Diamond (26 page)

“Don’t fuck up your hair. Dasan wouldn’t like that. He wants all his breeders fresh and ready. That means perfect in every way.”

The woman clicked her tongue and walked away. Nadya looked to her left and noticed there were other women. Some looked happy, ecstatic even. Others looked pissed as hell and maybe even a little scared. Somehow, she’d ended up getting exactly what she’d bargained for—only not at the Quarry.

“Why do you look so upset? You’ll be taken care of,” a woman whispered to her right. Nadya turned to see an older woman. She had brown hair, green eyes, and a very curvy body. She was dressed in the same fashion as Nadya.

“What’s going to happen?”

“Dasan will come and select breeders. You’ll be taken to a breeding chamber, where he will mate with you until you become swollen with child.”

She wasn’t going to be a breeder, someone who gave birth to multiple babies. That was not going to happen to her.

“Who is Dasan?”

The woman looked at her as if she had two heads.

“He is the Overlord.”

Nadya still didn’t know who he was. She knew about Sub-dwellers, but she was clueless about an Overlord who called himself Dasan.

A Sub-dweller never went topside. Well, there was Lindy, but she was the exception. Unless she’d been exiled. There wasn’t much knowledge on Sub-dwellers. They were people who’d taken shelter beneath the city when the comet flew over. Somehow, they survived below, and over the centuries, adapted to the darkness. Some were said to burn dangerously if they ever came in contact with the sun. If Lindy were anything to go by, she knew that wasn’t true. Sub-dwellers were overly sensitive to all things, however. Taste, touch, sight, smell, and sound.

“Were you captured, too?”

The woman shook her head. “No, I came of my own free will. I’m from House Alpine.”

“Alpine?”

“Inner-city gang as some would call us. Things are sparse. It was either here or the Quarry. I happen to know a little something about the selection process, and thought my chances were greater here.”

“What happens if he doesn’t choose you?”

“He will give you over to the Reapers. They’re his hunting dogs. They used to be Sub-dwellers. Now they’re Reapers. They’ve evolved and are specifically bred to gather fertile females.”

“What do the Reapers do with you if you’re given over to them?”

“If the Reapers get you, they’ll do way worse to you than Dasan. I even heard one of the girls say they try to breed with females, as well. I can’t even imagine that.”

Neither could Nadya.

“Does he pick everyone?” Nadya found herself asking.

“No, he only takes three breeders a year.”

But there were seven females in all. Seven. All chained to the floor.

V

“What the fuck do you mean she was taken by Reapers?”

“They took her to where the Sub-dwellers reside,” Phyr repeated.

Lindy didn’t say anything. She was doing her best to look shocked, but Phyr could see right through her. She knew exactly what was happening to Nadya. She was gnawing on her bottom lip and she couldn’t stop scratching the inside of her hand. She was twitchy.

She fucking knew.

Diamond turned his attention to Lindy.

“Lins, what do you know about Reapers?”

“The same as you do. Mostly nothing.”

“Bullshit!” Phyr roared, throwing the glass tumbler he had in his hand against the wall, shattering it. The bitch was lying. It didn’t take a genius to see that.

“Why do you even care? Lavarious is hell-bent on punishing her.”

“Yeah, but he wasn’t going to kill her. If you know something, Lindy, you need to speak up,” Lip interrupted. “If anything happens to her, I’ll kill you myself.”

Phyr nodded in agreement.

“What?” She looked in Lip’s direction. “You drinking her piss, too? What is it about this girl? She’s gone, that’s one less thing we need to worry about. We have Attia coming here to start a war with the Ibanez brothers in tow. All of you are worried about this slip of a girl, who claims to be a virgin.” Lindy threw her hands up in the air then slapped them down hard on her thighs for dramatic effect.

Diamond watched. Phyr knew he was getting pissed. The man’s eyes were starting to lower to slits. It would eventually lead to blood being spilled. Lindy didn’t know Lavarious like the rest of them did. She’d only been with him for a few years. Phyr had been around longer.

“Lins, come here,” Diamond’s voice was soft. Too soft.

Lindy froze. Her body visibly rigid. Diamond’s voice was cold. Emotionless. His gaze was locked on Lindy’s. Her feet barely moved, but somehow, she made her way to stand in front of him.

“If you know what’s going on, and I find out you’re lying… I will remove fingers from your hands. I may even take it a step further and remove your whole fucking arm.”

“Diamond, I don’t know anything.” Her voice vibrated with her lie, but her chin was strong. She was determined to play ignorant. Phyr didn’t understand why. Nadya wasn’t a threat to her, and Lindy knew Diamond never kept any of the women he auctioned. They were of no use to him, and if things went the way Phyr wanted, Nadya would be with him. She was a fighter, her instincts were sharp, and she was smart. It wasn’t because she was
Raema
. It was much more than that. He needed someone like her. Diamond had already given him permission to train someone. They needed to infiltrate more areas, get in unseen, and Nadya would be perfect for the team.

Everyone had been called back to the Quarry. Thys and the others were on the top floor, waiting to meet with Diamond. Phyr knew they had no manpower to spare to go and search for Nadya. They were going in blind anyway. There hadn’t been a door, but the symbol was definitely a Sub-dweller symbol.

What to do? What to do?

How could he make Lindy talk?

“All right. She says she doesn’t know anything, I believe her,” Phyr stated.

Lip threw him a sideways glance, his brow raised.
Let her keep the lie alive,
Phyr thought a second later, hoping Lip could read his facial expression. There were ways to make Lindy talk. He just hoped it would happen in enough time to save Nadya. If she wasn’t dead already.

“Agreed,” Diamond tacked on. He was pissed. He no longer had his gold mine. Or what he thought to be gold. There were so many other issues they were dealing with as a team. The impending confrontation with Attia and her people had to be top priority. There was nothing else left to be done.
At least not now.

“Attia and her people will be here within the hour if not sooner,” Amethyst reported.

Diamond looked in her direction and nodded. They barely had enough men and women to defend the Quarry. It was the other parts of the city he was worried about. If he were trying to take over, he’d have conquered the city in sections. Not gone straight for the Quarry. The other Towers were on high alert, but unable to spare any of their soldiers. He knew it was on purpose. They wanted Diamond out, but they didn’t have the balls to try and do it themselves. Someone had tried to kill him with a bomb the other day. That could have easily been the beginning of what was to come.

Nadya had been so sure Attia was coming for her. Facts weren’t adding up, and Diamond couldn’t shake the feeling that he was missing the big picture. It wasn’t just about her purity. There had to be more than that. Otherwise, why would Attia come all this way? She’d once been a part of their unit. Like the Ibanez brothers, she’d taken her small slice of rebellion and went straight for the uninhibited islands not far from the city. NorBro was a pair of small islands located in the East River. She’d staked her claim on both, and Diamond had let her. Bitch was certifiable.

Weird shit happened on NorBro. He’d had Thys scout the place once just to check up on Attia. The inhabitants of the island were mostly women and men who suffered from some deformity or another due to radiation, but they were resilient all the same. He’d once thought Attia was conducting experiments there, but he knew she didn’t have the resources. There was no way she could pull it off without the proper amount of technology. A technology he cornered the market on.

Now she was hell-bent on coming to the Quarry. If she were traveling with an army, it sure as hell wasn’t to stop by unannounced for a cup of tea. And if she
were
coming for Nadya, she’d be in for a shock. The girl was no longer in his company. Phyr had been pretty sure of himself when he’d threatened Lindy. He was also pretty sure about the symbol he’d seen above the entryway. If she had, in fact, been taken by Reapers through a Sub-dwellers’ entrance, he could contact Dasan. He’d know if anyone were in his tunnels.

“Thys, I want your women on the fifth level of the Quarry. I want you all armed and ready to fire on my signal. Phyr, I want you to go as far up to the top of the building as you can. I want you to be able to take Attia out if needed. Onyx, Emerald, I need the both of you with me on the ground floor. We’ll be the welcoming committee when she arrives.” Diamond looked over at Lindy and Lip. This whole thing was fucked up. If Lindy had anything to do with any of this, he was going to work her over something fierce. Allowing the female in his bed in the first place was mistake number one. Thinking she could handle the type of arrangement they had was mistake number two. He thought he’d been clear with her, but he could see the truth now, she wanted the keys to his kingdom. Diamond knew he had issues, deep-seated issues. But it couldn’t be helped now. That aside, something told him Lindy was full of shit. He hadn’t mistaken the misleading look on Phyr’s face when he’d agreed Lindy wasn’t lying. Which meant, she was. “Lip, take Lindy and leave her locked in my office. Change the code. Code red. She knows all of the other ones.”

“What’s going on?”

“Shut it, Lins.”

“But I don’t understand.”

“Neither do I. But I will soon.”

Diamond turned his attention to Lip.

“Don’t let her get out of the fucking room. If she’s not there when I get back, we got problems. And as fucked up as this day has already been, you really don’t want to have a problem with me.”

“Sure thing.” Lip stood from his chair and made his way to Lindy. “Come on, move.”

“Lavarious, I don’t understand. Why lock me up? I want to help.”

“You will be helping, now go with Lip. Don’t make this any harder than it needs to be.” He looked at the others, all of whom had been with him since the beginning. His group was now a shell of its former self. Things he would not have thought possible had taken root. Not only in the streets but also inside his black, decaying heart. He’d call Dasan, find out if the girl was there, and if she wasn’t, he hoped like hell Attia had indeed brought her sister. She was the next best thing to having Nadya. He’d wait till she came of age, train her, and then sell her to the highest bidder. Some would call him callous, and they would be right. But in the end, everything was for sale or trade.

“Emerald, bring me a comm device. I want to talk to Dasan.”

“Yup.”

Emerald rose from his spot and walked to his black satchel, pulling out his device. Once Diamond had Dasan, he asked the one question he needed the answer to.

“Did Reapers bring a girl in there from a sewer attack?”

“I just had fresh females delivered about two hours ago. Why? Did you lose something?” Dasan chuckled on the other end of the comm.

“Possibly. Need to know if someone is there by the name of Nadya?”

“I can have one of the wives check. If she’s here, you can’t just have her back.”

“Why the fuck not?”

“She obviously ran away from you. Makes her fair game.”

Diamond ground his teeth to stop from cursing the man out.

“I wasn’t aware you were into collecting flesh. I hope you’re not planning to sell her.”

“Of course, not. That would be in direct violation of the Quarry. I simply have a need to ensure the survival of my kind. If she’s here, she’s now part of my breeder program.”

Breeder program?

“What do you mean?”

“Ask my daughter, Lindy. She knows all about it. But like I said, I’ll look to see if there is a girl here by the name of Nadya. If so, we will need to come to some sort of arrangement.”

Lindy is Dasan’s daughter? What the fuck?

“Lindy is your daughter?”

“She didn’t tell you? Of course, she didn’t.” Dasan’s laugh was cynical. “My Lindy has always been ashamed of me. You know, she was the first of my daughters to give me a male offspring. It’s why I let her go topside. She promised me a male, delivered, and I’m always a man of my word. So, if you’re willing to negotiate, then I’m sure we can come to some sort of agreement. Should your Nadya be here.”

“All things are negotiable.”

“Indeed. I’ll be in touch.”

The comm went dead, and Diamond looked to his men.

“She’s there.”

“Let’s hope so, Phyr.”

“She is.”