These Hollow Vows (These Hollow Vows 1)

“How dare you—” I shuffle back a step, spotting two sets of glowing silver eyes in the dark hallway. Two large wolves prowl forward and stop on either side of Finn.

Finn snaps his fingers, and the wolves sit, sniffing the air in my direction and whining quietly. They’ve healed since I saw them in the forest, but there is no doubt in my mind that these are the same animals that attacked the Barghest.

Their silver-and-gray coats were mottled with blood when they ran away, but today they are clean and shining, and . . . much larger than I remembered. They looked so much smaller compared with the Barghest, but now I can see just how massive they are. Even sitting, they’re only a head shorter than I am.

My eyes flick to Finn. “They’re yours?”

“In a manner of speaking,” he says, absently scratching one behind the ear.

Pretha says, “I told you we aren’t your enemy, Abriella.”

The night it happened, I had wondered whether the wolves were just trying to get the Barghest out of the way so they could get to me. But looking at them now, panting happily at their master’s affection, I know without a doubt that they saved me. If Sebastian hadn’t shown up, they would have kept fighting—until the Barghest died or they did.

“Are they okay?”

“They are now,” Finn says. “Thanks to my healer.”

“What do you call them?”

“Dara and Luna,” Finn says. The wolves’ ears perk up at the sound of their names.

“May I?” I’m aware of all the eyes in the room on me as I inch forward and extend a tentative hand toward each. Finn mumbles a low command, and the wolves rise and approach me slowly. “Thank you,” I say, kneeling in front of them and offering the back of my hands to smell. “You protected me.”

The wolves lick my hands, then nuzzle my palms like big cats.

When I look up, there’s something like confusion in Finn’s eyes, but he blinks and it’s gone, replaced by the steely cold I’m used to. “Why did they do it?” I ask.

“Because I asked them to.”

“That was a terrible risk. They could have been killed.”

Finn doesn’t deny it. Instead he folds his arms and leans one shoulder against the wall. “They’re very loyal, and now that they’ve protected you once, they would do it again.”

Pretha sighs dramatically. “But it would be much better for everyone involved if you didn’t go running off and need saving again.”

Kane chuckles. “Maybe she likes being rescued by her prince. Sounds like he made quite an entrance when he returned to the palace—running inside with her in his arms and generally playing hero to her damsel in distress.”

My cheeks heat at the picture he paints. I hate the idea that anyone sees me that way, but I don’t bother asking how they know about what happened at the castle. Clearly everyone spies on everyone here. I direct my attention to Finn when I ask, “What do you want from me?”

“I told you before,” he says, his voice a little rough, as if he’s very, very tired. “We want to help you.”

“Why would you want to help me when I’m working for the king who wants you dead?”

“You mean the false king,” Kane says, his voice sharp.

Finn snaps his fingers, and his wolves obediently return to his side. “The missing relics make my court weaker. My people are suffering, and I will do anything I can to help them.”

“Even if it means strengthening the . . . your uncle?” I smell something, and it’s not honesty.

“Mordeus,” Finn says with none of Kane’s annoyance, “cannot get any more powerful unless he wears the crown.”

I frown. “Where’s the crown?”

“My father’s crown has been missing from the Court of the Moon for too long now,” Finn says. He pauses a beat. “I take it you haven’t found the mirror yet?”

“I know where it is, but I haven’t been able to get to it,” I admit.

“And have you tried using your magic?” he asks. “You know, that thing that lets you walk through walls and magical wards as if they weren’t even there?”

Jerk.

“How could she do that when she can’t even control it?” Pretha asks, but Finn shoots her a look that shuts her up.

“No,” I say, answering Finn’s question. “Pretha’s right. I don’t have enough control. But that’s not the problem. The queen keeps the mirror guarded and surrounded by light. Even if I had control over my powers, they would be useless there.”

Kane snorts. “She has no idea, does she?”

“Stop talking about me like I’m not in the room,” I snap. “And no idea about what?”

“No idea just how strong you are,” Pretha says. She cocks her head to the side. “No idea what you’re capable of.”

“What if I told you,” Finn says softly, “that your power is never useless. That you’re strong enough to manifest darkness so complete that it would gobble up every bit of her light?”