Desert Tales: A Wicked Lovely Companion Novel

And cool, he admitted to himself.

“I didn’t know you were so innocent. I won’t push you.” He started to step away from her, but she held him close and kissed him thoroughly. One of her hands entwined in his dreads, clutching them to hold him to her.

When they parted, she whispered, “You’re not pushing. I’m trying to let you in, but I’ve been on my own for longer than the town even existed. It takes time. Ask me something else.”

Jayce held her tightly, one hand on her back, one hand cradling her head. He wasn’t sure how he’d gotten so lucky. Rika was unlike anyone he’d ever met, and she wanted to be with him. They’d figure it out.

They stayed like that for a few moments, enjoying the closeness that they were creating. When he let go, he took Rika’s hand and asked, “So why was Keenan here? If he doesn’t want to date you. . . . Did he want to try to be friends?”

“No.” Rika made a sound that might’ve been a laugh. “He wants me to be his subject, swear loyalty to him. In exchange, he’ll back me in controlling the desert.”

“So you’d be like . . . a sheriff or something? In charge of them?” Jayce sat on the ledge.

Rika sat next to him. “Yeah, but I don’t need him to be in charge. Might and will determine power out here. Shy was the one who held order. He’s Alpha, first in the faeries who choose to live here. To change the rules means changing the Alpha. Most of the rules are so minor that no one bothers. With a king though”—she scowled—“he’d have a host of rules. We’re not children to be controlled.”

“But with Shy injured . . . who’s that make Alpha?”

“Me,” she said it softly, glancing at him from behind a bit of hair that had fallen into her face. “It means that I need to be ready to deal with a few challenges—unless I have someone strong supporting me.”

“Like Keenan.”

She nodded. “But Keenan’s support comes with costs I won’t pay.”

Jayce frowned. “Like?”

“Obedience. I’ve been on my own for forever though. Even as Winter Girl, I had no ruler. I was between two courts, caught in their game, but not sworn to either.” Rika looked fierce, and Jayce was suddenly reminded of wild animals. She might have begun her life as a mortal, but there was something majestic about her that was more than human.

“So tell him no.”

“I did.” She lifted her chin a little. “It felt good too. Now I just need to hold things together until Shy is well; then he can deal with a couple dozen moody faeries. Remind them who’s in charge.”

“But you’re stronger? Why was he in charge then?”

She shrugged. “Shy’s strong, and I didn’t want to be involved. He was here when I got here. . . . I just wanted to draw and be alone.” She stood suddenly and reached down for Jayce’s hand. “Now, I just want to draw and be alone with you.”

Smiling, she led him through the tunnel to reach the room where Sionnach was.

The injured faery lifted his head from the bed and looked at them as they came into the room. He appeared relieved to see them, but he also looked feverish. Sweat was visible on his face and arms. Fresh blood was soaking through the sheet over his stomach. He quickly covered it with his arm and asked, “Keenan’s gone?”

“Yes,” Jayce confirmed. Quietly, to Rika, he pointed out, “He’s bleeding.”

“You hurt yourself moving, didn’t you?” Rika snapped at him as she went over to check his wounds. She tried to lift his arm, but the injured faery didn’t cooperate. “That’s what the blanket was hiding.”

“Stop!” Sionnach caught her hand in his. He kept the other arm tight to his stomach, holding the sheet in place. He seemed embarrassed. “Jayce? A little help?”

Jayce shook his head. He wasn’t going to agree to let anyone stay hurt, especially the faery who was supposed to be keeping order in the desert. “You’re injured. Let her look.”

Rika scowled at Sionnach and walked away to get more water. “I didn’t realize . . . when I walked out —”

Sionnach interjected, “And neither did Keenan.”

Rika returned with the basin of water. She dipped a cloth into the basin and then twisted the cloth, squeezing out the excess water. “Who cares what he—”

“Being Alpha means appearing strong even when you aren’t.”

“Maili.” Rika slapped his arm lightly, gesturing for him to move it out of her way, and then scowled when he didn’t comply. “She contacted him to let him know you were injured.”

“I’m sure she contacted him, but I don’t think he knew I was injured.” With a sigh, Sionnach moved his arm, letting her pull the sheet away from the bleeding wound on his stomach. “I’m glad he doesn’t know I’m this weak.”

“Why?” Jayce walked over to a basketlike chair that he’d helped her bring up to the cave last week. It hung from a bent wooden frame. He settled into it, glad that he didn’t have to sit on the ground now that there was a comfortable chair. He’d felt awkward sitting on piles of blankets and furs.

Sionnach and Rika both stared at him as he started to swing in the chair. Rika’s hand paused midway between the basin and Sionnach’s bare stomach, and Sionnach turned a very appraising gaze on Jayce.

“What will happen if Keenan knows?” Jayce opened his bag. “Explain. It’s the only way I learn anything, and maybe talking it out will help you make sense of it all.”

“Rika is hesitant to be in charge,” Sionnach said. “I’m half-useless. Keenan’s the king of Summer. Court fey are treacherous, but they’re smart. If he thinks we’re not strong enough to hold some sort of order here, he’ll send out someone with loyalty to him—or openly support Maili.”

“Why?” Jayce pulled out a sketch pad.

“Because it’s what he does—rally the forces, bring solitaries into his fold, expand his power base.” Sionnach grabbed the cloth Rika was now trying to use to wipe his face and gave her a put-upon look. “I can do it myself.”

Rika huffed at him in irritation and walked over to get another bowl of the icy water. As she did so, she asked, “Why is Keenan so interested in our home?”

“Because he thinks we should be his because of the heat here?” Sionnach shrugged awkwardly, even now trying to appear uninjured but failing to look convincing. “He always thought we should have been loyal to him.”

“So, it could be a revenge thing? Break us to his will now that he’s strong. . . .” Rika shook her head. “That doesn’t work. Not for Keenan.”

Jayce set his sketch pad in his lap for a moment and reached down to pull a thicker pencil from his bag. As he turned the pages, flipping past the rough sketches of Rika—looking fierce, looking vulnerable, looking pensive —he had to remind himself to focus on the conversation. Even as he wanted to know more, he knew he could quickly forget his questions once he began drawing. He looked purposefully at them and again asked, “Why?”

Sionnach wiped the blood from his skin with the rag he hadn’t surrendered to Rika, and then pressed the cloth to his wound, wincing as he did so. “I don’t like the Summer King, so I hate to say anything kind . . . but Rika’s right: he’s not that petty.”

“Strategy.” Rika returned to Sionnach’s side with a bandage. “There’s a benefit to claiming us. If he can bring those of us who are sworn free under his thumb somehow, it increases his strength. It makes him look clever.” She scowled at Sionnach and informed him, “I’m wrapping that.”

Jayce quickly stifled his burst of laughter, but the quirk of Sionnach’s lips and the way his gaze darted to Jayce made it obvious he’d heard.

“Plus, there are fighters aplenty out here,” Sionnach said. “Maybe our little Summer King is thinking of wars to come.” He kept his hand pressed to the wound as if Rika hadn’t just informed him that she was tending the wound.

“Shy,” Rika began warningly.

“Fine.” Sionnach tossed the cloth into the washbasin. Carefully, he rolled to his side so she could wrap the bandage round him. The look on his face made it abundantly clear that he wasn’t pleased that she was forcing him to be tended. Jayce suspected that Sionnach would be less irritated if not for his presence. This was the faery who was supposed to be the strongest in the desert, and here he was being coddled in front of someone. Jayce looked studiously at his sketch pad while Rika wrapped the bandage around the injured faery. He could see her out of the