Free Briar Queen by Katherine Harbour

You’ve been enchanted. Or cursed.”
    Moth’s bracelet of silver charms caught the light and Finn could make out the charms’ individual shapes—a bee, a seahorse, an owl . . . an octopus with a tentacle missing. Her stomach somersaulted. “Moth, where did you get that bracelet?”
    He stared at it as if he’d never seen it before. He took it off, held it out to her. “It was hers . . . the dark-haired girl’s.”
    With one trembling hand, she accepted the charm bracelet. There was the butterfly she had bought at a thrift shop in San Francisco, the skull with garnet eyes, the guitar, the octopus . . . The air in the room seemed to crack. She met Moth’s green gaze and whispered, “Who is the dark-haired girl who sent you?”
    No one spoke. No one moved.
    She pulled out her cell phone, tapped it to a picture, and raised it before Moth. “Is this her?”
    His face changed. Light dawned behind his eyes. He whispered, “Lily Rose.”
    AS MOTH SPRAWLED BACK ON THE SOFA, his gaze opaque, Finn gazed down at her sister’s picture. Sylvie was sitting at the edge of her chair, nibbling on a thumbnail and watching Finn. Christie turned a battered Rubik’s Cube he’d found on a shelf over and over in his hands, but his attention was also on Finn. Jack was leaning forward in his chair, feet apart, hands clasped between his knees, his face sober.
    â€œI don’t remember things in order anymore.” Moth spoke as if the memories restored by Lily’s photo hurt him. “Sometimes, I remember the Wolf’s house . . . sometimes, it was a ruin, other times, like the home of a lord. I ran away, once, and stone wolves chased me, brought me down.” He continued softly, “I came tothat house a long time ago. Before that, I traveled with a company in England. Actors. We were actors. Someone—a red-haired girl—I made her angry. Then I was . . . not me. The wing tattoos on my back . . . they’re a curse.” He looked up at Finn. “When I was me again, I was in that house, the one with the stone wolves. And so was the dark-haired girl. Lily Rose.”
    â€œBut”—Sylvie frowned at Finn—“you saw your sister fall. She was in the hospital .”
    â€œIt wasn’t her.” Finn didn’t take her gaze from Moth. “It wasn’t Lily who fell or Lily in that hospital bed. It was one of their tricks. Moth, is she alive? Lily Rose?”
    â€œFinn,” Jack said urgently.
    â€œI think we were friends.” Moth seemed to not have heard her question. “All the others in that house were cold things, cruel. But Lily Rose spoke to me. She was kind.” He lifted his head. “I don’t remember when I left, or how. I think she helped me escape, sent me to protect you. Then a sharp, dark man caught me. He made me sleep, and I woke up in the attic of the house you found me in.”
    â€œ Moth .” Finn leaned forward. “ Where is Lily Rose? ”
    Moth slid his gaze to Jack, his body suddenly taut. “She wanted me to protect you from dangerous things.”
    â€œJack isn’t dangerous to me.” Finn wanted to shake him. “Where is my sister?”
    â€œI’m to protect you. I remember what he used to be.” He pointed at Jack. “I saw him, in the house of the Wolf.”
    â€œI don’t recall meeting you.” Jack narrowed his eyes.
    â€œPlease.” Finn’s composure cracked. “ Tell me where my sister is .”
    Moth lowered his head. “I dare not. I’m to keep you safe.” He shivered as if shaking something from himself and said, “Fifteen ninety-five. Lily Rose would tell me that whenever I began to forget. It was the year I was stolen away. He’d taken my name. Fifteen ninety-five, she would say, and I would almost be myself again.”
    â€œFinn.” Jack stood. “Let’s go outside for a