These Hollow Vows (These Hollow Vows, #1)(49)

He cocks his head to the side. “That’s a pretty passive-aggressive way to ask for help.”

“I—” I clench one fist and release it. He is such an arrogant ass. “You’re the one who insisted on helping me, but I come here and you leave me to Pretha.”

“She’s an excellent teacher. You should be grateful for her time, Princess.”

“Why do you keep calling me that?” I snap. “I’m no princess.”

“You’re a few sweet promises and tender moments away from being that boy’s bride, and everyone knows it.”

I have to bite my tongue to keep from arguing. It doesn’t matter what he thinks of me or my relationship with Sebastian. All that matters is getting the relics for the king so I can get Jas back.

But Finn’s intent on baiting me. “Isn’t life at the luxurious Golden Palace everything your mortal heart imagined?”

I sneer. “Why would you assume my mortal heart imagined anything?”

“Don’t all mortal girls dream of marrying a handsome faerie prince?”

“You are such an arrogant ass!” A ball of shadow forms in my hand, and I curl my fingers around it. “This mortal girl never dreamed of it. I didn’t want to come here. I was forced to come when the king of your court bought my sister.”

“Pretha’s wrong, then? You don’t have feelings for the prince?”

“I . . .” I did. I do. But my complicated feelings for Sebastian are none of Finn’s business. The ball of shadow pulses with my anger. “I have no desire to be a faerie princess. If I’d known Sebastian was fae, we never would have become friends to begin with. He knew that.”

Finn walks slow circles around me, and I feel like a horse at market, being appraised from every angle. “Surely you’ve forgiven him for his lies if you’re hoping to marry him, to enter a bond with him.”

“I’m not hoping to marry him,” I snap. I have to splay my fingers to hold on to the writhing ball of shadow in my palm as it continues to grow. “I don’t want to be a princess. I don’t want to bond with a faerie—or with anyone.”

He stops his circling in front of me and meets my eyes. “So you’re not bound to anyone?”

I roll my eyes. “Not that it’s any of your business, but no. I wouldn’t allow that.”

Finn’s shoulders drop. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he was relieved. But there’s no reason why this Unseelie prince would care that much about me. “Sebastian will eventually ask to bond with you,” he says.

“He knows how I feel about you faeries and your human-controlling bonds. It won’t happen.” I couldn’t even bond with him if I wanted to. I can’t give Sebastian that kind of awareness of me when I need to sneak around to save Jas.

“Mordeus will ask as well. Remember that the only way anyone can have it is if you allow it. If you value your mortal life, you won’t do that—ever.”

“Is that a threat, Finn?”

“It’s a warning, Princess.”

“There is no bond in our deal.”

“There isn’t yet, but beware of Mordeus’s scheming.”

Mordeus’s scheming? What about Finn’s scheming?

He lets out a breath. “I can try to help you. The truth, though, is that Pretha and I know nothing about mortals who have magic—or how the magic works with you.”

“Why would it be different?”

His brows raise. “Because you are different.” He walks forward and grabs my arm. He draws a fingertip from the inside of my elbow down to my wrist, just above where I hold the ball of shadow. A matching shiver shimmies down my spine.

His eyes lift and meet mine, and his lips part. For a moment I think he feels it too—the pulsing energy between us, this awareness that makes me feel more awake and alive than I ever have. It’s only the magic, I tell myself, but I am a terrible liar.

He drags his fingertip across my skin again, and I take slow, measured breaths and wish he’d release me. He would if I asked—I’m sure of it—but I refuse to let on that he affects me.

“What happens if I cut you?” he asks.

“I bleed.”

He nods. “And if you heal, your body will make more blood as you recover. But if the cut is too wide, too deep, if you bleed too much and cannot produce new blood fast enough to pump through your veins and tend to your body, you die.”

“I’m familiar with how it works,” I grouse.

He glowers. He traces that line again, and this time I can’t hold back the shiver. “Magic is like blood for the fae.”

“I don’t understand. You don’t bleed?” That can’t be right. I’ve seen Sebastian bleed—tended to some of his minor wounds myself at times.

“We bleed, but it’s the magic in our blood that heals us, the magic that keeps us alive, not the blood itself. Your blood gives you life. Our magic gives us life.” His gaze drops to my mouth, and my breath catches.

He releases my arm as suddenly as he grabbed it, and he backs away. Looking out the window, he drags a hand through his hair. He pulls it away from his face, tying it back like he’s getting ready to spar. “It’s not a perfect analogy, but it’s the best I have. Magic isn’t infinite. It’s tied to our life source, and we have to learn what our capacity is so we don’t overtax ourselves. But like blood regenerates after you lose a small amount, a faerie’s magic should regenerate. How much a faerie can lose and regenerate without weakening depends on their power.”