Chapter Forty-Four

At midnight on the castle roof during the spring equinox, Harry summons Mab with a formal offering, prepared for a serious audience. Mab arrives in full queenly aspect; they exchange courtesies, acknowledge the difficult summer past, and toast “promises kept.” Mab unexpectedly devours Harry’s blooded bread, revealing a rare hunger for small pleasures and hinting at her own ongoing recovery.

Harry asks why Lara once burned on touching him but did not on Halloween. Mab explains that the White Court’s protection from true love is an energetic interaction, not mechanical; sustaining it requires self-worth and fully reciprocated love. By Harry’s own judgment, he has twice failed love, dissolving that protection. The truth stings, and Harry declares he will be free of Mab someday; she replies, “not today.”

Turning to his purpose, Harry requests his boon: every aid Mab can provide to pacify Thomas’s Hunger, restore his health, find and return Justine whole and sane, protect their child, and settle Thomas’s debt to Etri to secure safety from the svartalves. Mab warns the path is possible but painful and uncertain, offering that power, riches, or pleasure would be easier gifts. Harry confirms his wish.

Mab seals the bargain: frost spreads over the table and stones as she pronounces the debt repaid, then vanishes. Left alone, Harry feels dread tempered by a fierce spark of hope—there are no perfect magical fixes, but giving his brother and family a fighting chance may be enough. He finishes the cold, iced-over meal, resolved to face the costs ahead.