Diamond (22 page)

Phyr got close, too close for her comfort. His body heat penetrating her skin. He didn’t care that he was making her uncomfortable. His hands reached out, grabbing her wrists. He dropped her arm then bent and felt her thigh.

“There a reason you’re touching my thigh?”

“As I said, measurements. If I was trying to feel you up, you’d know it.”

Phyr eyed her one last time and walked out, locking the door behind him.

Bastard.

There was something different about Phyr. Off. His vibe was all wrong to her, not like the others at all.

Lindy burst through the door, food tray in hand.

“Eat this. We’re moving out in five. You’re not going to have much time to eat when we get to the Quarry. Things are moving fast now. Try and keep up.”

“Keep up with what?”

“Were you not listening? Attia is coming. When she gets an idea in her head, she follows through. All the way. I doubt Lavarious has enough time to muster everyone together. If I know Attia, she’ll strike fast and hard. She won’t give us the chance to think about what’s coming, she’ll just show up.”

Lindy got in her face then.

“Boom. Whole city goes to shit. Attia is the second coming.”

There was some bread on the tray and something to drink. Nadya took both and digested as much as she could as fast as possible. She needed the energy.

“Slow down.”

“You said we’re moving out fast. Let’s move.”

Lindy motioned for Nadya to follow her out. They descended the stairs to where the others were waiting. Phyr, Emerald, and Lip were suited up and fully outfitted with all manner of weapons. Phyr held out a dagger longer than most. It curved, and the handle was made out of wood that was fashioned with a strap so she could hold on to it. He handed her a sawed-off shotgun and bullets to go with it, as well. He also gave her a stick with two different circular saw blades. Lastly, he handed her a hammer that was modified with a claw at the end.

“These should suit you. Put the blade flat against your thigh and connect the handle to your belt. The gun can rest against your back, and the hammer hangs off the belt loop. All quick and easy to get to. Wrap the ammunition belt around your waist, or you can strap it to your chest. The saw, keep it in your hand and use the strap to wrap it around your wrist, at least twice. It can’t be pulled from you, but if you’re not careful, you can cut yourself. You need to be comfortable, and at the same time have your weapons at the ready. We’re pulling out in the motorcade. It means noise.” Phyr stepped closer to her and grabbed her hair lightly. “It means everyone and anyone that wants a piece of us, Attia included, will hear us coming. Shouldn’t take us but ten, twenty minutes’ tops to get to the Quarry from here, but anything can happen. Stay close.”

“Stay close to me,” Diamond interrupted.

Nadya turned his direction and tried not to spit fire. He wouldn’t even consider going to Attia, meet her halfway to try and negotiate for her family. He’d been very clear about his intentions. His only concern was the Quarry.

Emerald had a huge spray gun that shot fire as well as bullets. Lip held weapons similar to hers. Lindy was sporting a crossbow and a machete. Diamond was weaponless as far as she could see, but she didn’t want to focus on anything the man had. If they left her alone for even a second with him, she would take him down. She wouldn’t kill him, but she’d cripple him for sure. He was her main source of information on the Towers, and although it pissed her off to digest all the shit he’d given her, she had no other choice. Not right now, but later, when she had what she needed, well, her heart to heart would be in the literal sense, not in the metaphorical one.

“Everybody move out. Stay sharp. If you see a Rager or one of Attia’s people, take them out. Take them all out. Top priority is to get back to the Quarry in one piece. Let’s move,” Diamond growled.

They all filed out of the house. There were two vehicles, each outfitted with plates of armor. The windows were also reinforced, and there was barbed wire on the roof of one of the vehicles where a man stood behind some sort of large cannon gun. Diamond made her get into the back with him and Lip. Phyr took the front seat and Emerald and Lindy were in the other vehicle. The engines roared to life and the vehicles began to move.

“Lip, you get ahold of Thys? I want her girls safe. If you can’t get her on the line, tell Zira I want her to gather all the girls and move them over to the Towers. Any of them. I want a handful of the ladies with us at the Quarry, though. As for the rest, alert the Towers to expect company.”

“Thys is dark. As is Onyx. I can’t get either of them on the comm.”

“Shit.”

“What does that mean?” Nadya asked.

“It could mean nothing.”

Lip looked her way and shook his head. “Or, it could mean everything. What if Attia got ahold of them, or worse, Martinez and Maddox.”

“The Ibanez brothers?”

“Yeah. Genysis has been dark for a while now, and we were all wondering what it meant. But Thys reported all was quiet there. We thought maybe Ragers, but Marius and Diamond have an understanding.”

There it was. Confirmation. He knew about the Ragers organizing and hadn’t done anything about it.

“Lip, your mouth is going to get you in a lot of fucking trouble.”

“Seriously. You have Phyr outfit her but you’re going to keep her in the dark?”

“She’s only armed until we get to the Quarry. When we get there, she’s going into Yolanda’s care and will be auctioned off to the highest bidder.”

“Asking price?” Phyr popped in.

“Asking price?”

“Yeah, how much are you going to sell her for?”

“Nadya is not for sale.”

“No, just my pussy, apparently.”

That got everyone in the vehicle’s attention. Diamond didn’t say a word. Lip grunted, and Phyr turned in his seat to eye her.

“I’m right here you know. I, of course, haven’t signed shit, so who’s to say I can’t go back on our deal.”

“Try it and see what happens?”

A cruel laugh escaped Nadya’s mouth. She was going to do more than try.

“Try it and what? You gonna hurt me? You promised me my family, you did not fucking deliver!”

“Bitch, understand me when I say you are not going back on our deal. Furthermore, if your fake family is with Attia, they’re either dead or somewhere in her camp. I’m going to assume they are in her camp. At least, your sister is. Your mother, I can’t guarantee. You withheld information from me. In the end, all of this is your fault. Had you told me Attia was after you, things would be different.”

“How?”

“Too late to find out now. Your ass is up for auction the moment Yole says you’re ready. I didn’t go out into the city to risk my life and get nothing in return. I’m one hundred percent invested, and now, so are you.”

The inside of the car was too small. She ground her teeth to keep from screaming. It was irrational behavior, and she wasn’t going to let things get out of control. She was furious. Her left eye had begun to tick. Her heart started to pound inside her chest, making her breaths falter. Nadya gripped the handle of her saw blade, her fingers cramping. This was not going to go down the way he planned. If Diamond thought for one moment she’d go gently, he was wrong.

“You never said how much,” Phyr interjected into the silence.

“You can’t afford her, my friend. Trust me, she’s not worth it anyway.”

Phyr looked at her again but said nothing else.

No one did, and even if there were more words to be had on the subject, they weren’t going to get the chance to have them. There was a roadblock. Complete with fifty Ragers and overgrown dogs the size of their trucks. They were animal Splices.

“Well, so much for getting to the Quarry in a handful of minutes,” Lip said, drawing his blade.

“I live for this shit,” Phyr laughed before opening his door and jumping out of the vehicle. He didn’t even wait for direction from Diamond.

V

“Lavarious Diamond!”

Fucking hell. Marius.

Marius. Code name Silver Fox when he’d been with Diamond. They’d all taken to using call signs instead of their given names. It was Marius who’d convinced Diamond to go into the city to fight off the Ragers. There was a time when he thought he could trust Marius above all others. He’d taken Marius at his word when he’d promised they’d all return in one piece.

Bullshit.

From the start, Marius was maneuvering his plan into position. Only, it backfired, and Diamond had ended up Sovereign of the city. Marius couldn’t lead, he’d become infected. His once silver eyes were now outlined in red.

Their relationship once he became infected was strained. Marius was already considered crazy by most of the team prior to becoming infected, but after, he’d become even more so. He suffered at the hands of his infliction and could only be reasoned with on a good day.
When did he ever have good days?

Diamond and Marius had come to an understanding. He ruled the city, and Marius controlled the Ragers. Yesterday, when he’d witnessed the Ragers and their death procession, it was the first time he realized just how bad things were outside of the Quarry walls. Now, Marius was blocking his path back to the Quarry. Buy why?

“I know you’re in the first car. I can smell your stench from a mile away. Come out and talk to me. We’re still friends, right?”

“Is the guy serious?” Lip questioned.

Even Lip was clueless when it came to the precarious relationship between Diamond and Marius. It was rumored that Ragers couldn’t be reasoned with. It wasn’t entirely true. There were two kinds of Ragers. Both preferred flesh, but only one could control their hunger. The ones truly mad with their desire for human flesh were put down. It was clear to both Marius and Diamond that they needed to be dealt with. It was one of the main reasons for their truce. If Marius took care of the Descended
,
Diamond would look away when people went missing. The Descended were mindless Ragers with no rationale, judgment, or reasoning. They only had one thing on their minds, and that was food. You could tell a Rager from a Descended because they looked desiccated and starved. Their skin tight against their bones and muscles, their faces sunken in, and their gums almost non-existent. Marius would let them loose when things got out of hand, then round them up and put them back in their cages. It was a way to control the population without an all-out war. Marius mostly took the old, but, at times, would take rebels from the inner-city gangs who were becoming a bit of a problem. But he also handled the Descended population with monthly cullings.

Marius never attacked, and he sure as hell shouldn’t be making an appearance in the middle of the street, blocking Diamond’s motorcade from reaching the Quarry. Something was up.

“Stay in the car, I can handle this.”

Diamond stepped out, motioning for the guy manning the gun on top of the second car to back down. He approached the group of Ragers slowly, carefully. Not wanting to set anyone off into a feeding frenzy. Sadly, that wasn’t uncommon. Even Marius was unpredictable that way. Phyr jumping from the car hadn’t helped the tension, and he hoped wherever the man was perched, he saw the sign to not engage.

“Marius.”

“Diamond.”

Marius stepped from behind two giant dogs. The beast’s shoulders were hunched and poised for attack.

“Why are you blocking my path back to the Quarry?”

Marius was just as big as he was, if not bigger. He was dressed in a long, black duster with holes in the shoulder where he kept two long hatchets. A ripped tank and leather pants rounded out his outfit. The male didn’t wear face gear. He kept his face uncovered. But he had a fascination with war paint. It covered the top of his face—a blood-red layer brought down to points just below his cheeks. His hair was pulled back into a severe bun on the top of his head. His face, clean-shaven, showed evidence of his condition. His pupils were dilated, taking everything in—the whites of his eyes almost completely consumed by red veins. There was something new Diamond hadn’t noticed before, though. Black veins scaled the side of Marius’s neck and the underside of his jaw.

“Good question. I could ask why you’re traveling, but I already know the answer. Attia.”

It seemed everyone knew of Attia’s plans.

“What about Attia?” Diamond played dumb.

“She’s coming to lay waste to the Quarry, hoping you’re in it. I even hear she’s coming for something very specific. Very rare.”

There was nothing rare about Nadya, except her virgin status.

“I don’t know who she’s looking for, but I don’t have them.”

Marius smiled, showing sharp teeth. When he’d first succumbed to the Rage, he made sure to have his teeth sharpened. It made tearing into the flesh of his victims easier. He took a deep breath, as if sniffing the air.

“I can smell her on you.” Marius turned and whistled, and a young male stepped forward—a body topped by sandy-brown hair caked with dried blood. “Rory, is this who you saw earlier by the slaughterhouse? Was it him?”

The young Rager looked at Diamond and answered, “It is. He has her.”