These Hollow Vows (These Hollow Vows 1)

Bakken focuses on the lock of my cut hair in his fingers and strokes it lovingly. “The Unseelie kingdom is a dangerous place for a human girl, even for a Fire Girl. You’re better off forgetting about your sister and enjoying your newfound freedom.”

“That’s not an option.”

He tucks my hair into a pocket. “I cannot take you, but for another lock, I can tell you.”

I don’t even think before offering him a nearly identical lock from the opposite side.

His eyes dance as he slices it off. “At midnight, the river portal will open for the celebration of the Seelie prince’s birth. There you can enter the Seelie Court and find the queen’s secret portal to the Court of the Moon. It opens only once each day, when the clock strikes midnight.”

This makes me pause. “Why would the Seelie queen have a portal to the Unseelie Court? I thought they were sworn enemies.”

Bakken’s stroking his new lock of hair and barely paying any attention to me. He answers absently, the way one hums a tune they’ve heard a thousand times. “Once, the golden queen was but a princess. She loved Oberon, the shadow king, and sacrificed dearly for a way to see him in secret. Her kingdom had been at war with the Court of the Moon for centuries, and her parents would have never allowed her to visit.”

I frown. That’s the tale my mother used to tell us at bedtime—the golden princess and the shadow king. “I thought that story was just legend. It’s true?”

“Where do you think legends begin, if not from truth?”

Suddenly I wish I could remember more of Mother’s stories, but it’s been so long and I’ve recalled them with so much resentment for years. I shake my head, focusing on the issue at hand. “Where’s the portal?”

“You’ll find it in her childhood wardrobe—a massive armoire marked with wings on each door. She’s never been able to bring herself to destroy it.”

I swallow hard. Go to the Seelie Court, find the queen’s secret portal to enter the most dangerous place in Faerie, find my sister, and rescue her from a power-hungry king. Child’s play.

Bakken’s eyes flick to mine, and he frowns. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a bracelet made of fine silver threads. He offers it to me with an open hand. “Take it. No one but you will be able to see it or feel it on your wrist.”

I’ve heard of goblin bracelets, but I’ve never seen one. The silver threads are so fine they’re nearly invisible, but they glitter in the candlelight.

“Each thread represents a story of Faerie. Stories are power, Fire Girl. If you need me, simply break a thread, and I’ll appear.”

“If I break one of these”—I finger the threads gently before meeting his gaze—“you’ll help me?”

He nods. “Yes. Though I cannot save you from mortal peril, so don’t bother with it if you’re to become some beast’s next meal. But with information, for travel within the realm, I can help.”

“At what cost?”

His grin is more devious than comforting. “But a lock of hair. Or teeth if you’d prefer.”

My hand shakes as I take it from him. “What if I break a thread by accident?”

“Goblin threads don’t break accidentally. There must be intent.”

I slide the bracelet over my hand, and it magically tightens around my wrist. “Thank you, Bakken.” I reach for the door and step into the hall.

“Fire Girl!” Bakken says, stopping me. “Remember, the shadow king is clever. He’ll play you against your fate for his own benefit.”

Play me against my fate? What does that even mean? Faerie riddles. “I don’t believe in fate, Bakken. All I care about is my sister.”

“Ah yes, and the king knows that.”

Chapter Four

“YOU NEED TO TELL SEBASTIAN your plan,” Nik says, leaning against the side of Mage Trifen’s house.

“Is that why you brought me here?”

I had moved out of Madame V’s this morning and gone straight to Nik, who patiently listened to my panicked story and half-baked plan before insisting that I follow her to Mage Trifen’s for a sleeping tonic. The portal doesn’t open until midnight, she reasoned, and I wouldn’t be any good if I didn’t get some rest before then.

Now the sun inches toward the horizon, and it feels as if time is moving both too fast and too slow. If it were up to me, I would already be searching Faerie for my sister, but I’m scared I won’t be strong enough or smart enough once I get there. I’m so scared I’ll fail.

“I brought you for the tonic,” she says, patting her purse, “but I do think you should tell him. Maybe he could go with you.”

I shake my head. “He’ll get in the way trying to protect me. And anyway, he leaves for the next portion of his apprenticeship tomorrow. I won’t ruin that for him.”