Read The Diamond Deep for Free Online

beard’s new,” Ruby commented.
    He laughed. “With you rogues in charge, I needed to look more dangerous.”
    â€œSo you’re not going to obey us either?” Joel smiled as he said it.
    â€œAnd lose my reputation like you’ve lost yours?”
    â€œSomeone has to lead,” Joel said.
    â€œBetter you than me.” Colin took Ruby’s arm. “Can I get you a drink?”
    â€œWe want to talk to people.”
    â€œLater. Let me get you a drink.”
    â€œWine,” she said.
    Joel leaned down and gave her a hug. “I’ll catch up to you.”
    She watched him walk away. Even from the back, even from a distance, he made her feel short of breath.
    When she focused back on Colin, he was looking at her quizzically. “You really do love him, don’t you?”
    â€œDon’t you?” she shot back. “No matter what you want to believe, he is your captain. He’s very good at his job.”
    Colin laughed. “He’s a better captain than the old one.” The gentle pressure of his hand on her arm steered her toward the bar, where she hopped up on a seat and crossed her legs, being careful not to muss her dress. Colin brought her wine and poured a glass of still for himself. As he handed her the glass, he said, “How is it? Being close to the top?”
    â€œHarder than I thought.”
    He gestured expansively around the room. “It’s been ten times as hard to keep this place going as it was to compete for the top spot.”
    He meant more than the bars. Colin controlled a whole population of strongmen and misfits that he glued together with a combination of power, promises, and a sense of home. “How different is it now that Garth’s out of power?”
    He laughed. “We never cared much who ran things. Going home is a bigger deal. There’s far more people coming here for drinks or dances or songs. Change makes people crave ways to forget it.”
    She sipped at her wine. “Your drinks here are always too sweet.”
    He ignored her comment. “Is Joel going to let you come sing for us again?”
    â€œOf course.”
    He looked skeptical.
    â€œWell,” Ruby said, “There’s still a few strays to round up. We won, but there’s people who won’t accept that. Surely you hear stories.”
    â€œIn a bar? Never.” He tilted his head back and poured the entirety of his glass of clear still down his throat, barely reacting.
    â€œI’d fall over if I did that.”
    He laughed.
    â€œWe need to focus on what happens when we get home.” She set her glass down. It wouldn’t do to get tipsy so early in the evening.
    â€œCan you tell people when that might be?”
    â€œNo. If I knew, I’d tell.”
    â€œThen what good are you?”
    She missed everything about the outer level. As she moved from the inner circles to the outside, the Fire seemed to go from clean to gritty, from backstabbing to brutally honest. “Will you show me more about the cargo holds? Take me through them? I’m trained for null-g.”
    He narrowed his eyes. “Why?”
    â€œThat might be our wealth when we get home. And I have no idea what’s in them.”
    â€œI’ll talk to Joel.”
    â€œI can make my own decisions.”
    He gave her a long thoughtful look. “You should stop that. It’s dangerous.” He ran a finger across her cheek, sending heat into her belly.
    He’d always been attractive, and she’d always resisted. She leaned away from his touch. “I need to lead from in front. That’s why people respect me.”
    â€œThat’s a dangerous way to do it.”
    â€œYou should try it sometime.”
    â€œYou know nothing,” he said. He looked away, but not fast enough to hide the hurt she hadn’t meant to cause him.

Ruby’s feet throbbed even though she wasn’t standing on them. They’d spent an