Page 100 of Diamond

"No, that would be—"

"Never mind, I know that was a bad idea. I'm just anxious to find her, and ridiculously low on sleep, and it's making me say stupid things."

He snorts out a breath and whispers back. "I have said many stupid things since we met."

I chuckle. "You really have, Kuret. But you have also said a lot of smart things too, and I do appreciate all you have done for me. And for Olivia. You didn't have to."

All he does is grunt, but there is a pleased lilt to it and it makes me smile.

"It's not just about the danger of separating, lovely Nasrin. I want you near me."

It sends a thrill through me and a wider smile on my face.

Then Kuret stops suddenly and I run into him with a small oof.

"There are tracks here," he says in a hissing whisper. "It looks like whatever it is, it's big, heavy, and has multiple legs."

My brow furrows and some of the flashing images from when Olivia was taken rises up into my mind. It happened so fast, and their body was so strange that I hadn't really made sense of it at the time, but when he says multiple legs it jars something loose.

"That sounds right, Kuret," I hiss back.

I'm all but dancing behind him as we continue on, the cave becoming brighter and brighter as we go. Then we round a corner and my heart sinks. It's another cave in and it looks just as unnatural as the ones from before.

"I recognize this pattern," he says pointing out scored marks on the wall that disappear behind the pile of rubble. "They must be in this cave system, but we won't get to them through this one."

Disappointment wells up, but then I think of just how vast this world is and the fact that we've found any sort of clue is promising.

He turns to me, and I can see the excitement in his eyes and it fills me with even more hope. He isn't fighting me on this anymore, instead, just as driven as I am to find her.

The surrounding cave, previously too dark to see much at all, even with my improved night vision, glows in a beautifully hazy blue and the color reflects a lovely hue in the depths of his green eyes.

When we turn back around and head back out, I don't feel as defeated as I expect. I just have to keep hoping that she is alright and doing my best to find her. Soon, we'll have help, even.

And I know Kuret won't leave me to do it alone. When we are almost out of the cave, I reach a hand forward to grasp the back of his armor. He slows, then turns to me.

I open my mouth to reassure him we will find her, but only a screech comes out as the ground drops out from underneath us. It's a blur of movement after that. I expect a hard impact with the ground, but instead something reaches around my waist.

After a moment of thinking it is Kuret, I realize the color is wrong. A quick glance down confirms it is red, and the shape of the limb is all wrong. I scream again, eyes darting around forKuret's green, finding it instantly, but then it's gone again when I'm snatched closer to the chest of the monster holding me.

Then there's a grinding that joins the roar of Kuret calling for me, interrupted by the sound of falling rocks. His voice is muffled now, but he's still screaming out my name.

The monster shifts, letting me get a glimpse behind us, but it's only a fall of stones. "Kuret! Are you hurt?!"

"No!" he yells back, but the relief doesn't have time to sink in before the creature whips me in the opposite direction and starts running.

"Take me back!" I yell at it, then my mind catches up and I know who it is.

It's the one who took Olivia and my mind must remember the language because I feel the pain in my throat. "Stop!" I yell out in its language. "We just want to keep Olivia safe. Take me back to Kuret."

It looks down at me, pink eyes glowing, tusks snapping, and my breath stops. Does it plan to kill me?

"Zha is mine, but you will provide zha company. If Kuret follows, I will kill zha."

"You can't kill Olivia!"

"I never said I would kill Olivia."

"What? You just said…"

I think back over what they said and realize that zha might be a pronoun. To test it out, I try to say him and her, but they both come out of my mouth as zha. Odd, but I don't have time to figure it out. I need to get away. I try to squirm, but their arms just tighten.

"Zha?" I ask it. "I am company for zha?"

"Yes, zha. Not me. I don't want company."

I let out a long breath. So, it probably isn't going to kill me, but also not likely to listen to anything I say. Great.

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