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“But…” I trailed off. “It’s been centuries. Mortals and fae bound together to rid this world of them. Surely it’s impossible for them to come back.”

“There’s a prophecy,” she whispered. “It speaks of a time when the gods will return, and I fear that time is imminent. I need you to make a vow to me, Kalen. A binding vow, laced with magic. You know what this means.”

I swallowed hard. Fae rarely made binding vows these days, at least in Dubnos. “I’ll be physically forced to follow through on whatever I vow.”

“That’s right,” she said. “I need you to do this for me. You know I would not ask if it wasn’t important.”

“Tell me what it is first. I can’t agree to something that I don’t understand.”

She nodded. “All right. There are two parts to this vow. First, if you learn that someone is trying to bring back the gods, you need to act with haste. You will do whatever it takes to stop them, even if that means killing them. Even if that means using your destructive power against them.”

I frowned. My powers had proved almost impossible to control. Mother had assured me by the time I reached twenty-five, I’d know how to handle the mists and the telekinetic power that could blast from my hands. But I was a man of twenty-eight now, and it still eluded me.

“Second, if you see a comet in the sky, burning a bright white, it means a god is returning. You need to kill whoever caused that to happen. If you don’t, you will never be able to save this world. That person must die, Kalen. Do you understand me?”

For a moment, I couldn’t breathe. Until now, Mother had rarely spoken to me about the gods, especially in such a fervent manner. Any time Matho brought them up, she dismissed his ramblings and moved on to something else. But her eyes were alight now, her entire body curving toward me with anxious energy.

“What is this?” I asked. “What’s brought this on?”

“The gods still search for a way to return to this world. You can never let them, no matter who stands in your way.”

Shaking my head, I sat back in my chair, heart pounding. “We don’t believe in the gods in Dubnos. We worship the land, nature, the moon in the sky. Not some horrible beings that tried to make this realm theirs by killing us all.”

“Exactly,” she hissed, grabbing my hand. “Which is why we can never let them come here again. Vow to me, Kalen.”

“Why me? Why not you? Why not Rhiannon? She’s the eldest. She’s your heir.”

“Your power is formidable.”

“It’s erratic,” I countered. “The last time I tried to use it, I blew an entire house apart. If anyone had been inside at the time…”

Her bony fingers squeezed tight. “Just promise me you’ll do whatever it takes to stop them. Vow to me, Kalen.”

I stared into her diamond-studded eyes. No one was able to say no to my mother, not even Matho Ceirin, who chafed against the rules of her reign. It was why he’d waited until she was gone to try to turn the city away from Druidism and to his gods instead.

The five winged riders were full of fire and vengeance. Matho believed they were fated to rule this land, punishing the wicked, and granting immortality amongst the stars to anyone who followed them. He would be rewarded for bringing them back. He’d always been…obsessed.

“You’re worried about Matho, aren’t you?” I pushed up from the chair and waved at the closed door. He’d be outside, pacing and wondering why we’d holed up in here together. Thankfully, the stone walls where thick enough to trap our words within. “You think he’s the one who’s going to do it.”

Mother actually laughed. “He’s far too useless for that.”

“But then what has you so spooked?”

“I’m telling you, son. Theywillreturn soon. And you’re the most powerful fae I’ve ever met. Will you please make this vow to me? One that must carry on beyond my death.”

I closed my eyes. A binding vow. One to fight against powerful beings I knew next to nothing about. “Will you tell me what you’ve found out about them? If you expect me to stop this, I need to know what I’ll face.”

“What little knowledge I have will be yours,” she said.

“All right then.” Something in my chest tightened, though I didn’t quite understand why. “I vow it, Mother. I’ll do what you’ve asked.”

The magic burned through me, forever fusing my life to my words. The only way to escape what I’d promised would be my death.

Four

Tessa

“Tell me about the stars,” Nellie said from her perch on the dungeon bed while I paced the length of the cell. I was starting to feel claustrophobic trapped in this place, and it had only been a couple of days so far. Two more weeks, and I’d be out, but I’d be stepping from one prison and into another.