Ink Exchange

When Seth stepped back, Keenan nodded to him and took Aisli

Aisli

"Why?" Leslie looked from Seth to Aisli

But Niall turned toward her, the movement drawing her attention to his scar. Leslie froze, caught between wanting to stare and wanting to look away.

Niall said, "Surely you could join us for a while?"

Leslie turned to stare pointedly at Aisli

"Please, Les, could you? As a favor?" Aisli

She's terrified.

"Sure," Leslie said as a wave of dizziness rolled over her, like something in the core of her was being stretched and tugged. The force of it made her unable to move, unsteady to the point that she thought she was going to be sick if she tried. She started cataloguing everything she'd drunk or eaten or touched to her lips in any way. Nothing unusual. She stayed motionless, concentrating on breathing until she felt whatever it was recede.

No one else moved either. They didn't seem to even notice.

Seth said, "We're good. Go on, Ash."

Then Aisli

Leslie shifted from foot to foot, watching a group of skaters across the street. They were taking advantage of the traffic-less side street and doing tail slides on the curb—not that there weren't other places they could go, but they were content to be where they were. It was appealing, that sense of peace. Sometimes Leslie felt like she was chasing that— at Rabbit's, at her friends' parties. She just needed the right timing to catch it.

Seth started to walk away, and Niall pushed off from the wall, watching Leslie with a hungry expression. Something was different, unleashed. He stepped closer to her, slowly, and she felt sure his caution was to keep her from ru

"Niall?" Seth had stopped and called back, "Crow's Nest?"

"I'd rather go to the club." Niall didn't even glance at Seth. Instead he watched her with a pensive look, as if he were studying her. She liked it far too much.

"I need to bail," she said. She didn't wait for an answer but simply turned and left.

But Niall was standing in front of her before she'd gone more than a half dozen steps. "Please? I'd really like you to join us."

"Why?"

"I like being near you."

And she felt a surge of the confidence she'd been filled with in fleeting moments since she'd been tattooed.

"Come with me?" he prompted.

She didn't want to leave. She was tired of ru

He held her gaze as he lowered his head toward her. He didn't kiss her, though—just leaned kissably close and asked, "Will you let me take you in my arms…for a dance, Leslie?"

She shivered, confidence swirling with a surge of longing for the peace she could almost taste, peace she was suddenly sure she'd feel if she slipped into Niall's arms. She nodded. "Yes."

Chapter 11

Niall knew better. He knew not to allow himself so very close to temptation. He was to keep the queen's mortals safe while Keenan and Aisli

This is work, just like any other day. Think about the court. Think about vows.

But it was hard to think about the Summer Court—or the Dark Court, for that matter. Niall had been a confidant to both kings, and now he was relegated to caretaker of the Summer Queen's mortals. Everything had changed when Keenan found Aisli

Being around Leslie had become a reward—and punishment. His unexpectedly intense longing to be near her the past week or so was complicating an already unstable situation. He was staring at her again, and Seth noticed.

"You think that's a good idea?" Seth glanced pointedly at Leslie.

Niall kept his expression carefully neutral; Seth knew him too well. "No, I don't suppose it would be."

Leslie seemed oblivious, lost in her own thoughts, and Niall wished she would share them with him. He had no one he could truly share such things with. Until he'd seen Aisli

It was both the temptation and the trouble with mortals. The caresses of some faeries, Gancanaghs like him and like Irial once was, were addictive to mortals. Irial's nature had been altered long before Niall ever drew breath. Becoming the Dark King had changed him, made him able to control the impact of his touch. Niall had no such recourse: he was left with memories of mortals who'd withered and died for lack of his embrace. For centuries, those memories were reminder enough to restrain himself.

Until Leslie.

Niall could hardly look at her as they walked. If Seth weren't with them … Niall felt his pulse race at the images in his mind, at the thought of Leslie in his arms. Not for the first time, he was glad he had Seth's company. The mortal's calm seemed to help Niall remember himself. Usually.

Niall stepped a little farther away from Leslie, hoping— irrationally perhaps—that distance would bolster his self-control.

Keenan had been suggesting Niall pursue a relationship of his own now that the court was strong—growing stronger by the day—but Niall didn't imagine he'd be permitted to do so with a mortal, especially one Aisli

Would he?

And Niall had no intention of betraying his king or queen's trust, not willingly. They'd asked him to keep the mortals safe, and so he would. He could resist the temptation.

But he still had to fold his hand into a fist at his side. The urge to lay his skin against hers was a compulsion he hadn't felt so strongly in centuries. He stared at her, looking for some clue as to why her, why now. Leslie realized that Niall was staring at her again. "That's sort of creepy, you know?"