Wicked Lovely (Wicked Lovely 1)

Glaring at the faery, Aislinn leaned back against Seth. How dare she come here? Who sent her? The idea of Seth being vulnerable to them made her almost violently angry.

“Well, this is fun,” Mitchell said.

Nodding, Jimmy sat down with the pan of half-cold pasta and a fork. “My money’s on Ash.”

The faery

kept coming toward the kitchen.

Aislinn put her arm out in front of the faery. “I think you need to leave.”

“Really?” She wrinkled her nose.

“Yes.” Aislinn put a hand on the faery’s wrist, not gripping it, but resting her fingers there. Just like at school, contact with the faery made Aislinn’s Sight clearer.

Aislinn pushed, gently.

The faery winced and stumbled. Her eyebrows shot up as she gave Aislinn a strange look.

Recovering quickly, the faery murmured, “Another night, then.”

“No.” Seth slid his arms around Aislinn’s waist. “I’m exactly where I want to be.”

Jimmy and Mitchell exchanged another goofy grin.

“Man, you need to share your secrets.” Mitchell got up and picked up his beer. At a quick glance in his date’s direction, she came over to stand next to him.

Mitchell continued, “Not like you ever have trouble getting—” He cleared his throat, and his date smacked him on the arm. He grinned.

“All I’m saying is whatever he’s doing”—he inclined his head toward the back of the train where Seth’s bedroom was—“must work. Ash hardly ever even speaks. He’s got her ready to start a fight over him.”

The faery hadn’t moved. She trailed her fingertips down her cleavage, slowly. “You’d have fun. More than you’ll get here.”

Aislinn stepped away from Seth. She wrapped her fingers around the girl’s wrist and walked over to the door, tugging the faery behind her. For such a strong faery, she was unbelievably easy to drag along. Maybe she’s weak from all the steel.

“Go.” Aislinn opened the door and shoved the faery forward. “Stay out.”

The faeries outside were all watching. Several giggled gleefully.

The vine-girl in the suit was there again. She looked up from her newest menagerie of origami animals—which were now walking around as if they were alive. “Told you, Cerise,” she said, and went back to folding more leaves. “That sort of approach doesn’t work if they’re already in love.”

Aislinn let go of the encroaching faery. “Stay away from him.”

“For the night”—the faery looked back inside, her wings opening and closing behind her, slowly, like a butterfly at rest—“but really, I think he could do so much better.”

Freaking faeries. Aislinn opened her mouth to say something else.

“Not interested,” Seth called from behind her.

“Bitch,” said one of the girls to Aislinn as she left. She stomped out like she had a right to be offended. “You didn’t need to grab her like that. She was just flirting.”

The other said, “Guys don’t like pushy girls. They like ladies.”

At the door Jimmy paused and deadpanned, “Yeah. It’s really not a total turn-on.” Then he cracked up. “You get tired of Seth…”

Mitchell shoved him. “Shut up.”

Invisible to everyone but her and the faeries, several of the ever-changing group of fey things outside scurried off.