Seven Black Diamonds (Seven Black Diamonds #1)(41)

“Don’t worry,” he whispered loudly. “He’s just grumpy a lot.”

Zephyr sighed again. “Can we not play games tonight?”

“I think he’s on his man-cycle,” Creed whispered even louder.

Lily smothered a laugh. Even now, Creed made her feel safer and more nervous all at once. Zephyr’s kiss hadn’t given her the flurry of angry bees in her stomach that the mere brush of Creed’s fingertips on her skin evoked. She stared at him as he reached out and pulled the hood of his shirt up so it fell around her face like a monk’s cowl.

When Creed paused to tuck her hair around her face, Zephyr’s voice shattered the tension that had been building in her again. “Step back,” he ordered.

Lily froze.

“Creed,” he clarified. “Step away from her.”

“I don’t think she minds, Zeph.” Creed stared at her as he said it. “She’s not afraid of me. Are you, Lily?”

She stared at him, at the tightening around his eyes, the way his jaw clenched, and she knew there was far more going on here than she could understand.

“I’m not afraid of either of you,” she pointed out levelly.

Creed’s already-tight expression grew even more tense. He stepped back from her and said, “Come on. I need a drink.”

“You’re barely sober now—” Zephyr started.

“And yet you are already on my last fucking nerve,” Creed drawled. “Lily doesn’t need to watch us fight, so we can go where I can grab a drink or you can leave.”

Lily didn’t point out that she hated alcohol, or that Zephyr undoubtedly did too. Creed should hate it. She looked at him.

Abernathy Commandment #5: Be bold.

“So you’re not fae-blood, Creed?”

Zephyr and Creed both paused mid-step. Zephyr looked stunned, but Creed started laughing.

“What did you say?” Zephyr asked.

“If he wants to drink and was already drunk, that should mean he’s not fae-blood,” Lily pointed out reasonably. “You, however, are admittedly fae-blood. So, it’s only logical to ask what Creed’s status is given the circumstances.”

“No fear at all in you, is there?” Creed asked.

“Please. You know who my father is, and when I met him”—she gestured vaguely toward Zephyr—“he staged a bombing.”

“It was a welcome present,” Zephyr explained yet again.

“Right. For future reference, I prefer plants.” She wasn’t going to judge him for being a terrorist. Unless she was willing to condemn her father’s activities, she had no business judging Zephyr.

“Plants?” Zephyr echoed.

Lily heard the real question he was asking: was she aligned with earth like he was? Hearing the question didn’t mean answering it. She’d told Creed without hesitation. Telling Zephyr felt different.

Creed rolled his eyes. “Come on. None of this is stuff to discuss out here. Let’s go to the Row House and grab a private room.”

Resolutely, Lily looked from Zephyr to Creed. She could go along and get answers, or she could run. This was a case when she saw benefits of knowledge over the potential for trouble.

There had never once in her life been any fae-bloods she could talk to, and wasn’t this what she’d always wanted? Wasn’t it what Daidí wanted too?

Both boys watched her curiously.

She walked forward, so she was between them, and kept going. “So, Creed, my suitemate tells me that you’ll be in most of my classes.”

And just like that, she’d committed to a path.





eighteen


ZEPHYR

Zephyr was fairly certain that Lilywhite was going to be the biggest challenge he’d faced. He walked silently with her and Creed, wishing that Alkamy or Roan or, hell, even Violet was there. Lilywhite was his partner, his probable betrothed, his. Creed knew that, knew how Zephyr felt, but he was toying with her.

Maybe Creed was Unseelie after all. It was a game Zephyr played sometimes, sorting them all in his head, not that he told them that. Aside from Alkamy, he didn’t share his suppositions with people. Some of them were clear: Violet was obviously Seelie. Her element was fire, like the Seelie King himself. Roan looked Seelie, but he was aligned with water, like the Unseelie Queen, and he was a strategist, always planning for contingencies. Will and Creed could go either way.

Lilywhite was a complete anomaly. She hadn’t so much as blinked when he spoke to the plants. She’d also bared her feet as they walked, using the excuse of uncomfortable shoes. Earlier, she’d been drawn to the water. Her breathing had tensed in the tunnel, much like Creed’s did when he used it.

Common knowledge was that fae-blood had more affinities the purer their blood was. True fae could have as many as four affinities. Of course, Clara had told him that the Sleepers were true fae, not just fae-blood, but so far only he and Alkamy had more than one affinity. Lilywhite appeared to have three.

“Are you claustrophobic?” he blurted out.

Both Creed and Lilywhite stared at him like he was speaking in tongues.

“Seriously?” Creed shook his head at Zephyr, turned to Lily, and told her, “He’s usually not this way. It’s been a stressful day.”

The sheer truth of that careless statement made Zephyr laugh. He’d met the queen, bled for her, and been given an order he didn’t know how to follow. He couldn’t kidnap Lilywhite; even if she wasn’t Nick Abernathy’s daughter, she was someone he’d been raised to believe was his other half. Delivering her to the Queen of Blood and Rage was wrong—and unavoidable.