Seven Black Diamonds (Seven Black Diamonds #1)(49)

Creed shrugged and said, “Broken heart. I’d met a girl.”

“A girl? Well, then she’s an idiot,” Violet said loyally. “Do you want me to talk to her?”

Creed shook his head and glancing in Lily’s direction. “I’m coping better now.”

Thankfully, Violet let it go—although there was no doubt that she noticed Creed’s look as much as Lily had. He was far too blunt, far too often for her comfort. The mere idea of making eye contact with him right now was enough to cause anxiety.

“Did you rest well?” Zephyr asked from Lily’s side, startling her. The contrast between his quiet solicitousness and Creed’s intensity seemed designed to make her crazy. She needed to keep her focus on the larger issues—the group of fae-bloods surrounding her and their theory that she was unavoidably meant to be involved in their terrorist activities.

Lily nodded in answer to Zephyr just as Creed released Violet.

“Well? Where’s my hello?” Violet prompted Zephyr with the same tone Lily suspected dictators used.

“I can never guess what you want, Vi,” he teased as he stepped forward and hugged her.

“I am subtle, oh, never.” Violet stepped back from him. “I hear you had to go see the q—”

“Breakfast,” Creed interrupted, cutting off any reference to the Unseelie Queen. He glanced at Lily again, which Alkamy and Zephyr both noticed.

“No talk of her,” Alkamy told Zephyr and Violet in a tone that allowed for no debate.

“We’ll talk later,” Zephyr said to Violet. “Let me grab clothes. Someone tell Will and Roan to meet us at the gate.”

As he walked back to his room, Alkamy’s gaze slid over Zephyr like she could physically touch him with it. She studied him like she was examining him for bruises. “Is he okay?”

“You know Zeph.” Creed crossed his arms over his chest.

“That’s why I asked.”

“His feet were cut up, and his hands were too, but nothing needing treatment.”

“I’m going to go talk to him,” Alkamy said. She didn’t wait for a reply, simply tapped lightly on the closed door before letting herself into his room.

“They’re not together,” Violet said.

Creed glared at her.

“Well, they obviously should be.” Lily shook her head at the insistence that Alkamy wasn’t with the boy she clearly loved. It was never easy joining an established group of friends, but these people had more baggage than she wanted to even begin to process. She glanced at Creed. “Meet you all outside the gate.”

And then before they could stop her, she walked out of the room.

She only made it to the end of the hallway before Creed caught up with her. The feel of his presence was distinctive. She didn’t need to turn her head to know it was him. Something about the way the world felt when he was near made her body hum, as if a light electric current pulsed just under her skin.

“Are you trying to fight with Zephyr?” she asked.

“No, but I’m not trying not to either.” Creed draped his arm over her shoulder. “Zephyr isn’t my priority.”

Lily fought back the sigh that his words and touch elicited. “We agreed to be friends this week. Remember?”

“Yes. I’m being friendly.” He walked with surety toward Zephyr’s secret exit. “I want to see you though.”

“Creed, Erik proposed,” she said. “You were there that night.”

“But you didn’t say yes.” Creed’s fingers tangled in her hair with a familiarity he hadn’t earned. “You wouldn’t have danced so close to me if you were planning to be engaged to Erik.”

Lily wanted to say he was wrong, but he obviously had seen through her attempt at a lie. It was harder with someone who was accustomed to the fae habit of verbal tricks. With most people, she could twist her words to seem like palatable truths. With the Sleepers, that habit wasn’t a viable option.

She shrugged his arm off her shoulders. “I’m not a conquest.”

“You’re not,” he agreed.

“Friends,” Lily repeated weakly, speeding up to reach the passage.

“Tell me about the Abernathy Commandments.”

At his question, Lily’s steps faltered. “The what?”

“You mentioned one last night. Number fifteen maybe?”

“Always have a way out, more than one if possible,” Lily said quietly. “There are commandments, rules for life that my father made.”

“Tell me, please?” The words were more of an order, but she heard the lift in his voice that made the sentence a question too.

As they walked, she listed the primary ones:

#1: Choices matter.

#2: Be yourself.

#3: Never get caught.

#4: Weigh the consequences before beginning a course of action.

#5: Be bold.

#6: Never confess your vulnerabilities if you can avoid it.

After she was done with the first few commandments, she paused in her recitation. There were more, but those were the most critical ones. They sounded even more so as her voice had broken the silence of the dim passageway.

“And you live by these? All of them?”

Lily nodded, and then she realized he probably couldn’t see her in the low light of the tunnel. “As much as I am able,” she said.