Seven Black Diamonds (Seven Black Diamonds #1)(20)

She had only been on this stretch of the harbor about ten minutes when she heard footfalls on the wooden pier.

“That was fast, Hec . . .” Her words faded when she glanced to her right and saw not Hector, but Zephyr Waters.

“Not really,” he said.

Her shoulders tensed, and she hoped she was wrong about the identity of the boy who stood beside her. After almost a minute passed, she peered at him out of the corner of her eye.

It was definitely Zephyr. She felt like her body was humming again as she stood next to him—just like it had with Creed. Something in her had reverberated like a beacon when she’d first seen the two boys in the media. She’d wondered why, had suspicions, but then she’d met Creed. Now, she knew: they were both fae-bloods. It was the only logical answer . . . and that meant that she needed to get out of here. She didn’t want to have a second stranger know her secret.

“I’ve been waiting for you,” Zephyr said casually, as if they were friends catching up. “I wasn’t sure when you’d get in, but I had a surprise planned. I thought you might come to the water.”

Calmly, she glanced at Zephyr and said, “I think you must be looking for someone else. I don’t know you.”

He smiled.

The tension in her shoulders grew almost painful. Her hand went to the short knife she had concealed in her pocket. There was no way he could’ve been waiting for her. She wasn’t in the magazines like him. Perhaps Creed had mentioned her. It was the only answer that wasn’t completely troubling. The obvious alternative was that Zephyr could recognize her as fae-blood.

He held out a hand. “Zephyr Waters.”

“I still don’t know you,” Lily said, but she accepted his hand briefly.

Being this close to him made her realize that his photos weren’t touched up before they were published. Even more so than Creed, Zephyr really was flawless, so much so that she wondered how he’d escaped accusations of being a fae-blood. He had his mother’s shockingly blue eyes and 1940s starlet lips, but those combined with his slash of cheekbones and raven-wing hair practically screamed “fae ancestry.”

It wasn’t Lily’s business though. Abernathy Commandment #13: Don’t ask questions when you’d rather not know the answers. She concentrated on watching a ship heading in toward the harbor. Being here at the pier should’ve been a moment of peace before she had to figure out how to live around several hundred people. It had been . . . up until Zephyr freaking Waters decided to stand at her side and act like they were old friends.

“Perhaps you should go look for whoever it was you intended to meet,” Lily suggested. Unfortunately, the lilt at the end of her sentence made her words sound more like a question than she’d intended them to be.

“I’ve been looking . . . for years actually.”

“You’re making a mistake.”

“No, I’m not,” he said just as decisively.

Alarm bells sounded in her mind. Creed had said that he took the job at her party to meet her. Now Zephyr claimed he also had wanted to meet her.

“I don’t know who you think I am, but I’m really not her.”

“Oh, I know who you are, Lilywhite,” he said softly. “I know exactly who and what you are.”

She was about to argue, but an explosion rocked the pier. The hull of a cruise ship exploded into flame.

Zephyr’s arm snaked around her waist, keeping her from tumbling to the pier or falling into the murky water.

Ships canted wildly as the waves from the explosion battered them. People yelled, both in the street and on other boats. The pier itself shuddered as Lily dragged her attention from the smoke pouring from the cruise liner to Zephyr.

“Welcome to the team,” he whispered against her ear.

She tensed, her hand wrapped around the knife. She withdrew it and flicked it open.

But Zephyr spun her around to face him and leaned down. His lips pressed against hers.

Lily jerked away. She waved her hand around, trying to encapsulate the ship, the people running, the sirens, the chaos of it all. She couldn’t even begin to deal with the kissing part. “Seriously? This? You . . . what are you doing? Are you insane?”

Zephyr’s expression shifted. “You are Lilywhite Abernathy, aren’t you?” He glanced at the knife in her hand, but it didn’t deter him. He grabbed her again. This time, his hand was on her shoulder, turning her to face him. With his other hand, he gripped Lily’s chin and tilted her head, staring at her intently the whole time. “You look like her.”

“Of course I’m me!” She shoved him away with one hand and took a step backward. “But just because my father is an accused criminal doesn’t mean I’m some sort of fan of random violence.”

Zephyr looked pointedly at the weapon she still clutched in her hand. “Really?”

“Yes, really! You grabbed me. I’m defending myself.” She was sick of the way everyone judged her. Daidí had often explained that he only engaged in violence for a reason. Lily agreed with that approach, although it had been a point of contention with Erik on several occasions.

Lily closed her knife with a snick and glared at Zephyr. “You can’t go around blowing things up. There are people on those boats, and—”

“It was empty,” he interrupted.