’d taken off into the abandoned building, filled with people too far gone on rock to even function. Rock was a drug made from the crushed leaves of the killing vines. Humans and Travelers alike were affected by the drug. Phyr was edgy the entire time they’d camped out there. Three whole days, they waited. They watched. Now she had her chance to start settling the rest of her IOUs.
Nadya spotted her target before he saw her. When he finally recognized her, he watched her closely. Freeze and another male she’d never seen before stood with him as they directed people. They were clearing out what was left of the Quarry and moving to Gryphon’s tower, Genysis.
“Nadya, I knew you’d come around,” Diamond said. He sounded relieved, maybe even a little happy.
It had only been a few days. She wanted nothing more than to see him die.
And she would.
Today.
“Well, I wasn’t given many options. Your guy here, Phyr, can be really convincing.”
Phyr saluted but otherwise said nothing.
“You guys were gone longer than I expected. Phyr, she still clean?”
“Yeah, man, I didn’t touch her.”
“Good to know. We’re moving to Genysis Tower.”
“I’m sure Gryphon’s happy about that?”
“He’s pissed, but he can’t do shit about it.”
Diamond stepped closer, and Nadya took a coy step back. He followed, the anger in his eyes escalating at her retreat.
“Stop walking away from me.”
“Stop walking towards me.”
Finally, Nadya stopped walking, Phyr at her back, Diamond at her front. Testing her opportunity, she placed a gentle hand on Diamond’s chest. He didn’t move, didn’t back away. His eyes roamed over her face, and she knew what he saw. A warrior, a fighter.
Find the sweet spot.
And she did. The soft area of skin right below the ribcage. As she dug her fingers into his chest, through skin, muscle, and worked her hand past bones, Diamond saw a killer. A cold, calculating killer. His large body slumped forward into her arms, and Phyr was at her back, supporting their weight. Diamond wasn’t dead, not yet, but he would be soon. His body wouldn’t be able to handle the blood loss.
“I kept telling myself, you and I would have that heart to heart talk,” she whispered in his ears. “You thought of me as weak, unlearned. Maybe I was when we first met. Not anymore.”
Nadya slid her hand to the heart of him, squeezed, and took a deep breath as Diamond took his last. Attia had unknowingly helped her take down the Quarry. Four more Towers to go. She’d come here looking for her father, and she hadn’t found him, but as she’d put the pieces of the puzzles together over the last couple of days, she had an idea of who he was. Marius. She’d stared the bastard in the eyes. He would be the last to fall. They’d all thought she was a silly girl a few years ago, offering up the last of her Wave to allow her entrance inside the gate. She’d come in search of family, and for her troubles, she’d been held captive, tortured, and starved. In one way or another, they were all responsible. Diamond was the Sovereign of the city, it was his duty to protect, and instead, he indulged in flesh and the selling of organs.
When Diamond’s body slumped to the ground, Nadya gently propped him against the wall of the Quarry building. The others loading up the vehicles hadn’t noticed their interaction at all. Too busy trying to move to Genysis Tower.
“We’d better go. I’m sure your mother has scouts around here somewhere.”
“I’m ready.” She turned around, taking Phyr’s hand. “Any word from Emerald?”
“He’s still dark. No one’s heard from or seen him.”
“It’s only been a few days, they’ll surface soon.”
“We’d better catch a ride to Genysis Tower.”
“You’re right. You still think he’s there?” Nadya asked.
If Marius was her father, that meant Dyson, who she
thought
was her father, was actually her brother. Bolanger had sold her brother into Diamond’s program, and neither Senna nor Marius had done a thing about it. Her tribe had called her the Destroyer, the bringer of death. With Phyr’s help, she’d see to it that she lived up to her name and so much more.
“Let’s hope so. Kastor is the only one that can get us in.”
Kastor oversaw the program and its subjects. If Dyson was still there, he would be the one to know. And, apparently, he owed Phyr a favor.
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Tigris is the Amazon #1 Bestselling Author of Arctic Bound, book 1 in her Arctic Wolves Series and Give and Take, her Southern Contemporary series, Stories from Beauville. She’s a military brat who's done her fair share of travelling, thanks to her Army father. She's married to the infamous LL and has three amazing boys. She currently resides in Houston and is actively seeking a book-buddy for the end of the world.
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