Seven Black Diamonds (Seven Black Diamonds #1)(45)

“So do you know?” Alkamy asked softly.

“That you and all of your friends are fae-blood? Yes.”

“We’re true fae,” Alkamy corrected. “And the rest?”

“I’m not sure how much of it, but enough.” After a slight pause, Lily added, “So why weren’t you already rooming with Violet?”

Alkamy laughed in that childlike peal of happiness. “Oh, you won’t need to ask that after you spend a moment around Vi. I love her, but she’s . . . chaotic. I’d need to meditate half the day to stay close to balanced. She’s fire. I’m earth and air. We’re friends, but we need space.”

“Affinities matter that much?” Lily flopped down on the other end of the sofa from her suitemate, who shoved part of the blanket toward her. Wordlessly, Lily tucked her legs under it.

“Zephyr is earth, which you obviously know if you were off campus. Only the two of us can do that.” Alkamy sounded much like she had earlier when she was explaining the ways around campus and extolling the virtues of the dining hall. She was a natural teacher. “Creed and Will are air,” she continued. “Roan is water. Our only one of those.”

“But only one affinity?”

Alkamy glanced at her hands. “I seem to be both air and earth.”

“I have trouble with air,” Lily confided.

“So earth or . . . ?”

“Earth and water.” Lily had never admitted any of this, but regardless of what happened with Zephyr and Creed, she was hoping to keep Alkamy as a friend, so she added, “and a little air . . . sometimes.”

Alkamy gaped. “Three? You have three affinities.”

Lily didn’t answer, both because she didn’t want to lie and because Alkamy already had this reaction to three affinities. What would she think of four?

“That’s incredible. We’ll all be safer with you finally here.” Alkamy folded her hands together beatifically, and Lily couldn’t help thinking of statues she’d seen in the Uffizi Gallery. There was something greater than human about her. Even if Lily didn’t want to believe that they were all changelings, she could almost believe it about Alkamy.

“Does Zephyr know?”

Lily shrugged. “I didn’t say it. He and Creed know about the earth part. I think Zephyr knew about the water before we met. He was waiting for me at the pier when I arrived.”

“Right. The pier.” Alkamy drew the covers closer around her.

Lily took a deep breath before continuing, “I hadn’t met you then. If I had, I’d—”

“Stop.” Alkamy shook her head. “Zephyr and I aren’t meant to be, Lily.”

Lily let out a sigh. “I don’t want him, Kamy. I just . . .”

Alkamy reached out and patted Lily’s leg. “He’s been waiting for you since we started at Columba’s. You’re the second head of our cell. To him, you’re the grail.”

“I’m not. I’m a person.”

“Everyone loves Zephyr. Between him and Creed, I think they’ve stolen the hearts of most of the girls here. Roan and Will, the girls pine over them, but . . .” She looked down when she noticed Lily’s expression. “We can’t get attached, Lily. Not to any of the humans. There are rules, and now that you’re here . . .”

“What?”

“I suspect we’ll be called on to do more. For now, it’s a few deliveries, the occasional escorting a fae or human somewhere they can’t reach on their own. For Will, it’s the passing of secrets. For Roan, access to chemicals. There are other things, but so far our tasks for her have been . . . small. Now that you’re here, Zephyr thinks things will change.”

“I don’t serve her.” Lily stood. “I like you. I like them too, but I don’t serve her. Not now. Not ever.”

Alkamy’s eyes widened. “You can’t say that. You didn’t grow up knowing. You don’t know what—”

“She kills people. I know that.”

“And your father doesn’t?” Alkamy challenged.

“Maybe he does. Maybe I will too, but not at someone else’s whim and not the innocent. If I’m to become a weapon, it’s only ever going to be by my choice.” Lily looked at her suitemate, who didn’t look angry as much as worried. She sighed. “Look. I don’t want to fight.”

Alkamy nodded, but she didn’t speak again until Lily was at the door to her room. “None of us want this, Lily. Not even Zephyr. He thinks we don’t know how he feels, but I see his doubts. We’re trapped. None of us want the queen’s guards to kill us in our sleep, either. They tell us we were born to do this, that we’re special, and there is no choice.”

Lily turned back. “There are always choices, Kamy. I don’t know if they’re good choices, but there are some. We can find them.”

Alkamy was quiet for a long moment. Then she shook her head. “Not unless Zephyr agrees. I won’t go against him.”

Lily nodded. There was nothing to say to that, not really. It was the same sort of logic that she’d seen in some of Daidí’s most trusted employees. It was loyalty at all costs, and she respected it. Quietly, she told Alkamy, “I’m going to catch a few hours before it’s officially morning.”