Page 68 of Diamond

No, that doesn't seem right, although the memory of being inside her makes me swell again, but I ignore it.

I didn't think I'd ever earn a donor hoop, but this is the first time it's occurred to me that I won't ever be a mentor. My stomach feels tight for a moment, then I remember that I'm going to take Nasrin, and any other women I find back to a cloister.

Maybe I can mentor Ree's sons. Although, I suppose she probably isn't going to die either. The idea fills me with joy and the way I feel about Thivoll becomes far less complicated.

She strokes back down the outside of my ear, interrupting my mind trying to picture what they would look like.

I glance over to Nasrin. She's deep in thought again, this time while touching her own ear spikes. I hope we both live long enough to do her piercings.

That thought is enough to make my armor no longer seem too tight.

I distract myself by asking her to share what she knows about the argila.

Apparently it isn't much, but she lets me know that Roshan and Darya came from her former companion's planet; telling me all the horrible ways he treated the poor creature.

I am once again glad that I used much violence on him, but even more thankful that she does not see me as a brute anymore.

The day stretches on, and I measure the time until sunset using my fingers against the sky. Perhaps another six or so hours. The day is still young, but we still haven't gotten good rest. We are both tired, though I don't let it show; she doesn't need to waste her energy on me, even if I'd enjoy her attention.

The silence in the cart is peaceful, the argila communicate with each other in low bleats, as Roshan pulls the cart behind him. As if they have known each other for longer than a couple of hours.

I would have asked Roshan how he did it, got a stranger to trust him.

I wish it was not so tense when we first met. Now that we have gotten familiar, I can see all the warmth she is capable of sharing and it makes her mixed feelings for me apparent. She has been stiff since we climbed back into the cart.

Maybe she regrets it.

Then I think back to her fingers brushing my ear, and I feel hopeful.

We keep moving along and Nasrin moves closer and closer to me. Soon she is leaning up against me and I decide not to move, unwilling to interrupt something that is making both of my hearts pound.

The wind nips at my fingers harshly, and when we move past a small, rocky path, Nasrin falls against my shoulders and doesn't stir.

I adjust her sleeping form properly on my shoulder and will the patterns on my skin to stop dancing around so much. The green radiating from me looks beautiful against her sleeping form, and it's difficult to tear my eyes away and focus on the path.

I wonder who put these paths in and why they aren't in the area where I met Thivoll and Ree.

The cart rides on and in my peripheral vision, I catch a silver sheen. I make sure all my weapons are close, but when we get closer, I realize that it is a chamber like the one I saw in the ruins of the hunters' camp.

"Nasrin," I mutter, shaking her awake softly.

"Hm?" she says, yawning and stretching her arms above her head, half turning to face me as she does so.

I point in the direction of the silver chamber, and she turns to look at me with wide eyes. "It's like mine. A woman could be in there."

The excitement in her voice is reflected in my own chest and I slow the cart down a small distance away from it.

I hop down from the cart but hold a hand out in front of her when she goes to follow me. "Hold tightly to your weapon and stay close. This could be a trap."

She nods. I place my hand on the hilt of my knife cautiously. And we move ahead, her trailing behind me.

I scout the area ahead to make sure we are alone before walking to thecryo chamber. I am able to breathe a little easier after seeing that there is a person inside, although I am not sure if she is alive.

Nasrin pushes me aside, crouches in front of the chamber, and starts fiddling around with it. "We need to get her out. What if she's hurt?"

She is chattering to herself as her fingers look for a way to open the container, but I place a hand on her shoulder. "Ree mentioned it might be better to leave them in their chambers until they are in a safe place."

I relay the information given to me by the other woman, cautious so I don't somehow tamper with the pod or the woman inside.

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