Chapter 27
HE DIDN’T WAIT for me to answer, moving around the desk to pull out the book and hand it to me. “For once, this information might prove to be worth gathering.”
“No deal for this?” I asked without thinking.
“Well, if you’re offering. . .” Soren gave me a teasing grin, holding out a hand like he’d take the book back.
“No, no!” I stepped out of reach, clutching it to my chest. “Too late. I was just surprised.”
A slight wince crossed his face.
I was also an idiot.
Specifically, an idiot wasting precious time.
I opened the book and flipped to the last place Soren had written an entry. The writing was neat, and the information was organized in careful columns, listing out dates, names, and where the visitor was going.
Flipping the pages back to two days ago, I found Dad, Rissa, and Olive listed with Destination: the Hollow Court, where assignment will be decided.
Just like Soren had said.
Ignoring the rest of the names on that page, I turned back a few pages until I found the date Mom had been taken.
Slowly, I scanned it.
Fizzlewick, Pixie, Destination: the royal kitchens for work as a taste tester and soup stirrer.
Holly Black, Human, Destination: the queen’s rooms for work as a scribe and memoir writing.
Glimmergloom the Tooth Collector, Destination: the frog chorus for the bass notes.
And then right between a “Buttercup” and a “Grisel,” there it was: Maeve Donovan.
Mom.
“I found her!” I whisper-yelled to Soren excitedly, to avoid waking any of the nearby sleeping people, before bringing my eyes back to the page.
Next to her name, it said, previously Maeve Thorneveil of the Grimhollow clan, Destination: passing through, en route to the Shadow Court.
I frowned at the strange name. Mom was an immigrant, so I’d always known she had a unique history, even if she didn’t like to talk about it, but why had I never known that was her maiden name?
And the clan thing was weird. Was that an Irish custom?
The last bit about passing through caught my attention.
Soren had made it pretty clear the Shadow Court and the Hollow Court were separate.
“What is it?”
Not seeing anything else, I let the book slip closed, and my trembling hands sank to my sides as I struggled to keep my grip on it. “She’s not here.”
Soren gently took the logbook before I dropped it.
I fell into his desk chair, putting my head in my hands. “Where is the Shadow Court? Isn’t that where you’re from?”
Halfway through tucking the book inside the drawer next to me, Soren froze. “They sent her to the Shadow Court?” A puzzled look crossed his face, and then he shook his head. “It’s in the mountains.”
“But we don’t have any mountains in . . .” I trailed off. “Oh.”
“Far” might be an understatement.
“It said when she was—” I nearly choked on the word vomit before I could say taken.
I tried again, keeping my words as unrelated to Mom as possible, unsure exactly where the magic drew the line.
“The book said, ‘passing through’ on the way to the Shadow Court.” My voice cracked.
“That was over a week ago. She’s—” I stopped, unable to finish saying, “Probably long gone.” Apparently, the magic deemed that too close to saying what had really happened.
When Soren didn’t argue, he confirmed my fears.
Sighing, he moved to sit on the edge of the desk, rubbing the spot between his eyes with a wince before saying, “I hate to make things worse, but we should probably discuss the lifting as well.”
Julian had used that word. “What does that mean?”
“During the solstices and equinoxes, four times a year, the veil between our worlds lifts for a brief span of time—usually for ten days, sometimes more, sometimes less. It’s not precise or entirely predictable.”
I didn’t understand half of what he’d said, but I did recognize one of those words, since we’d just gone to a solstice party and Soren had told me during our first deal that it was a fae holiday. “How much longer does this solstice last?”
“Roughly one more day, give or take.”
My stomach turned into a rock. I whispered, “What happens when the day ends?”
“The veil will close.”
I squinted at him. “Close . . . how, exactly?” Because I’d struggled against an unseen barrier when chasing my family through the woods, but it hadn’t actually stopped me.
“The magic that naturally repels humans increases significantly until no one is able to approach without being turned away.”
Realization dawned on me. “That’s why you’re all in such a hurry to get these people out.”
He nodded.
“And Julian said you only help the humans escape during liftings . . . because they can’t get home once the veil closes?”
A single nod.
“So, I need to get my family out before then.”
He didn’t try to reassure me or make me feel better this time. He simply said, “Yes. You do.”