Page 62 of Destinies of Diamond
She wasn’t wrong. When someone had long hair, their opponent could easily grab them during a fight. Getting haircuts wasn’t a rule in the military, but that was just because men did it naturally, keeping it neatly trimmed all the time.
Still, it grated on me that Selene would consider any part of herself a hindrance. She was perfect just the way she was. She shouldn’t have had to sacrifice anything for anyone.
I must have been more obvious about my concern than I’d thought, because Selene turned toward me and shot me a quick smile. “Relax. I’m not upset about it. It’s just hair, and if I want to, I’ll grow it back.”
Yes, it was, but as far as I was concerned, no part of Selene was ever ‘just’ anything. Still, I couldn’t protect her, not when she wanted to do this. I had to believe it was the right thing to do. What other option did I have?
My uncle reached for a simple tungsten knife, one that wouldn’t do any damage to Selene’s body. Selene snatched it from his grip before he could use it on her. “Let me.”
Archibald didn’t protest. Instead, he just took a step back and we all watched in silence as Selene started cutting off her own hair.
There was something strangely final about the whole process. Despite what she’d said earlier, Selene’s eyes flashed whenever the knife sliced through her crimson locks. Her hands didn’t falter and she didn’t flinch, but her body was rigid and her jaw tight.
Was she in pain? Tartarus help me, I hoped not. Hair didn’t have nerve endings, but Selene might be the exception, especially if my uncle was right and each individual strand was connected to her core.
It took everything in my power to not keep her from finishing what she had to do. I stood there, watching and waiting, half-hoping that she’d reach out to me and allow me to carry all her burdens in her stead. But she didn’t, and I tasted hate and bitterness in my mouth.
This was so unfair. Even if Jared had helped us, Selene didn’t owe him anything. He’d forced himself on her and had impregnated her, taking away her choice and her freedom. Selene might love that baby inside of her, but her affection didn’t change the source of the child.
Maybe we should have just left, abandoned everything, forgotten all about Terra and the people here. Maybe I should have listened to Knox and ignored Jared’s disappearance. What a clusterfuck.
By the time it was all over, I was shaking in anguish and frustration. The others weren’t doing much better. Knox was occasionally growling under his breath, and the floor had melted under August’s feet. Commander Trevor had dared to reach for his shoulder in an attempt to calm him down, but he’d almost destroyed his new metal limb in the process. And Pollux didn’t seem to be paying attention to the worrying exchange, choosing instead to keep staring at Selene.
Selene had cut her hair almost brutally short. Compared to her earlier mane of crimson, it was a massive change. Without her curls falling over her shoulders in gentle waves, her face looked sharper and sterner. “How do I look? I didn’t butcher it too badly, did I?”
I walked up to her without a word and silently asked her for the blade. She offered it to me and I finished her self-assigned task, neatening up some areas she hadn’t been able to reach properly and making her hair even.
“You look beautiful,” I said when I was done. “You always do.”
Selene didn’t answer, and I got the feeling she didn’t really believe it. “What now?”
“Now we take the hair and find your missing apsid,” my uncle said. “I want you to stay here, young Selene. It’s better for you to keep your distance, to make sure the process doesn’t affect you in any way. Commander Trevor, Flight Lieutenant Donadieu and Flight Lieutenant Alexander could stay with you.”
I would have liked to keep Selene company myself, but I assumed my uncle needed me for whatever we were about to do. Since August was half-apsid, he’d be necessary too. In a way, I supposed this was better. I’d failed Selene, just like I’d failed everyone here, and I didn’t deserve her.
Forcing a smile, I took her hand and kissed it. “Don’t worry, Selene. We’ll get to the bottom of this. We’ll find a way to bring Jared back.”
“Thank you, Brendan,” she answered softly. “Just be careful. I don’t know what’s going on, but I have a bad feeling.”
I had a bad feeling too, otherwise I would have done something more to keep Selene from getting involved in this investigation. My tablet had started to vibrate against my chest, pulsing like it had a heartbeat of its own. Selene produced an identical device and offered it to me. Hers was dormant, but the moment I touched it, I felt its agitation. “Something’s very wrong,” she said. “I’m scared.”
The simple fact that she’d made the confession struck me like a blow to the solar plexus. She’d always done her best to not display vulnerability, knowing it would be used against her at Chimera Academy. But these were extreme circumstances. Everything had changed, and we couldn’t follow the same rules as before.
“So am I,” I admitted. “But we’ll move forward anyway. I won’t stop until I force this system into submission.”
Selene’s concerned expression twisted into a small smile. “Of course. Sorry about losing hope.” She took my hand and squeezed it gently. “And Brendan… For what it’s worth, I’m sorry about your father.”
“I’m not. The only thing I regret is that his death might allow others to take his place before we’re completely prepared. But he had it coming.”
I wouldn’t have hesitated staining my hands with his blood if I had to. In a way, it was better that I hadn’t been forced to step in, since it meant the new system wouldn’t start under the shadow of patricide. But even so, I knew the hard work was only just beginning.
My father had just been a cog in a greater, far more dangerous machine. Everything in our society was working against us. It was time to take it all down, and to do that, we had to find Jared Glass and figure out why he’d been taken captive.
Escape
Jared
“So… Cousin. Would you like to explain when exactly you became a mutated apsid?”
