Desert Tales by Melissa Marr

tile-roofed, yellow-walled building where clusters of mortals were coming in and out. She pointed. “There.”
    â€œUmm.”
    â€œPlease?” She stood and tugged so that he came to his feet beside her.
    The faeries were almost too near now. Although Jayce couldn’t see them, he’d obviously noticed Rika’s tense posture and expression. He turned away to call out to Del and Kayley. “Hey.”
    After a moment, his friends stopped kissing. Del, arms still around Kayley, answered, “What?”
    â€œDead Ends?”
    Kayley shrugged and pulled farther away from Del. After they put their clothes to rights, Del and Kayley, each with an arm around the other, sauntered toward them. The couple was almost as bold as Summer Court faeries in their affection, and Rika couldn’t help but think that there were traits that were as much mortal as fey.
    Together Rika and the three mortals walked to the door of the club. Del and Kayley seemed like they were trying to be polite to her, but they weren’t going out of their way to talk to her. Perhaps if she were someone else, their attitude would upset her, but considering how difficult she’d found even talking this slight amount, she was relieved by their feigned indifference. Plus, she’d watched them often enough to know that they weren’t truly indifferent; until they determined if she was staying, they simply didn’t see the need to bother getting to know her. They were Jayce’s friends, and he didn’t often date. He did have a lot of random conversations with girls he didn’t ever spend a second night hanging out with. There was no reason for his friends to think they’d see a girl who showed up out of nowhere again the next day. And they might not. She’d be there, but that didn’t mean they’d see her—they hadn’t the past few months despite how often she’d been with them.
    In comfortable silence, they joined the small cluster of people outside Dead Ends. Like the rest of the town, the people here reflected an odd mix of styles. Some people were dressed in what Rika considered elaborate costumes, while others wore clothes as casual as Jayce’s were.
    His hand tightened on hers as they joined the chaos inside Dead Ends—and she was grateful for his steady grip. The overflowing mass of people and thundering music made Rika want to flee.
    Kayley and Del were being swept into a crowd of people, but Jayce didn’t join them. He wound through the bodies, holding tightly to her. When they found a bit of space to themselves, he leaned in closer so she could hear. “Are you okay?”
    â€œCrowds.” She tried to smile, but she knew it must’ve looked pained because Jayce frowned and tried to lead her back outside.
    â€œC’mon then,” he said. “We’ll leave.”
    But three of the faeries had followed them inside. Two were plainly visible to humans, looking as menacing as some of the humans were trying to appear. The third faery was Maili; she had stayed invisible to the swarm of mortals in the club.
    â€œLet’s go this way.” Rika tugged Jayce deeper into the crowd, pushing through the room as she looked for another exit. Her attention flitted everywhere, on windows too high up to access, exposed pipes overhead, shadowed corners. There were no exits she could see, no way to get Jayce to safety.
    She maneuvered him so he was in the thick of the crowd with her. It wasn’t a complete solution, but she thought it would help.
    Almost immediately, though, one of the faeries zipped toward them and clamped a hand down on Jayce’s shoulder. The faery tugged on Jayce, spinning him around and causing him to stumble. If not for the steel bracelet Jayce wore, he’d have been in a worse situation, but the bracelet brushed against the faery’s exposed skin. The burn of it caused him to release Jayce.
    Rika started to grab Jayce to pull