“Which room is mine?” she prompted.
“I’ve already dislodged my latest suitemate,” Alkamy announced evenly. It was obviously intended to be a challenge.
“Congratulations. I guess that makes me your consolation prize.” Lily gestured at the three closed doors. “Room?”
Alkamy pointed to the door on the right. “There. That’s the second bedroom. You won’t last though.”
“Great. I’m Lily.”
“Abernathy?” Alkamy blinked. It wasn’t much of a reaction, but it was enough. Her new suitemate recognized her enough to fill in the surname Lily hadn’t offered. She wondered whether that recognition was via her on-again, off-again boyfriend or through the sensational criminal allegations against Lily’s father.
After nodding at her, Lily dragged her three bags into the room. Alkamy watched the whole time. Although Lily suspected that her new suitemate was trying to be intimidating, her whole routine was a lot less scary than she intended.
Alkamy was one of the host of girls who had been in the tabloids with Zephyr. Lily tried to remember if they were supposed to be an item currently. It would be just her luck to share a suite with the girlfriend of the boy who had just kissed her.
She started to hang her clothes in the closet, not bothering to look at Alkamy, who was leaning against the doorframe, arms folded, observing her.
“I’m Alkamy Adams,” she announced after several minutes.
“I know. I’ve seen you in magazines.” Lily withdrew a short blade that dangled in a holster and smiled. Shayla alternately sorted Lily’s weapons as clothing or jewelry, depending on how she classified any particular item. This blade was one of the more functional ones, resembling a small scimitar, so Shayla steadfastly insisted that it was “not jewelry.”
Behind Lily, Alkamy made herself at home on the overstuffed chair in front of the window. “I don’t think I’ve seen you in any magazines.”
“That’s probably true.”
“So?” Alkamy prompted. “What’s your story?”
“I’m new here this year.”
“Obviously,” Alkamy said, dragging the word out into more syllables than necessary. She stretched her legs out in front of her. It made her robe gape open, and based on how much skin she’d just exposed, Lily was fairly certain she wasn’t wearing anything under the robe.
Lily arched her brow. “Are you aiming for intimidating or alluring?”
Abernathy Commandment #5: Be bold.
For several seconds, Alkamy stared at Lily incredulously, and then she laughed. For someone with the reputation of being a badass, she sounded like a little girl who’d been flying high on the park swings. When she stopped giggling, she said, “You’re unexpected, Lilywhite.”
“It’s just Lily.”
“Whatever.”
Lily hung several more of Shayla’s carefully labeled outfits in the closet and lined up a few boxes of accessories on the shelf above them. The pretty wooden chests mostly contained daggers, but two held guns, one revolver and one semiautomatic, and ammunition. Some girls collected jewelry, and odds were that Shayla had packed that too, but these were the only items Lily had packed for herself. Every box was fingerprint pass-coded, so no one but Lily could access the weapons.
Without turning away from her closet, Lily said in a level voice, “Since you used my whole name, I’m guessing you’ve heard it before.”
“I’d heard you were coming here, but I couldn’t find any pictures of you.”
“Daidí dislikes it when my image gets out.”
Alkamy snorted. “My old man loves it. ‘No press is bad press, Kamy Girl.’ The paparazzi has always been . . . just there, you know? So what’s your father’s secret?”
“Hard to say. Maybe he kills photographers.” Lily met her eyes, testing her reaction.
Alkamy smiled and then without missing a beat said, “Messy.”
Lily nodded. Then she met Alkamy’s gaze head-on and said, “I don’t use. No drugs, no alcohol, no cigarettes. Nothing.”
“Not a problem.” Alkamy flashed her an odd look, but she didn’t come right out and ask if Lily was fae-blood. She was more subtle than Creed and Zephyr. All she did was hint: “So no chemicals. Are you a nature girl then?”
“Eh. I like being outside.” Lily shrugged.
Abernathy Commandment #6: Never confess your vulnerabilities if you can avoid it.
“Finish hanging your stuff, and I’ll show you the grounds. St. Columba’s bites sometimes, but the gardens are excellent.” Alkamy hopped to her feet. “Oh, and since you’re ‘Just Lily,’ you should call me ‘Kamy.’”
Lily only wanted her solitude. “That’s not . . . I’ve already . . .” She looked at her new suitemate, who was watching her and grinning. There was no graceful way to refuse Alkamy. Maybe her confrontational suitemate could be a potential friend . . . or at least an ally of sorts. Unlike Creed and Zephyr, Alkamy, at least, seemed to be offering friendship without strings.
sixteen
ZEPHYR
The moon was still in the sky when Zephyr slipped out of his suite. It was not yet morning, although his suitemate was only recently asleep. Creed had crept into their suite somewhere around midnight after another excursion to the garden. In a few days, his moonbathing and sunbathing would restore him to health, and as long as he abstained from the bad habits he seemed to cherish on holidays, he’d be as strong as ever.
It was one thing to occasionally behave like humans to avoid accusations of fae-blood, but Creed took it too far. He cycled between self-destruction and purification repeatedly throughout the year. Something in his life drove him toward self-destruction over and over. The whole group saw it, but so far, no one had gotten anywhere when they’d asked him about it. He’d been worse the past few months than ever before. If they were the sort of friends who talked, Zephyr would try harder to find out what had set Creed into such a spin, but Creed was as likely to throw a punch as to walk away.
So far, Zephyr had been able to let them do as they wanted. That was all about to change. Now that Lilywhite was with them, they’d start receiving regular orders from the queen. Whatever the queen demanded, they’d do. That was why he needed to get his team in order. They would obey, or they would be “retired.”
But he was too far ahead of himself. First, he had to report to the Queen of Blood and Rage. There was a protocol that he’d been drilled on repeatedly. His handler, Clara, stressed the points at which he was required to visit the Hidden Lands. Lilywhite’s arrival was uppermost on that list.