Love Struck by Melissa Marr Read Free Book Online Page B

closer to him, to get closer to any of the fey. He terrified her.
    Aislinn walked a little faster, not running, but faster. Don’t run. If she ran, they’d chase: faeries always gave chase.
    She ducked inside The Comix Connexion. She felt safer among the rows of unpainted wooden bins that lined the shop. My space.
    Every night she’d slipped away from them, hiding until they passed, waiting until they were out of sight. Sometimes it took a few tries, but so far it had worked.
    She waited inside Comix, hoping they hadn’t seen.
    Then he walked in—wearing a glamour, hiding that glow, passing for human—visible to everyone.
    That’s new. And new wasn’t good, not where the fey wereconcerned. Faeries walked past her—past everyone—daily, invisible and impossible to hear unless they willed it. The really strong ones, those that could venture further into the city, could weave a glamour—faery manipulation—to hide in plain sight as humans. They frightened her more than the others.
    This faery was even worse: he had donned a glamour between one step and the next, becoming suddenly visible, as if revealing himself didn’t matter at all.
    He stopped at the counter and talked to Eddy—leaning close to be heard over the music that blared from the speakers in the corners.
    Eddy glanced her way, and then back at the faery. He said her name. She saw it, even though she couldn’t hear it.
    No.
    The faery started walking toward her, smiling, looking for all the world like one of her wealthier classmates.
    She turned away and picked up an old issue of Nightmares and Fairy Tales. She clutched it, hoping her hands weren’t shaking.
    “Aislinn, right?” Faery-boy was beside her, his arm against hers, far too close. He glanced down at the comic, smiling wryly. “Is that any good?”
    She stepped back and slowly looked him over. If he was trying to pass for a human she’d want to talk to, he’d failed. From the hems of his faded jeans to his heavy wool coat, he was too uptown. He’d dulled his copper hair to sandy-blond, hidden that strange rustle of summer, but even in hishuman glamour, he was too pretty to be real.
    “Not interested.” She slid the comic back in place and walked down the next aisle, trying to keep the fear at bay, and failing.
    He followed, steady and too close.
    She didn’t think he’d hurt her, not here, not in public. For all their flaws, the fey seemed to be better behaved when they wore human faces. Maybe it was fear of the steel bars in human jails. It didn’t really matter why: what mattered was that it was a rule they seemed to follow.
    But when Aislinn glanced at him, she still wanted to run. He was like one of the big cats in the zoo—stalking its prey from across a ravine.
    Deadgirl waited at the front of the shop, invisible, seated on her wolf’s back. She had a pensive look on her face, eyes shimmering like an oil slick—strange glints of color in a black puddle.
    Don’t stare at invisible faeries, Rule #3. Aislinn glanced back down at the bin in front of her calmly, as if she’d been doing nothing more than gazing around the store.
    “I’m meeting some people for coffee.” Faery-boy moved closer. “You want to come?”
    “No.” She stepped sideways, putting more distance between them. She swallowed, but it didn’t help how dry her mouth was, how terrified and tempted she felt.
    He followed. “Some other night.”
    It wasn’t a question, not really. Aislinn shook her head. “Actually, no.”
    “She already immune to your charms, Keenan?” Deadgirl called out. Her voice was lilting, but there was a harsh edge under the words. “Smart girl.”
    Aislinn didn’t reply: Deadgirl wasn’t visible. Don’t answer invisible faeries, Rule #2.
    He didn’t answer her, either, didn’t even glance her way. “Can I text you? E-mail? Something?”
    “No.” Her voice was rough. Her mouth was dry. She swallowed. Her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth, making a soft clicking