Desert Tales (20 page)

 

Keenan watched Aislinn leave. She didn't really run, but she wanted to. He could feel it, her fear, like the thrumming heart of a startled animal. Mortals didn't usually run from him, especially girls: only one had ever done so in all the years he'd played this game.

This one, though, she was afraid. Her already-pale skin blanched when he reached out to her, making her look like a wraith framed by her straight blue-black hair.
Delicate.
It made her seem more vulnerable, easier to approach. Or maybe that was just because she was so slight. He imagined he could tuck her head under his chin and fit her whole body in the spare fold of his coat.
Perfect.
She'd need some guidance on attire—replace the common clothes she seemed to prefer, add a few bits of jewelry—but that was inevitable these days. At least she had long hair.

She'd be a refreshing challenge, too, in strange control of her emotions. Most of the girls he'd picked were so fiery, so volatile. Once he'd thought that was a good indicator—Summer Queen, fiery passion. It had made sense.

Donia interrupted his thoughts: “I don't think she likes you.”

“So?”

Donia pursed her blue lips—the only spot of color in her cold, white face.

If he studied her, he could find proof of the changes in her—the blond hair faded to the white of a snow squall, the pallor that made her lips seem so blue—but she was still as beautiful as she had been when she'd taken over as the Winter Girl.
Beautiful, but not mine, not like Aislinn will be.

“Keenan,” Donia snapped, a cloud of frigid air slipping out with her voice. “She doesn't like you.”

“She will.” He stepped outside and shook off the glamour. Then he said the words that'd sealed so many mortal girls' fates. “I've dreamed about her. She's the one.”

And with that Aislinn's mortality began to fade. Unless she became the Winter Girl, she was his now—for better or for worse.

A
BOUT THE
A
UTHOR

MELISSA MARR
is the author of the bestselling Wicked Lovely series as well as the adult fantasy novels
Graveminder
and
The Arrivals
. When not writing, editing, or traveling, Melissa is buried under a plethora of books, dogs, and children in Virginia or online at www.melissa-marr.com.

 

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B
OOKS BY
M
ELISSA
M
ARR

Wicked Lovely

Ink Exchange

Fragile Eternity

Radiant Shadows

Darkest Mercy

 

Wicked Lovely: Desert Tales

(Art by Xian Nu Studio)

Volume 1: Sanctuary

Volume 2: Challenge

Volume 3: Resolve

 

Faery Tales & Nightmares

Carnival of Souls

Graveminder

The Arrivals

B
ACK
A
D

C
REDITS

Cover photo © 2013 by Anxhela Isaj

C
OPYRIGHT

Desert Tales: A Wicked Lovely Novel

Copyright © 2013 by Melissa Marr

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

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ISBN 978-0-06-228756-4

Epub Edition © AUGUST 2013 ISBN 9780062238283

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