Seven Black Diamonds (Seven Black Diamonds #1)(18)

Daidí had always said she was like her mother—drifting away on flights of fantasy. But unlike her mom, Lily had no desire to write. Sure, she wanted to read, maybe watch movies . . . and pretend that she was the girl smiling at Zephyr Waters or getting caught skinny dipping in a fountain in Roma with Creed Morrison in the pages of a magazine.

But now, her isolation was being yanked away. Her bodyguard, Hector, was escorting her to the city of Belfoure in a black car with tinted windows, bulletproof glass, and heated leather seats. Lily stared out the window until the hum of the road and the soft patter of rain on the car roof lulled her into some semblance of calmness.

“This is a bad idea,” she pointed out yet again as Hector made a left turn.

“It’ll be fine. You’ll meet kids like you.”

Lily shook her head. The school was a haven for special people. All of the students were somebody: child prodigies; children of diplomats, politicians, and rock stars; glitterati; and of course, those whose wealth was inherited. Those like her—kids whose parents earned their money in less ethical ways—didn’t attend fancy boarding schools.

“Your father is a smart man,” Hector reminded her.

“Smart men make mistakes too. Being around others . . . like me . . . it’s not a good idea,” she said gently.

Hector wasn’t going to overstep by arguing with her—or by siding with her against her father. He kept his mouth shut and drove through the streets toward the campus that sat on the hill above Belfoure like a medieval fortress.

As Hector started up that winding drive, Lily thought back to the night she’d met Creed. She wasn’t going to lie to herself about what she thought about him. Creed was captivating, but that was precisely why she didn’t want to see him.

He’s probably forgotten all about me.

She’d done the right thing in not calling. She had. If not for her father’s ridiculous urge to send her to St. Columba’s, Lily would never see Creed again. That had been her plan, and it was a good one. As it was, the school should be big enough to avoid Creed to some degree.

As the car pulled up to the massive front gates at the school, Lily slipped her sunglasses on. It was a small comfort, like putting on a mask.

Stone walls surrounded the entire campus, but the front gates appeared to be iron or steel. They were made to resemble some sort of faux castle gate. It was modernized, of course, with a gatehouse and a guard. It also stretched across the road where she assumed the entrance to the inner walls of the fortress had once been.

Hector cracked his window and announced, “Abernathy.”

After a minute, the guard found her name on the list and buzzed them in. The heavy metal gate slid open with a series of clangs and clacks. If the myths about fae sensitivity to iron were true, Lily would feel wretched right now, but she’d never felt any weakness from iron. Maybe full-blood fae did. The media claimed that was so, but Lily herself hadn’t ever experienced any trouble with iron or its alloy, steel. Considering how often she wore a blade next to her skin, she was certain that she’d have known far before now if the metal was toxic to her.

As Hector drove onto the campus, Lily stared at the main building. It was imposing and dark, unlike the bright front of her home. This felt more like visiting the courthouse on the rare occasions when she’d been allowed to accompany Daidí to one of the government’s various attempts to convict him.

The central building of St. Columba’s was a towering black structure with gargoyles at the top, spires straight up into the gray sky, and doors that looked like they were meant to let in some horrific beast rather than mere people. The many steps up to those doors spanned the width of the building.

“Home sweet home.”

“Give it a chance,” Hector said. He parked the car at the top of the circular drive.

“Why?”

Hector opened her door, and in an instant, he was at the trunk pulling out the luggage. There were only three bags. The rest would follow in the next day or so. These were just the essentials Shayla decided to send.

“Walk, Lilywhite.” Hector looked behind them, glaring at the gate that wasn’t shut yet before herding her up the steps with a terse one-word command: “Inside.”

At the top, she could see that a smaller door was nested inside the vast one. Hector opened it, and Lily went inside.

She pulled off her sunglasses and surveyed the hall, looking for potential exits and hiding areas. Abernathy Commandment #15: Always have a way out, more than one if possible. There weren’t any obvious egresses, unfortunately. It was a room designed for one way in and out, which made her nervous.

The foyer of the main hall was a vast high-ceilinged room. Sconces lined the walls, jutting out from the thick vines that covered the walls for as far as she could see. On either side of the room, staircases spiraled upward to the balconies that lined the second and third floors. In the center was a wide hallway. A small sign reading ADMINISTRATION was the only indication of direction.

They made it as far as the mouth of the hallway when a woman in a well-tailored suit walked toward them. “Miss Abernathy?”

Lily nodded.

The woman offered the sort of tight smile that didn’t bode well. “We weren’t expecting you until tomorrow. There are no suites presently available as a result, but if you give us an hour, we’ll get it all sorted out.”