“You … out here looking for something?” he asks. We’ve reached an overgrown stretch of the shoreline. Without missing a beat, Gil helps me out of the boat and hides it behind a few of the trees that dip low into the water. He lifts the canoe easily, like it’s made of paper. I squint, looking at the lean muscles of his body before remembering he asked me a question.
What was I out here looking for?
“Inspiration mostly,” I say, feeling embarrassed to not have a better answer. He walks me back down the path, our handsbrushing every once in a while. Heat rises to my cheeks with each accidental touch.
I shouldn’t mistake chivalry with interest. Neither of us talk much, but there’s an energy I can feel buzzing between us with every shared glance and smirk. Suddenly, we’re at my cabin door.
And it all feels like a strange dream.
“I’ll see you around?” I ask, hoping this isn’t the last time our paths cross. Preferably under less awkward circumstances.
“Yeah,” he says but doesn’t take a step back. Neither do I, tension swaying in the air like the moss-covered trees. Whatever I say next needs to be direct—an invitation, a signal for him to ask me for my number.
“Cool” is all that manages to come out of my mouth. Great, I’ve regressed to an awkward teen saying goodbye after a first date. Should I ask forhisnumber?
I should ask for his number.
“Cool,” Gil echoes, and that’s it.
After a long breath, and the realization that this isn’t going anywhere, I break away, moving up the creaking steps to my cabin door.
“You eat breakfast?”
I whirl around, nearly toppling over my own feet. His deep chuckle rings through the night, and he smiles at me.
“Occasionally,”I say. My breakfasts aretechnicallydesserts or leftovers, and typically consumed after noon. So, no, I don’t eat breakfast, but on the off-chance this leads to a date…
“What if I asked you to eat breakfast with me?”
My face heats up. Is he asking me out? “I’d say yes,” I reply, biting slightly on my bottom lip. “I’ll see you here tomorrow?”
“It’s a date.”
A date…
Maybe I was wrong about fairytales after all. This marshy swamp may be covered in gators and frogs, but in the midst of all of that, I think I found a prince.
Chapter 6
Gil
Ihate to leave the springs for even a second.
While I don’t want to get ahead of myself, there’s something I need if I’m going to make good on the promise I made to Marina so many years ago.
Swimming deeper and deeper, I cross between worlds, arriving back at the dock in front of my house in the swamp of Eclipsica. It’s a place Grampy built in the 70s, which appears to float on the surface of the water, given its stilted platform. I’m expecting peace and a good night’s sleep before my date tomorrow; instead, I find a vampire.
It would be a damn shock if this wasn’t a frequent occurrence. Considering the whirlwind of an evening I’ve had, and the long swim through the portal back to my realm, the last thing I want is a night filled with whatever is bothering the great king Magnus.
But his charm is on full display, along with his fangs, as he waves me over. I climb up the ladder and resign myself for a night of acting like his unofficial royal advisor. Though, the small cat on his shoulder may be angling for my job.
If Marina is the childhood best friend I lost so long ago, Magnus is the one I can’t seem to be rid of. The vampire king’s long red hair blows back in the breeze as he casts a steely gaze toward me.
“You’re usually back from work by now,” he says with an annoyed huff. “I have been waiting forages.”
“Wasn’t at work.” If he paid attention, he’d know that accounting for my family’s charter business is the last thing on my mind this time of year. I don’t bother to hide the way I’m grinning from ear to ear; I won’t let his sour mood spoil mine.
“Oh, do forgive me, I’ve forgotten this is the time for your yearly sabbatical.” Magnus’s usual eye roll is replaced with a slack jaw as he zeroes in on my blissful expression. “Don’t tell me you actually found her this time?”
