It seems to match better.
Tithe follows the story of sixteen-year-old American Kaye Fierch, a
young nomad who tours the country with her mother's rock band. The
book begins in Philadelphia, at a gig her mother's band Stepping Razor
is playing in a seedy bar in Philadelphia. After her mother's
boyfriend and guitarist, Lloyd, attempts to stab her mother under the
enchantment of Nephamael (a knight of the Unseelie Court) her mother
takes her back to Kaye's grandmother's house in New Jersey to stay.
Once at her grandmother's house, Kaye begins to look for her old
"imaginary" friends she had during her childhood, faeries named
Lutie-Loo, Spike, and Gristle. However, she fails to find them and,
begins to suspect that they were simply figments of her imagination.
Her suspicions dissolve when she finds and saves the life of Roiben, a
faerie knight, by pulling an iron-tipped arrow from his chest. In
return, he grants her three truthfully answered questions about
anything she chooses, which she does not immediately use. Soon after
this, Spike and Lutie-Loo contact her and warn her that Roiben is a
murderer who has killed Gristle. As revenge, Kaye tricks Roiben into
telling her his full name (she later learns that faeries can be
controlled by their true names).
Later on, her friends tell her that she is a changeling and that she
should keep her human appearance, because the Unseelie Court wishes to
use her as a "Tithe" in order to bind the Solitary Fey to the Court's
queen, Nicnevin. Since Kaye is not mortal, the ritual will be forfeit,
and the fey whom the Unseelie Court wishes to bind will go free. Kaye
attempts to control her newfound abilities by enlisting the help of a
Kelpie to teach her how to use magic. She is soon kidnapped by a group
of fairies, as planned and is taken to the Unseelie Court to go
through the sacrificial ceremony. Before the ceremony Roiben takes her
to be prepared, having a dress made for her and allowing her to stay
with him the night, where they acknowledge their feelings for one
another. At the climax of the ceremony, Kaye uses Roiben's name to
order him to free her from her bonds before she is killed, resulting
in a bloodbath between Roiben and the court before they flee safely.
In the process, he kills the queen of the Unseelie Court and many of
her guards.
Kaye and Roiben spend the day at Kaye's home, and discover that
strange events are affecting the mortal world. Odd reports of mauling
and kidnappings are reported on the news and Roiben makes Kaye
understand that this is a result of the solitary fey being free for
the next seven years. Kaye receives a call from her friend Janet,
inviting her to come to a Halloween rave held at the waterfront, she
tries to persuade her not to go but fails. After a failed attempt to
receive help from her "imaginary" faerie friends, Roiben and Kaye
attend the rave. They are separated, and Kaye successfully locates her
friends, but briefly leaves them to apologize to Janet's boyfriend for
bewitching him earlier in the novel. However, she finds that the
kelpie who lives near the waterfront has taken Janet into the water to
kill her. In the novel, it is suggested that Janet went with him out
of loneliness and a desire to get revenge on her boyfriend for going
off with Kaye. Kaye follows but is too late and she manages to
convince the kelpie to relinquish her body. Roiben finds Kaye mourning
for her friend and gets her home.
The next morning, she and Roiben travel to the Seelie Court's camp
some distance away to see if Corny is there. They reach a dead end,
but discover that the knight (Nephamael) has proclaimed himself the
king of the Unseelie Court. Roiben is suspicious of the situation and
thinks that it is a trap for Kaye and him. Later, Roiben's suspicions
are proved correct when they enter the Unseelie Court. Nephamael, who
had discovered Roiben's true name from Spike before killing him, uses
it to take control over Roiben. He orders him to seize Kaye, but
Roiben uses trickery to let her get away. Kaye then devises a plan to
poison Nephamael, while Corny and Roiben amuse him. She goes through
with it; however, before Nephamael is dead, the Seelie Queen arrives,
hoping to take over the court (right after her arrival Corny goes
insane and stabs Nephamael multiple times, ultimately killing him).
Roiben prevents the Queen's takeover attempt by claiming the throne as
his.
