The Assassin

Chapter 28

The Diamond? my thoughts questioned. What the heck was that?

I frowned at Ryu. "What the hell is the Diamond?"

The slim Japanese man gave us a sly smile as he leaned on the wall, his arms crossed. "The Diamond is where you need to go to get your supplies."

"Why can't we just pay with money?" asked Julian.

Ryu chuckled. I hated it. There was darkness in his voice, and it seemed to envelop me. "Oh, can't you already see that I'm wealthy? I don't need any more money! But I just want to see how people do in the Diamond."

I narrowed my eyes on him. "Yes, but what is the Diamond?"

The skinny guy answered, "The Diamond is a series of challenges. Four for all the points of a diamond. If one of you two makes it out alive, they get whatever supplies they want. And if both of you make it, you also still get whatever equipment you want."

The dark-haired boy next to me held up a finger to the Japanese man. "Um, can we have a moment?"

Without Ryu accepting his request, the green-eyed guy wrapped his firm hand around my wrist and pulled me to the farthest corner away from the slender man. "He's crazy," informed the ex-Hive member.

I lifted his hand with gentleness off of my wrist. "Yeah, I think you forgot to mention that to me."

He wrinkled his nose. "I told you: I didn't know this guy! Randy Miller just went there to buy our weapons!"

I scoffed. "I wouldn't call this 'buying.'"

Julian sighed. "I know."

We stood there in silence for a long time, lost in our thoughts. "So..." the ex-crewmate said. "You wanna do it? The Diamond, I mean."

I put my hand on top of my hidden sheath. "If it's the only way to get what we need... fine."

He nodded and we walked back to Ryu. He stood there patiently and when he saw the looks on our faces, he stood up to his full height and spread his arms. "So, have you decided to do the Diamond?"

The dark-haired man pursed his lips. "Yes."

Ryu smiled. "Come. I will take you to the gates and you will enter."

As we walked back downstairs to a door underneath the balcony, I questioned, "Is there a certain time we have to be back?"

The slim Japanese man shook his head. "No. But come out before a year!"

I scrunched my nose in disgust at his horrible joke. (Did it really count if it wasn't really a joke? And just a really sarcastic-sounding thing to say? Hm, I don't know.) We crossed a dark room which was only lit by a few torches. The room was deserted; not even any guards inside. We crossed the space to a wooden trapdoor on the polished floor. Ryu grabbed the handle and lifted it, revealing the stairs that descended. The Japanese man waved his arm at the steps as if presenting a prize to us. "After you."

I pulled my knife out of my sheath and held it to Ryu's neck. "No, after you. No tricks."

The skinny guy laughed and held up his hands, surrendering. "Alright, alright."

Julian walked in front, walking down the wooden stairs. I pushed the slim Japanese man with my blade. "Move it."

Ryu stepped down with carefulness, my knife still at the back of his neck. We walked down and down and down until we reached a room with diamond-shaped tiles all around the room, all of them illuminating light. The ex-crewmate turned around and frowned at the Japanese man. "Is this the Diamond?"