The iron chain presses cold and rough in my clenched fist, a fragile thread keeping me alive. Fingers purple with lack of circulation, my eyes skim over the pale, thin sheet of paper written on in delicate crimson.

Soft, frigid breath brushes my neck as the faerie circles me, every movement filled with inhuman gracefulness.

“Do you understand the deal, human?” She steps forward, her voice smooth as black ice and tinged with a accent I cannot place.

I grit my teeth and nod, shivering in the cold. This realm is not for my kind to ever see or escape.

“You know the sacrifice.” A thin finger tilts my chin upwards, burning with cold and forcing me to meet her eyes. Large, black pools with no trace of sclerae or irises that remind me of the void, jarring against her snow-bleached skin. When I stare into them, there are no signs of pity or emotion.

“Yes, I do,” I reply through numb blue lips. I have read it again and again; there are no loopholes. In return for freeing my twin brother, I will take his place at the mercy of the Fae for the rest of my life.

The faerie inclines her head slowly, wings rustling. “Drop the iron.”

The chain falls limp in the snow from my grasp, landing with a dull clang on the icy ground. My last protection from the Fae, gone.

“Sign the paper, human child, and the deal will be final.”

Trying in vain to hide my shaking hands, I pick up the dagger-sharp quill and slice open the back of my forearm. Ruby-red blood spurts out in waves, staining my ornate, ragged silks. I clench my teeth against the stinging, and dip the quill into my own blood.

I sign the paper.

A rapid chill bolts through me and I gasp, stumbling. As I double over, battling the ice that has settled in the pit of my stomach, I can feel the faerie’s eyes on me. The last shred of human warmth leaves my body; and when I breathe out, my breath no longer leaves a trail of mist.

I stubbornly force myself up. I must not be weak. I meet her gaze, struggling to breathe. “Now, your end of the bargain,” I choke out, fighting for air. “My brother. Give him back.”

She turns, and for an awful, gut-wrenching moment I think that she is about to leave. Mother’s words echo in my mind. “Never trust a faerie, Ellinor…”

But she sketches a rune into the air, and the weeping willows part to reveal a open casket coated with frost. I stagger over, falling to my knees.

My twin brother lays inside, his skin pale and drained of blood. “Cassius!” I yell hoarsely, grabbing his wrist and feeling for a pulse. Nothing.

Dread hits me like a bullet. No. I shake him blindly, trying to get him to respond. I was too late, he was already dead-

“Patience, human,” the faerie murmurs. “He is merely comatose. When he awakens in the Human Realm, this will be but a faded memory.”

I swallow hard, trying not to show my relief. She has stepped out of my peripheral vision, and I resist the urge to glance over my shoulder to see what she is doing. “Finish your part of the deal, then. Send him back to my realm.” I force the next word out. “Please.”

“Very well.” I hear a soft whisper of cloth as she traces another symbol. I feel a rush of buzzing cold; the same I felt when I signed the paper. Shimmering threads of light crisscross Cassius’s body in a net, then fade, leaving the casket empty. I fight to keep my expression neutral.

“Now,” she says, her gaze burning into the back of my head as she circles me, “it is your turn to honor the deal.”

I bite my lip, my fingernails digging half-moons into my palms, and meet her inky eyes. “What do you want me to do? How will I take my brother’s place?”

For a moment, I think I see a flash of pity and sadness cross her pale face, but it’s gone as soon as it came.

“Come, human. It is time for you to meet the Queen.”