Ink Exchange (Wicked Lovely 2)

Niall slowly stepped back, assuring that she was steady on her feet before he let go.

“Are y

ou sick?” Tish had her tiny hands on Leslie’s forehead, her cheeks. “Is it from the ink? Let me see.”

“I’m fine.” Leslie slapped Tish’s hand away from her shirt, anxious at the thought of sharing her tattoo—our tattoo, mine and Irial’s—right now. “What do you want? Why are you—”

“I saw you at the club but couldn’t expose myself there.” Tish still stared only at Leslie.

Expose herself? With the deluge of emotions distracting her so, Leslie was having trouble figuring out what to say or do. All she could ask was, “Do you know Seth?”

Tish glanced briefly at Seth, sizing him up with a look that would’ve done Ani proud. “Ash’s toy?”

Beside Seth, Niall stiffened, but Seth put a hand out.

“I don’t get it, but”—Tish shrugged—“not my business.”

Then she laced her fingers through Leslie’s and started talking as if there were no one else around. “You seemed like you were having fun earlier. Rabbit would kick my ass if I didn’t bring you to him, though. You’re pale. The first day is rough for humans.”

“Humans?” Leslie almost laughed at how very surreal the night had become. “What does that make you?”

But Tish was still talking, ignoring the question, “Let’s get you checked out. Make sure you’re all good when he comes for you.”

“I’m fine,” Leslie insisted although she knew she wasn’t. “But yeah, let’s go see Rabbit. Just to…He?”

“Iri,” Tish said gleefully. “You want to be ready for him, don’t you?”

“For Irial?” Leslie repeated, looking back over her shoulder at Niall. He had a horrible expression of pain on his face. Chicory tangled with copper sorrow.

“Survive,” he mouthed as he touched the scar on his face.

And she paused, remembering the way her vision had shifted when Niall had walked her to Seth’s. She turned her head, looking at Niall and Seth from the corner of her eye: Seth looked the same as he always had. Niall didn’t. His scar glared like a fresh jagged wound; his eyes reflected the streetlight like an animal’s. His bones weren’t quite right, like there were extra lengths or joints where she had none. His cheekbones were too severe for a human’s face, too angular, and his skin glowed as if illuminated by a light inside him, as if his skin were too sheer, like parchment over a flame. She pulled her hand out of Tish’s grasp and stepped toward him.

“He couldn’t tell you,” Seth said.

Leslie couldn’t move closer, couldn’t find words, staring at Niall as he glowed.

Niall held her gaze. “I negotiated with my queen to be allowed to protect you. I’m sorry I failed, Leslie. I…I’m so sorry.”

“Your queen?” she asked, but she suspected the answer before she heard it. She looked at Seth.

“Ash,” Seth confirmed. “She didn’t want you involved in this world. She wanted to keep you safe from them.”

He motioned behind her, where there were now almost two dozen people who didn’t look anywhere near human. Like the crowd at the Rath, they all seemed to be wearing elaborate costumes. But they weren’t costumes.

“What are they?” she asked.

“Faeries.”

Leslie looked at them: no one was what they’d seemed a few minutes ago. Nothing made sense. I am angry now. I am afraid. Yet she couldn’t feel those things. She felt curiosity, surprise, and a vague sense of euphoria that she knew—objectively—should be more terrifying than the rest.

“Ash rules one of the faery courts, the Summer Court. She shares the throne with Keenan,” Seth said without any inflection, but Leslie felt—tasted—his worries, his fears, his anger, his jealousy. It was all there under the surface.

She looked back at Niall—not from the corner of her eye, but full on. He still looked like he was glowing. She gestured at him. “What? Why can I see you like this now?”

“You already know. I don’t need to wear a glamour.” Niall stepped forward, walking toward her.

“She’s Irial’s now. Ours.” Tish gestured toward the shadows, and at least six of the thorn-covered men stepped in front of Leslie, blocking Niall. As they did so, the dreadlocked quints from the Rath appeared beside Niall. They were growling, as was he. He bared his teeth.