Summary

The novel opens with a man with pointed ears entering a small shop in London with a package. He finds a door in the back leading to a room filled with clocks and watches and puts an hourglass on the table. Nothing happens. Frustrated, the man goes to his cauldron and promises Helena that he will save her. Another creature in the shadows says he cannot see the boy they need through protection spells. The man instead searches for who the boy will meet next, and sees an image of a girl.

Tanya Fairchild, her mother, and her dog Oberon arrive at the rustic Hawthorn Cottage. Tonya finds a fairy who says she hates when humans come back in the summer. Tonya pretends to have found a spider, as her mother says Tanya is too old to believe in fairies. The fairy...