Seven Black Diamonds

Seven Black Diamonds by Melissa Marr Page B

Book: Seven Black Diamonds by Melissa Marr Read Free Book Online
Authors: Melissa Marr
Tags: Romance, Fantasy, Young Adult
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seeped through the cobblestone path under her feet, beckoning her. She resisted stepping into the soil. It was one thing to walk barefoot on the old stone of the building; it was an entirely different matter to let the plants greet her, especially when her mind was so unsettled. Plants with so muchhuman contact were chaotic in their words, more so than she could manage today.
    “Soon,” she promised.
    The grounds behind the administration building were beautiful. Trees flourished as if they had never known dry seasons. Shrubs dotted healthy lawns, and flower beds offered bursts of reds, golds, and violet. Beyond them, however, was something far more exciting. A walled garden waited there, and the door was open. It looked seldom used, which was exactly what she needed. She wanted to step off the stone path and onto the living earth. She wanted to lose herself in it, fill the ache inside her with the surety of nature.
    She pushed the door open farther, murmuring a soft greeting to the remnant of the spirit of the wood that still clung to the aged timber. Vines clung to the walls and exploded in every hue of green she could hope to see. Inside the garden, paths were clearly marked. At the far back of the curated part of the garden was the mouth of a labyrinth. To either side of it, the plants seemed to have been allowed to go wild. The juxtaposition of the sculpted maze and the chaotic expanse was perfection. People didn’t enter the wild anymore. Fears of fae lurking in the shadows kept most of humanity to the fringes of nature.
    Lily went into the maze and twisted through several passageways. Then, after a quick glance to make sure there were no witnesses, she asked, “May I pass?”
    The plants rustled softly as they parted to allow her into the wilderness outside the labyrinth. She stepped throughthe opening in the hedge wall, expecting to be alone with the rarely visited plants of the wild, but there, dressed only in his tattoos and jeans, was Creed Morrison.
    She was glad she hadn’t arrived a few moments earlier. He was buttoning his jeans.
    At her gasp, he looked up and saw her. “And here I’d begun to think you disliked me.”
    The anger in his voice was tempered by his apparent amusement at her discomfort. Lily looked down at her feet to keep from staring. She’d certainly seen pictures of him like this, bare-chested and barefoot. He’d been caught on a beach in Ibiza wearing nothing more than jewelry, ink, and a smile. He’d been photographed in the restored Trevi fountain in Roma. The journals had blurred just enough to keep from violating “privacy of minors” laws, but only just. She’d liked the pictures, as she suspected most anyone with functioning eyes would. Still, seeing the pictures of mostly naked Creed Morrison hadn’t made her feel dizzy the way the real person was.
    “I was just”—she gestured behind her—“taking a walk.”
    “And stepped through a hedge wall without a scratch? However did you manage that?”
    She looked back at him as he buttoned the top button on his jeans. He didn’t sound as friendly as he had at her party, and she had exactly zero experience in being challenged. She kept her lips pressed together.
    “Is this the part where you injure yourself by lying again or admit that you’re a fae-blood like me?”
    She stared at him, consciously holding his gaze and not letting her attention drift to his bare skin.
    Abernathy Commandment #6: Never confess your vulnerabilities if you can avoid it.
    “Neither.” She smiled then, letting a little of her temper into it. “I don’t see the need to answer that question.”
    Creed laughed. He was dangerous in ways she didn’t understand. Growing up with criminals had prepared her for a lot of things, but not this . She felt the urge to flee just as she had the first time she’d seen a mountain lion in the woods.
    However, she knew enough to know how to protect herself a little. The fae were known to stand by their

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