Seven Black Diamonds (Seven Black Diamonds #1)(23)
Eilidh nodded. “He will only be here when in this room, but I’m not so young that I need a chaperone beyond”—she gestured to the glass wall—“our people’s watchful gaze.”
Rhys looked at her like he might consider some form of parting affection, but then he simply said, “Never forget that you will be watched constantly now—by her people, by mine, by Nacton’s. Act accordingly.”
She nodded again, and then Rhys left, and Eilidh was alone with her betrothed for the first time since his impulsivity had put them in this ridiculous position.
eleven
ZEPHYR
Indifferent expression firmly in place, Zephyr walked away from the pier. He’d let his facade slip when he met Lilywhite. Finally talking to her after all these years was exhilarating. She was to be the other person at the head of the Sleepers, his assigned work-partner. For years, he’d carried the weight without her. He’d done everything he needed, and she’d been hidden away. In his mind, she’d become more than his partner.
He’d imagined their first meeting, of course, pictured their eventual conversation in his mind. He’d pondered a variety of surprises to greet her, ultimately settling on a small explosion. He’d bribed one of the secretaries to let him know when she was arriving, set charges on ships every day in hopes that she’d be unable to resist the pier. It should have been perfect. It should have been a joyous moment.
Instead, she’d pulled a knife and pushed him away. It wasn’t encouraging. If he hadn’t been so shocked by her reaction, he’d have tried to ask her knife for any details it might have gathered. Lilywhite was aligned with water, so she couldn’t ask it not to speak to him. He hadn’t thought to ask the steel for information, however. He was too caught off guard by her response to him.
Obviously, he’d built up his expectations. He’d imagined this day for so many years that Lilywhite was almost mythical to him. She had become increasingly more so the longer she stayed away. He’d imagined that she was more like those he’d met in the Hidden Lands. He’d spent thousands of dollars to collect every scrap of intel he could so as to prep for today, for their first meeting, for the moment when he wasn’t left alone with the responsibility for the others in their Sleeper cell, for the moment he met the faery he thought would one day be his mate. Despite everything he’d done, he was grievously unprepared for the reality.
“Roan,” he called out as he walked into the surf shop.
Not surprisingly, Roan was the only customer in the surf shop. He stood in front of the bulletin board with sales and trip listings. Zephyr sometimes suspected Swell stayed in business solely on the purchases made by the St. Columba’s students, most of whom weren’t back to school until tomorrow. Of those students, Roan was easily the freest with his money. No trip was too dear for him. He would live in the water if he had his way.
“Zeph.” Roan studied Zephyr with the kind of attentive nonchalance that he excelled at. Like the seas that were his element, Roan was both calm and filled with energy simultaneously. If Roan hadn’t admitted his affinity the moment they’d met, Zephyr would’ve still known it. The surf-crazed boy had eyes that could easily be mistaken for a seal’s and his skin was dark enough that it seemed as elegant as the seal pelt he could don as comfortably as most people slipped into a winter coat. Only his unruly hair was unmatched to his water-dwelling appearance. Given a chance, Roan would let his hair form into the dreadlocks it so obviously wanted, but the future CEO of Reliance Pharmaceuticals wouldn’t wear dreads.
They all wore their human personas. It was simply part of the task they’d been given by their queen. Sleepers could only succeed at their missions by being exactly what they were thought to be.
Zephyr turned and walked out of the shop.
“Well?” Roan prompted as he exited behind Zephyr.
Zephyr tried to find the calm he usually had, but he couldn’t. Lilywhite was the last of the seven on his team, and now that she was with him, he had to report to the Unseelie Queen that all seven Black Diamonds were together. That was the protocol. What he didn’t know was how much to reveal to the queen, and facing her for the first time with incomplete answers was more terrifying than he wanted to admit, even to himself. He couldn’t let the others see how afraid he was.
The others relied on him. They had for years. He’d met Alkamy, Creed, and Violet when he was still a kid, and he’d met Roan and Will when he started at St. Columba’s several years ago. They’d always known that he was their leader. He’d worked hard to live up to that expectation, but today had thrown him for a loop.
“Lilywhite has no idea who she is,” he told Roan finally.
“How did the handlers let that happen?”
“I have no idea,” Zephyr admitted. The horrible shock of it had left him quieter than usual. Lilywhite was the seventh and final member of his unit, the missing piece, the one the queen wanted to meet—and she was clueless.
Roan fell into step with him, keeping pace and then little by little slowing so as to force Zephyr to walk at a more fitting rate. That was one of the things he valued most about Roan: he was a strategist. He was also the calmest of the group, trained to be so because he was the only son of the CEO and primary shareholder of Reliance Pharmaceuticals.
Roan turned onto a less crowded street and added, “Before I forget, Vi wanted me to let you know she might not be here for another few days. Whatever film she’s in now is running behind schedule.”