Whispers of the Diamond: A Romance of Memory and Desire

Chapter 14 - Terra

"They mean more." It hurt so much to say those words, but I had to hurt him. I had to force him away. If I could hurt him deeply enough, I could protect my Alex. The look in his eyes... I knew that look. Fuck, I'd just made his mind up.

"You can run, little mouse, but I promise I will find you, and in the end, you will always belong to me." Ugh, straight to where I needed him the most. My whole body coiled. I swear it took everything I had not to drop to my knees and return myself to him. "Little mouse" had been his name for me, to remind me he was the big bad wolf and would claim me whenever he desired.

"Oh, I know, my wolf. But until your hunt finds its end, I'll leave you with this." I walked back to the edge of the platform. That's when the idea hit me. I couldn't outrun him forever, and I wanted him to chase. I loved that about him, even together, he never gave up the chase. I turned and yanked up my top and bra, allowing my DD's free, ensuring he got a good look before I dropped off the platform and tore off down the tunnel. I knew he wouldn't follow; that was too easy.

My heart raced as I adjusted my top, sliding back through another door, then under a bunch of cables, before walking down the tunnel. My mind turned over the conversation with Alex. We knew he was there; he'd tripped our perimeter alert. Jakob wanted to kill him (again), but I'd told him I could turn him away. I knew why Alex was there. It was the place we'd found years ago. It stood to reason he'd go there, probably scanned the footage from traffic cams and such to track us down. Memory could be a powerful thing, especially in our time.

By the time I returned to HQ, Jakob was furious, pacing the command centre.

"That's your fucking plan? Show your tits?!" he snapped, always quick to jump to the worst course of action. "Just put a fucking bullet in him, and be done with it!" The snap of his rifle as he loaded the clip was sharp. I pointed to the screen, and as predicted, Alex was leaving.

"Sometimes a scalpel is better than a shotgun, Jakob," I smirked. "And last I checked, I'm in charge."

"Hmm, indeed she is," a voice said as I whipped around to see that bright white hair and those piercing green eyes. Fuck.

"Alice?!" Jakob quickly dropped to a knee as if he were greeting a queen.

"Oh, fucking stand up, you pathetic bastard. I'm a resistance fighter, not the fucking queen," she said, cocking her head and looking at me with a smile. "Do we even have a queen anymore?"

"No, ma'am. I believe Queen Charlotte was the last," I shrugged. I had no clue—history wasn't really my strong suit, but England had done away with the royals shortly before I was born. Alex might remember.

"Huh, so how are you, Terra?" She completely bypassed Jakob. I knew that would sting, and honestly, I found it quite amusing.

"We're on Alex's radar, but I have it handled," I replied, quickly cutting to the chase of Jakob's outbursts.

"You sure?" she questioned.

"Yes, ma'am," I replied promptly.

"OK then. We've got work to do. Jakob, your team will secure the building. Terra and I will access their mainframe. Reiko has provided us with a new tool to cripple their systems, and Joseph's matrix will allow us access to that. When we're done, they will take years to recover, giving us a window to effect real change. This is what we've been fighting for. Please try not to screw it up," she said. A pep talk? From Alice of all people? I had to admit it was unnerving. Alice had always been very direct; her words were clear. Something about Alice felt oddly familiar. She felt like family, or I don't know—I could never explain our connection. Alice was the one who'd found me after my murder.

"And Jakob, let me be clear: this is Terra's mission." Jakob stormed off, probably to check their weapons before they moved out. They'd arrive ahead of us. I had no idea Alice would be with us; the thought of the mother of the resistance helping was oddly calming. It certainly removed any questions about my authority.

It was strange to think I had command. I'd run so many missions, but always independently with an assigned job. This was the biggest operation we'd ever attempted, and several units of the resistance would be involved. I had Jakob's militia unit, though I was still curious about how he knew where I'd be when he attacked Alex and extracted me. That was a problem for another day.

"Terra, run the show. Just tell me where to be, and I shall follow," she said with a smile. That threw me. Fuck, how was I supposed to order Alice around? Fucking hell, this was pressure, and I hated pressure. Not that every job wasn't.

I moved to grab my tactical vest and then check my own gun. I hardly ever carried weapons, so I tucked my gun into its holster, then placed the two knives I favoured into their sheaths. Walking over to Rebbi, I hugged him, then Joseph, who had now come to support us as we made our way to the vehicles.

"Be safe out there, 'kay?" Rebbi smiled softly.

"You got this," Joseph assured me.

I swallowed down the wave of emotion and nodded before climbing into the car, which was driven by one of the militia assigned to protect Alice. She hated that but understood it was necessary. As the car pulled out of the underground garage and into the streets, I was struck by how similar the two worlds felt. Even in the "outside" world, it was dark and damp. As we drove through the city, I couldn't help but wonder what Alex was doing and what his next move would be. As much as I could predict some of his actions, he never failed to surprise me.