Seven Black Diamonds (Seven Black Diamonds #1)(48)

“Creed Morrison,” she greeted.

He bowed deeply, the gesture far more courtly than she expected from him. It did little to assuage her worries. Seeing him at the edge of the Hidden Lands was not the most surprising part of her week, but Eilidh had never been summoned by Creed before tonight. She’d sought him out a few years earlier, and she’d worked with him so he could send messages to her over air. At the time, she’d vacillated between him and the other air affinity in the group, but the other Sleeper, Will, was a touch too observant for Eilidh’s comfort.

“Is Lily injured?”

“No.” Creed glanced past her, as if his half-human sight would somehow be enough to see any threat that was clever enough to follow her this far. He moved closer to the sea, where the battering of waves against earth would make his words harder to hear.

Eilidh followed. If her betrothed or brother were here, there would be much lecturing on risks, but despite her mother’s misuse of the Sleepers, Eilidh trusted this one. She was also standing on earth with sea in reach, so two of her affinities were easily called upon. So many of the fae acted as if Eilidh’s physical differences made her weak, and in some ways, they were right. She wasn’t as strong as some fae, but she was a daughter of the two regents. She was far from the fragile flower people thought her to be.

“Lily knows nothing of the fae,” Creed said when Eilidh was at his side. His words were all but placed in her ears like tactile things. His control of his affinity was better than she’d ever seen from him.

“She knows she is, at least, fae-blood,” Eilidh said.

Creed nodded. “She’s more though, and she doesn’t know about the Sleepers. She wants proof.”

Eilidh smiled, causing Creed to frown at her. She had no urge to explain herself. She was too much her mother’s daughter to be interested in unspoken questions, and even though she trusted Creed as much as she could trust any of the weapons her mother had wrought, she trusted no one completely. Telling Creed that she was well aware of what Lily did and did not know was unnecessary. “So you offered her proof.”

“I told her there was someone I knew who could prove it,” he hedged, obviously ill at ease now that he was faced with the audacity of offering her up. “I didn’t say who. If you want to send someone else, you can . . .”

Eilidh’s smile threatened to become a laugh. This was the thing that the queen would never see: the unpredictability of the humans, or in this case, the half-humans who had been told they were true fae. They believed the queen, and it didn’t serve any purpose to reveal the truth—not yet at least. Eilidh opted to let them think they were changelings, to let them think the Queen of Blood and Rage might one day declare their service done. To the queen, they were disposable. To her, they were . . . a reminder of how far the queen would go. At least, most of them were nothing more than that. Lily, of course, was different, and for her, Eilidh would allow herself to be summoned.

Creed had said she “could” send someone else. She found it oddly enchanting being told she could do anything. She was the heir of the Hidden Throne. That meant that there was little that she was denied. Certainly there were those things disallowed for her safety, but in all, she was . . . well, the princess, which meant that her whims could be laws if she saw fit. She didn’t, but the possibility remained.

“I will come.”

Creed nodded awkwardly. His gaze was fixed on faraway waves on the sea. “You won’t hurt her,” he said, the words sounding very little like a question.

“You care for her,” Eilidh replied.

He shrugged.

“You want her to know not because I asked you to speak to her, but because you care,” Eilidh pressed.

Creed’s gaze darted to her. “I know the whole Sleeper thing isn’t your plan, but it’s . . . it’s no good. The people who are dying aren’t the ones who killed the queen’s baby. They’re just people. Me, and Lily, and the rest of us . . . and whatever other Sleepers are out there . . . we’re being made to hurt people who are innocent.”

Eilidh sighed. There was nothing she could say that wouldn’t either be a lie or an admission she’d rather not make.





twenty-one


LILY

Walking into Zephyr and Creed’s suite was a lot more difficult than Lily would’ve liked. Violet didn’t even pause to knock. She opened the door and stepped inside. “Hey, pretty boys! I’m home early. Get your lazy arses out of bed.”

Both boys came out of their rooms. Zephyr was topless, clad only in a pair of pajama pants. Creed was in the same clothes he’d had on the night before—aside from the shirt he’d given Lily. He looked like he hadn’t slept at all.

“Hey!” He scooped Violet up as soon as he saw her and spun her around like she was a child. They looked like siblings as they cuddled close, the same dusky skin and striking eyes. He smiled at the tiny tempest still in his arms. “You said you weren’t going to be here for days yet!”

“I explained to them that there was no way I could wait that long.” Violet shrugged. “They adjusted.”

Creed laughed. “Ninian forbid anyone tell you no.”

“Hush.” Violet kissed both of his cheeks. “I heard from a reliable source that you were a mess without my supervision.”