Seven Black Diamonds (Seven Black Diamonds #1)(90)

Zephyr opened the door to the dorms.

“Do you think they’re in your room or—”

“I know where Kam is,” Zephyr interrupted. He walked away, toward his room. The others could do whatever they wanted. Tonight, he was abdicating all responsibility for them. Honestly, probably for more than just tonight. Everything had changed. They were no longer the queen’s seven Black Diamonds. He was no longer in charge.

Now, he answered only to the Queen of Blood and Rage.

Creed and Violet answered to Lily.

He wasn’t at all sure what that would mean for Will and Roan, but he knew—he’d always known—what Alkamy would do.

Zephyr didn’t quite run to his suite, but it was a close thing.

He slowed when he reached the door, schooling his face, trying to seem like everything was okay. Then he opened the door.

“Kam?”

She was in his arms, flinging across the room like a blur. “Thank Ninian,” she whispered as her arms tightened around him. “I was so worried and . . . Is everyone else okay?”

“They are. Lily’s burned, but . . . not that bad. And Creed was stabbed, and his wrist is broken but . . .”

Alkamy leaned back, looking at him. “That’s not what I’d call okay, Zeph.”

“No one died. Lily was declared heir. I was openly announced as the queen’s grandson . . . oh, and Violet met her father.”

At first, Alkamy’s mouth opened silently. Then she closed it and shook her head. Finally, she said, “Come sit with me. Tell me the rest . . . unless you want to join the others?”

“No. I really don’t.” He took her hand in his. “I need to tell you something else though.”

“Bad?”

“No.” He took a breath, trying to find the words. He didn’t want her to misunderstand, to think it was only about physical things. It wasn’t. Even before he admitted to himself that he loved her, it had never been only the physical between them.

“You’re scaring me,” she said, even though her voice sounded steady.

“The queen offered me a boon . . . a gift for serving her so well,” he started.

“And?”

“And I asked for you, your safety above the rest of the team—”

“Oh, Zeph,” she interrupted. “That’s not fair to—”

“I don’t care,” he cut her off. “I’m Unseelie-born; my father is her son. Do you honestly think I’m going to be a fair person? I’ve tried, but . . . I love you, and if the queen is going to let me have anything, it’s your safety I’ll take.”

Alkamy smiled a little. “So that’s it? I’m . . . safe?”

Slowly, he walked toward his bedroom, holding her hand in his. “That’s what I asked for. What she offered me was permission to be with you.”

“No strings?”

Zephyr laughed. “I’m sure there were, and I’ll agree to whatever they are. That’s how negotiations with the fae work.”

Alkamy stopped and stepped closer to him. “So are you asking me to stay here then? Here in this room with you?”

“We don’t have to do anyth—”

His words were lost under her bubble of laughter. “You can be awfully dense, Zephyr Waters. I’d have stayed in your bed against the queen’s orders. You are the one who was all about her rules . . . or are you forgetting that?”

He wasn’t. He wouldn’t. He’d follow every rule he had to for her safety. She didn’t get that, but it didn’t matter now. Zephyr scooped her up into his arms and carried her the rest of the way to his bed.

“Tell me again,” he asked.

“I love you, Zephyr.”

He sank down beside her and kissed her. There was no telling what would come next. Zephyr wasn’t so foolish as to believe that things were going to be peaceful simply because Lily had accepted her role as heir, or that he was going to be absolved of duties to the queen. Everyone else seemed to think they had a victory, but their trip to the Hidden Lands had put them more fully under the queen’s control than they’d ever been. He had no idea what that would mean in the coming days, but right now, he’d enjoy the one good thing that had happened. He had permission to be with Alkamy, and he fully intended to enjoy every possible second of time with her.





thirty-six


LILY

Days turned into weeks, and the only contact Lily had with the Hidden Lands was a strange leaf-wrapped package. It was hand-delivered to her door by a courier that was obviously more fae than not.

Everyone but Creed was out. These days, she was never truly alone. Sometimes she thought it was worse than being with the guards Daidí assigned.

Daidí. Soon, she’d need to tell him what had happened. Today, though, she had to figure out whether a fae-blood courier making it all the way to her suite door should terrify her or comfort her. Her instinct was not toward comfort.

“How did he get that close? Did you know—” Creed’s words stopped suddenly when the leaves unfurled to reveal a crown of black diamonds.

At least, it had looked like a crown at first, but as Lily lifted it, the seemingly solid metal appeared to melt into a serpentine rope. At a second touch, it reshaped into an ornate crown.