The pain in her palm helped clear the pain in her heart just enough for her to look up at Dani and say, “But that doesn’t matter, does it? Because here I’ll stay until it’s over. Why did they do this to me, Danika? My father was an outcast, no longer part of the genie circle. Why did they force this life on me?”
Months ago Danika had found Nixie. Of course, Nix had seen the fairy a time or two visiting her parents in their Chicago loft, but the visits had been rare and few. Paz had explained that someday Danika would be Nixie’s fairy godmother too, should she wish it. But now that she was a genie Nix was no longer eligible to have a godmother. There was literally nothing anyone could do to get her out of suffering her fifty years of servitude.
Danika visited as often as she could, but it wasn’t often enough. Only when Nix was in between masters could her friend make an appearance.
Patting her hair back into place, Danika took a seat again. “I do not know. I fear fairies and genies have never really had much of a working relationship; while we are not mortal enemies, we aren’t typically friends either. But what little I could gather showed me they were well within their right to call on you. And though you may not think it, their terms were quite generous. You see, most genie/human matings result in abnormal offspring. Most half-breeds are little more than swirling sand. But your father fell into a unique category—he’d been tossed from his guild and made an outcast, his magic stripped from him. So their union was like any other human/human match up. Except for the fact”—she slathered curd onto her scone daintily—“that his blood still had threads of magic coursing through it because of the golem’s body. You are quite rare, and I fear the council of genies simply felt out of their league when it came to how to best handle you. You are a first of a kind, my dear.”
Danika took a bite and sighed. “Mm.” Her lashes fluttered. “Leonard still makes the best lemon curd of all, though”—she placed a finger upon her lips—“let’s not tell Alice that, I fear she might take offense.” Her blue eyes twinkled.
But Nixie didn’t feel like laughing. She pushed her plate away and stared at a sky bursting with stars.
“I surround myself with images of home. Clinging to a life that is dead to me.” The stars disappeared, along with the balcony, buildings, street noise, smells, and garden. Now they sat on the bronze floor of a dark lamp and Nixie allowed herself to shed a tear.
Danika flicked her wrist, causing the tea and scones to vanish into thin air. “For centuries I was as cursed as you. Simply for daring to love a man. My looks.” She trailed two fingers down her lovely face. “Were stripped from me. My beloved imprisoned within the walls of the moon, both of us denied from seeing the other. But we bore it and we overcame it.”
“I don’t know how to overcome this, Danika. I feel lost and alone. This is not my home and these are not my people.” Nixie shuddered.
“But they must be now.” The fairy gently touched her shoulder. “There is no sense crying over what you cannot change, you do what you must and you move on. And in time you will find you love this place as much or more than you ever did Earth.”
“I won’t. I know I won’t.”
Danika’s smile was sad. “You are young still. Time, my dear girl, time is the great healer. Mind my words, you will find joy again. For I have determined to make it my next mission. Believe it or not, girl, I already know who he is.” Her smile stretched wide. “Which means”—she stood—“I should be off. I wish you nothing but wonderful things. Magical, wondrous things.”
Rude as it might be, Nixie hadn’t the strength to wave goodbye to her friend when she winked back out of existence. She simply lay down, curled into herself and stared sightlessly into the darkness around her, feeling the full weight of this burden in a way she’d never felt it before.
Chapter 2
Sleep had eluded her that night. Nixie sat up, sore and disgusted with herself. She’d never been a moper before. In fact, she’d hated being around people who only whined and cried about how unfair life was.
Fact was, she didn’t have to like any of this, but she did need to learn to deal with it. If her parents could, then so could she.
Determined to set things straight with Josiah, she quickly set about completing her morning routine. Brushing her teeth, her hair, applying a little makeup, and choosing the most ridiculously beautiful genie outfit possible.
If there was one thing she did like about this whole gig, it was the clothes. Stunning silks and threads of gold and silver, lace and soft cashmeres. Of course, the outfit was always the same one. There wasn’t a great variance of options as a genie, but it was so pretty, she didn’t really mind, either. The colors were some of her favorites. Warmest pink, coolest turquoise, and richest purple, she pirouetted in front of the mirror with a smile.