Despite her issues with him, Lily laughed. “I’m not sure you’d want to explain to Daidí what I was doing off campus either.”
She wouldn’t call the silence that followed comfortable, but it was a lot more so than when she’d first met him. She had an opportunity here: she could understand what he meant when he said he was looking for her, and she could learn an escape route from campus. Lily noted the tricks she needed to remember in order to exit through the tunnels.
Zephyr appeared aware of her water affinity, and he clearly was aligned with soil. A part of her wanted to ask Zephyr what he knew about their shared heritage, but his fae blood and the explosion earlier combined to let her know that he was somehow involved with the war.
That alone was reason to stay silent, so she did.
They’d only been walking for a few minutes when a voice from the darkness drawled, “Odd time for a walk, isn’t it?”
Zephyr sighed so softly that she wouldn’t have heard him if she’d been a step farther away.
“Creed Morrison.” He stepped forward, introducing himself as if they hadn’t spent part of the afternoon talking. “And you are?”
She had already decided to play along when he’d confessed that he’d kept their first meeting secret, so she met his gaze now and said, “Lily Abernathy.”
Creed looked at Zephyr, and his voice hardened as he asked, “Tell me, fair Lily, are you in need of a rescue?”
“No, actually.” She nodded toward Zephyr. “He was breaking out and offering to show me how to get off campus.”
“Ah. Strict parents?”
“Protective,” she said. “If I read correctly, though, yours aren’t?”
He wagged a finger at her. “Someone is a tabloid fan, I see.”
Lily shrugged, unembarrassed, and a little amused at their game. “I’ve been home-schooled via private tutors since I was old enough for lessons. What can I say? I get bored.”
“Oh, me too,” Creed confessed. “That’s how I end up in all of those rags.”
She laughed.
“Maybe you should go back to campus,” Zephyr suggested. “You couldn’t have slept very long. I heard you stumble in before I left.”
Creed shrugged. “I napped. I left.”
“Go back to campus,” Zephyr said.
“I’d rather he stay,” Lily interjected.
There was a long silence, and a meaningful look passed between the two boys.
“Well then,” Creed drawled. “You heard Lily. I’ll be staying, but if you want to head back, feel free.”
“I wouldn’t want Lilywhite left stranded when you go off to get drunk again or meet up with some—”
“You might be my boss, Zeph, but that’s only if I decide to stay in your little clubhouse.”
Lily shivered at the tone of his voice. She’d spent enough time around her father’s associates to know the difference between genuine threat and mere posturing. Creed wasn’t posturing. Softly, she pointed out, “Maybe I should head back. I’d rather not be photographed with either of you, now that I think about it.”
At that, Creed released her and shucked his hoodie. “Here. Just pull the hood up. We can protect your privacy. We do it all the time with Vi and sometimes with Will.”
“Thank you,” she whispered.
He was very obviously being warned off from her—by someone who had no right to make that decision for her. She might decide to only be friends with Creed, but Zephyr wasn’t going to decide it for her. No one made rules for her life other than Daidí, and even that was often open for discussion. Abernathy Commandment #1: Choices matter.
Silently, she accepted Creed’s shirt and tugged it on. It fell past her hips, and the sleeves hung down over her hands. Creed reached out, took her wrist, and rolled the sleeve until her fingertips were exposed. Then he repeated the gesture on the other arm.
“Don’t worry,” he whispered loudly. “He’s just grumpy a lot.”
Zephyr sighed again. “Can we not play games tonight?”
“I think he’s on his man-cycle,” Creed whispered even louder.
Lily smothered a laugh. Even now, Creed made her feel safer and more nervous all at once. Zephyr’s kiss hadn’t given her the flurry of angry bees in her stomach that the mere brush of Creed’s fingertips on her skin evoked. She stared at him as he reached out and pulled the hood of his shirt up so it fell around her face like a monk’s cowl.
When Creed paused to tuck her hair around her face, Zephyr’s voice shattered the tension that had been building in her again. “Step back,” he ordered.
Lily froze.
“Creed,” he clarified. “Step away from her.”
“I don’t think she minds, Zeph.” Creed stared at her as he said it. “She’s not afraid of me. Are you, Lily?”
She stared at him, at the tightening around his eyes, the way his jaw clenched, and she knew there was far more going on here than she could understand.
“I’m not afraid of either of you,” she pointed out levelly.
Creed’s already-tight expression grew even more tense. He stepped back from her and said, “Come on. I need a drink.”
“You’re barely sober now—” Zephyr started.
“And yet you are already on my last fucking nerve,” Creed drawled. “Lily doesn’t need to watch us fight, so we can go where I can grab a drink or you can leave.”
Lily didn’t point out that she hated alcohol, or that Zephyr undoubtedly did too. Creed should hate it. She looked at him.
Abernathy Commandment #5: Be bold.
“So you’re not fae-blood, Creed?”
Zephyr and Creed both paused mid-step. Zephyr looked stunned, but Creed started laughing.
“What did you say?” Zephyr asked.
“If he wants to drink and was already drunk, that should mean he’s not fae-blood,” Lily pointed out reasonably. “You, however, are admittedly fae-blood. So, it’s only logical to ask what Creed’s status is given the circumstances.”
“No fear at all in you, is there?” Creed asked.
“Please. You know who my father is, and when I met him”—she gestured vaguely toward Zephyr—“he staged a bombing.”
“It was a welcome present,” Zephyr explained yet again.
“Right. For future reference, I prefer plants.” She wasn’t going to judge him for being a terrorist. Unless she was willing to condemn her father’s activities, she had no business judging Zephyr.
“Plants?” Zephyr echoed.
Lily heard the real question he was asking: was she aligned with earth like he was? Hearing the question didn’t mean answering it. She’d told Creed without hesitation. Telling Zephyr felt different.
Creed rolled his eyes. “Come on. None of this is stuff to discuss out here. Let’s go to the Row House and grab a private room.”
Resolutely, Lily looked from Zephyr to Creed. She could go along and get answers, or she could run. This was a case when she saw benefits of knowledge over the potential for trouble.
There had never once in her life been any fae-bloods she could talk to, and wasn’t this what she’d always wanted? Wasn’t it what Daidí wanted too?
Both boys watched her curiously.
She walked forward, so she was between them, and kept going. “So, Creed, my suitemate tells me that you’ll be in most of my classes.”
And just like that, she’d committed to a path.
eighteen