The tension between them grew and grew so that by the time he finally called an end to their trek for the day, whatever spell had been cast back in those woods seemed more a fantasy than reality.
Again he’d built them a fire, and as crazy it sounded, even through the deafening silence of the day, Nixie found herself looking forward to her night alone with him—camping out beneath the stars, staring up at the bejeweled sky, as a warm fire crackled and snapped beside them.
“What are you thinking of?” he finally asked once they’d lain down.
Seemed an innocent enough question. She shrugged. “I was staring up at the sky and wondering why I never noticed how pretty the stars were before.”
Which was true, though she’d only thought it in passing.
“My dad was born in the stars, he pointed out the constellations to me every night atop our balcony back home. The stars are the same there and here, he’d say.” She smiled, remembering the cherished memory. “I love the stars.”
Rolling over, Robin propped his chin on his fist and stared at her in silence for several long, excruciating minutes.
Nixie had kicked off her slippers when they’d lain down. Now she curled her toes and flexed her fingers through the grass, fighting the instinct to get up and pace under the weight of his scrutiny.
She nibbled her bottom lip, frozen with indecision. Unsure whether he was trying to start a conversation, or if he were simply studying her like an amoeba under a microscope—like a curiosity he was trying to figure out.
Unable to stop herself from looking back at him, she was locked like prey in the sights of a predator. The light of the flames cast half his face in dark shadows, highlighting the sculpted planes of it, making him appear half-demon, half-man. Beautiful and deadly. An incubus come to steal her soul.
She shivered.
But no matter how she tried to remind herself that he was just a man. She knew he wasn’t. Not really.
Robin Hood. The man of legend and fairytale. Alone in the woods with her.
Sometimes she couldn’t believe this was really her life, that all of this wasn’t some awful nightmare she was stuck inside of, and that her body—much like Sleeping Beauty’s had been—was trapped in a spell that prevented her from waking up.
“Tell me more about the sky, pet.”
Breath releasing in a loud puh, she turned her gaze from his. Looking directly at him was a lot like staring into the sun. Dangerous to one’s health.
“So now I’m pet again? Not genie? Not woman?” She wished she hadn’t said that, but her brain and her mouth rarely worked hand in hand.
She heard his smile as he said, “You’re right, I shouldn’t call you pet. I’ll be dragging you into my camp soon enough. I’ll need to introduce you as something—”
“Robin? Where’s Maid Marian?” she asked, trying to switch subjects.
“Maid who?” His eyes tightened into a sharp frown, staring at her as if she were crazy.
Heart thudding almost violently in her chest, Nixie sat straight up. “Marian?”
He cocked his head. “Are you all right, woman?”
What? But that didn’t make any sense. “You know.” She flicked her wrist with excitement. “The love of your life?”
Either he was a good liar, or…
Wetting her lips, she waited for his answer.
“Oh,” he scoffed, “if you’re referencing a story about me and my men, I know not. The stories told of Kingdom are rarely true.”
Nixie had to remind herself to not let her jaw hang open. “What?” she spluttered, blinking, because what he was saying totally wasn’t computing. “There are always some threads of fact, though, right?”
“About a woman?” He laughed, a giant, booming sound that echoed through the still woods. “I’d say not.”
“Well, do you know of her at all?” Nixie flicked at the dried tip of a twig.
Dad had always told her how fallacious fairytales were. She’d known that. He’d told her his story many times. That he wasn’t this evil genie hell-bent on taking over the world, killing the king he’d served so that he could be with his queen.
Okay, so, granted, her dad had had an affair with the queen, but there’d been mitigating circumstances and it wasn’t like her dad was cool with it. He’d learned his lesson. The hard way. It’d very nearly taken his life, but he’d learned and he and Mom were so completely in love it almost bordered on eye-rolling at times, but the truth was, she loved seeing her parents so completely devoted to one another.
Because of them Nixie had grown up a romantic. Knowing that no matter how long she had to wait, her perfect other half was out there.
And though dad had told her the tales as Earthlings knew them had very little shred of fact to them, Nix had devoured them, wishing for her very own Prince Charming.
One of her favorite tales in the world had been Robin Hood and his utter devotion and adoration for his beautiful Maid Marian.
“I’m afraid not, pet.” His smirk was broad. “Though if you’re petitioning for the spot, there just so happens to be an opening. I’m completely unattached.”