Desert Tales: A Wicked Lovely Companion Novel

princess?” He widened his eyes, but his tone was very serious, and Rika was reminded yet again that he had always been a faery. “Are you telling me that it’s okay to keep secrets from those we care about?”

There were layers of meanings under his words that she couldn’t begin to fathom. The tension had grown thick, but Rika couldn’t decide if it was anger or something else that was driving the fox faery. She released his arm. If she were any other faery in the desert, Sionnach would’ve reacted as if she’d just challenged his authority.

“Rika?” he prompted. His gaze told her there were more things hidden in his words than she knew. She wasn’t sure, though, what he was thinking as he waited for her reply—any more than she was sure what her reply was.

Do I think keeping secrets is okay? That was his question. She simply wasn’t sure why her answer mattered to Sionnach, but it was apparent that it did. To some degree she had to believe that it was okay to keep secrets. Elsewise, she would have to tell Jayce how often she’d watched him. She rolled the question over in her mind. There was no way the fox faery meant it to be purely a question about her and Jayce. She knew that much at least.

Behind her, she heard movement, and glanced back as Jayce stood and grabbed his things from where Sionnach had deposited them. He started toward the entrance to the cave. “You two obviously have something to sort out, so I can—”

“Please don’t go.” Stricken, Rika stepped farther away from Sionnach and shot a plaintive glance at him, wordlessly asking him to be less . . . him, less fey.

“She wants you here.” Sionnach stepped in front of Jayce. “I took care of what needed taken care of so you could be here with Rika. Don’t waste this chance.”

And then he left the cave.

Rika was utterly motionless for a moment, Jayce on one side, Sionnach outside the cave opening. She was confused by Sionnach’s help, by his actions here tonight, and by the way he’d seemingly helped push Jayce toward her while saying such things that made her wonder if she really knew the fox faery at all.

Carefully, she touched Jayce’s forearm. “Please stay here for a minute. I need to talk to him, but I’ll be right back.” She swallowed nervously and then added in a rush, “I really want you to stay . . . not just for your safety, but because . . . I want you here. He’s my friend though, and I need to find out what happened, and he doesn’t want to talk in front of you. Please just give me a minute.”

After a moment, Jayce sighed and said, “Why not?” Then he walked toward one of the tunnels with his bag without saying anything else.

As soon as Jayce disappeared into the tunnels, Rika ran outside and found Sionnach staring at the desert. He’d slid to the far side of the ledge in front of her cave, precariously perched so he wasn’t visible from inside, and Rika wondered briefly if he’d stood out here like this when she was unaware of it. Right now, that wouldn’t surprise her.

“What did you do to get his things?” Rika demanded in a whisper.

“Nothing special.” Then in a blink Sionnach suddenly looked like Jayce, but still dressed in his own clothing. “Just a simple glamour, princess. You might only use them to stay hidden, but there’s a world of possibilities. I stopped at Jayce’s house before I came out here so I could explain to Jayce’s father that I’d be off camping with Del . . . and then stopped and told Del I’d met the girl of my dreams and was going to see her.”

Rika blushed. “I’m not—”

Sionnach was still wearing Jayce’s face as he said, “The girl of my dreams? You are. You’re one of the most amazing”—he pulled her into his arms, holding her in a position appropriate for slow dancing or kissing —“gorgeous”—he stroked her hair—“unusual girls I’ve ever met. Who wouldn’t want to hide away with you?”

When Rika didn’t reply, Sionnach leaned in like he was going to kiss her. “And you believe in me enough that you aren’t seeing through the glamour . . . or are you seeing the real me right now, Rika?”

Rika remained immobile in his embrace. Her hands were on his upper chest, and that was all that kept any distance between them. Then, she said his name, half question she didn’t want answered and half answer to the question he’d posed. “Shy?”

The glamour faded, and Sionnach looked at her from his own face. He kissed her nose, a strangely innocent act after the hungry way he’d just been looking at her. “I’ll be back in a few days, princess. Go see Jayce.”

By the time Rika could begin to figure out what to say, Sionnach was gone. If someone had told her yesterday that the mortal she was half in love with and the faery she considered an almost friend would both say such outrageous things to her on the same day, she would’ve laughed madly. Sure, Sionnach flirted now and again, but he’d never truly intimated that he considered her more than a distraction to tease. They’d spoken often of the desert, of courts and politics, of plants and weather. He hadn’t acted like that with her, and Jayce . . . well, he hadn’t known she existed.

The world had gone off-kilter, and she wasn’t quite sure what to think. All she could do tonight was take advantage of the unexpected opportunity to talk to Jayce when he was able to see her, when he could actually reply to her. Nervously, she walked deeper into the cave and followed the tunnel back to the cavern where her mural was. Jayce was staring at it with something like wonder on his face.

She came up beside him.

He didn’t look away from the art. “You’re incredible.”

“I’m not.”

Then, he did look at her, and they were face-to-face, with very little distance between them. Unlike Sionnach, Jayce seemed as nervous as Rika felt. Strangely, that made her feel more comfortable.

“This is the weirdest day of my life.” Jayce stepped even nearer, but it was only one step. His actions grew more tentative with each breath. “And one of the best.”

Rika stayed still, caught between wondering whether it was better to act or react. One of his hands curled around her waist; his fingers rested on the small of her back. His embrace was about keeping her close, holding her near to his chest, lining their bodies up. But that was it—the promise, the temptation, and no more. The tension in his muscles made clear that he was debating moving closer.

He went so far as to tilt his head as if he’d kiss her.

Rika waited, counting the beats of her heart as if by counting she could slow the furious rhythm.

After being utterly untouched for years, she was in someone’s arms for the second time in mere moments —and yet she was still unkissed.

Is it me? She licked her lips, trying to find the words to ask such an unpleasant question. Am I . . . What, though? Unattractive? Uninteresting? Unpleasant in some way?

He ducked his head then, dropping his gaze. “I’m afraid.”

“Afraid?” Her voice was soft and girly, and she hated the way it sounded, the way she felt. After so long, she shouldn’t be this meek.

He nodded.

“Of what?”

“You. Me. All the things that aren’t making any sense . . .” His words weren’t much more than a whisper.

“I can’t explain all of that, but—”

“I still want to be here, to be with you.” His voice was so low that if he pulled away, she wasn’t sure she’d hear what he was saying. He didn’t let go of her; he stayed kissably close, waiting for her, giving her the choice to decide what happened next.

“I want you here too.” She flattened her palms against his chest. Under the skin, his heart was racing, beating as rapidly as hers was. In this, they were well matched—except her pulse raced with excitement and his with fear.

“You live in a cave, Rika.”

“I do.”

He hesitated even longer before speaking this time. Haltingly, he asked, “Is he . . . Sionnach, is he your . . . something?”

Rika hesitated, not knowing the answer as clearly as she did yesterday. All she could say of what she did know was: “Sometimes I think he’s my friend, but I’m not always sure.”