The medica—the medical ward—was on the floor below, down another narrow stairwell. At the bottom of the steps was a sparse room with two beds, and the back wall was covered with shelves stocked with metal utensils, gauzy bandages, and tiny bottles of medicines and potions.
But my eyes went right to Pan, sprawled out on one of the beds. Elof stood on a stepstool beside a tall man in a dark hood—the häxdoktor, presumably—so he was chest high to the bed, presumably so it would be easier to see and talk with Pan. A kerosene lamp hung above Pan, bathing him in a warm yellow glow, and his white T-shirt had been ripped open, the fabric now stained with blood.
There was blood everywhere, actually. On the floor, on his jeans, soaking the bandages on the floor.
I gasped and rushed over to him, half expecting to see a pale corpse, but Pan smiled at me with bleary eyes.
“Hey, Ulla,” he said weakly. He reached out for me with his right hand, and I saw a fresh bandage wrapped tightly around his forearm.
I took his hand and put my other hand on his chest. “What happened?”
“It’s okay, it’s okay,” he said, assuring me with his crooked grin. “I was playing økkspill with Noomi, and the axe slipped.”
“It’s not my fault,” Noomi interjected flatly. She’d brought me down here, and now she waited a step behind me, her hands clasped behind her back.
“He is all right now,” Elof said, and his clear, authoritative way of speaking instilled far more confidence in me than Pan’s easy smile and glassy eyes. “We’ve given him a transfusion.”
“Yeah, I feel weird, but good.” His eyes widened empathically. “Like really good.”
“That could be the dadarud—a pain-relieving root we gave him,” Elof explained. “It also has some mild hallucinatory properties, but he is definitely not in any pain at the moment.”
“See?” Pan squeezed my hand and stared up into me eyes. “I’m great.”
“I’d like him to sleep down here in the medica, though, so I can keep a better eye on him,” the häxdoktor said. “He does really need some rest, but he will be fine.”
“Perhaps we should clear out to let him sleep,” Elof suggested.
“Is it okay if I stay a few minutes longer?” I asked.
Elof nodded. “Of course. We’ll be right outside if you need us.”
When they were gone, I turned back to Pan. His dark curls lay flat across his forehead, and I gently brushed them back. “Are you sure you’re okay?
“Yeah, I’m fine. Honest.” He laughed lightly. “You’re so pretty when you’re worried.”
“Thanks? I think?”
He laughed again, harder this time. “No, I’m just saying you’re beautiful. I feel like everything I’m saying is coming out weird, but I mean what I say anyway.”
“You sound drunk,” I commented.
“No, I didn’t drink anything, not really, but since they gave me that girl’s blood I have been feeling pretty darn good.”
“Pretty darn good?” I teased.
“Yeah, really.” He put his hand over mine. “I also feel like I really wanna kiss you.”
I chewed my lip. “I don’t know if you should in your condition.”
“No, I know that I should.” He propped himself up a bit with his good arm. I leaned down and kissed him gently on the mouth, but I cut it short, pulling back.
“What’s wrong?” Pan asked.
“I’m still freaked out from you getting hurt.”
“But I’m okay,” he insisted.
“I know. I don’t think I could’ve forgiven myself if something really bad happened to you because you followed me here.”
He relaxed back down on the bed, content with just holding my hand. “I would follow you anywhere, and it’s worth whatever risk there is.”
“You’re so cute when you’re all high on Älvolk medicine.”
“I’m always cute,” he joked.
“That’s true,” I agreed with a laugh, and he yawned loudly. “You’re tired. I should let you sleep.”
“Stay with me until I fall asleep.” He tugged at my hand. “Please.”
I nodded, so he scooted to the side, as much as the narrow bed would allow, and I squeezed onto the edge beside him. I rested my head on his chest, and he wrapped his good arm around me. It didn’t take him long to fall asleep, but I stayed with him a little bit longer, listening to his heartbeat and savoring the way his arm felt around me.
Eventually I untangled myself from him. I went toward the door when something caught my eye. Under the apothecary table I saw a pink gemstone glinting in the light, and I crouched down to pick it up.
It was a friendship bracelet, woven with neon thread, dried flowers, and a few glimmering plastic gemstones. There was one large bead in the center: a Linnea twinflower covered in clear resin. I had seen it before; I had actually been the one to buy it for Hanna, back in Merellä. She’d used it on a bracelet that she had made for Eliana.
This was Eliana’s bracelet.
She’d been here since she’d left with Illaria, and Indu had told me that it had been years since she’d visited here. But she was here, in the medica.
Indu was lying about her. How much of anything he said could I really believe?
I palmed the bracelet and hid it in my fist, and I was shaking slightly when I left the medica. Elof and the häxdoktor were talking outside of the room, and Elof assured me he’d be checking on Pan throughout the night.
As tired as I felt, I was strangely wired, and I didn’t feel like sleeping. The dungeon-like dormitory felt more than a little claustrophobic, so I decided the answer was fresh air. On my way back to the room, I noted some thrimavolk standing guard—down the hall at the bottom of the steps that led up to the main door through the stables.
Dagny was already asleep again when I got back to our room, and I quietly pulled on my jeans and got out my Moleskine notebook and my cell phone. I’d turned it off when we got here to conserve the battery, and I turned it on now. It was after two in the morning, so the sun had risen after a brief civil twilight, and I grabbed the solar charger from my bag in hopes that there would be enough sunlight now. I fastened the bracelet around my wrist so I wouldn’t lose it.
I didn’t take the notebook with me—I didn’t want to risk losing or damaging it—but for a minute I studied one of the maps I’d traced. I didn’t think the thrimavolk would physically stop me from going outside, but I wanted to see if there was a way to get out without them knowing.
It was something that Finn had always taught me to do. Make sure you know all the exits.
This is exactly why I had copied the maps of Áibmoráigi from the book back in the archives—so I would know how to get around if I ever found myself there. The map showed a well with a ladder in it next to the bathroom in the girls’ dorm. The water it tapped was miles below the surface, so a doorway opened into the tunnel.
After the commotion because of Pan’s injury, everyone had apparently gone to sleep, and the halls were dark and quiet. I used my phone flashlight to light my way, and the door to the well was fairly easy to find.
The door was heavy iron and didn’t open easily, and it took my superior strength to open it, but I managed to do that with only one loud grunt from me and one tiny creak from the door. It opened to a big hole—one end running down to the water, and the other going up toward the sun.
I slid my phone in my back pocket and grabbed the mossy ladder that ran up the stone well wall. Then I leaned back and closed the door carefully behind me. I made it up the ladder only slipping and worrying about death three times.
Outside, I breathed in deeply, relishing the fresh air in my lungs even if it was stinging cold.
The ruins of the First City sat on a flat plateau jutting out from the mountain, and the edge of the city ended in a sharp drop-off. I walked over to the edge of the cliff, and I sat down and folded my legs under me, watching the sun rise over the mountains. I touched the bracelet on my wrist, toying with the flowered bead.
“Where are you, Eliana?” I whispered.
My phone dinged in my pocket.
It was a message from Hanna.
I tried calling but I couldn’t get through. I’m assuming you’re safe and just far out, because that’s what you told me you’d be up to. But you better be taking lots of pictures. If you get enough signal, we should video chat. I hate that I’m here and missing out on all the action.
Sorry I’ve been silent for a few days. Mom grounded me from the internet because of some stupid fight I had with Liam, who was the one being a snot and not me. But that’s a story for another day, as you would say.
Have you heard anything about Eliana yet? I keep asking Dad to help, and he says he’s talked to the Queen and the Chancellor, but he doesn’t think there’s really anything we can do, since we didn’t know that much about her.
I would just feel a lot better if I could talk to her, or even if I just knew that you’d talked to her or something. She’s my friend, and it sucks that I don’t have any way to talk to her.
The book I’m reading is called Jem-Kruk and the Adlrivellir. You probably haven’t heard of it. It was in with my dad’s stuff, not Finn but my bio dad. My grandfather Johan actually wrote the book. Mom says he was some kind of children’s author and a historian, which is why I think some of the stuff he wrote is so accurate. He based it on real stuff he knew.
Anyway, I’m sure you’re busy, and I gotta go. Call me when you get a chance.
-Hanna
Along with the message, she’d included a couple photos she’d snapped of the book info, a title page that had been missing from my own copy.
JEM-KRUK AND THE ADLRIVELLIR
An Adventure Story for Children
By Johan Nordin
Hanna’s grandfather wrote the book. He knew so much about Jem-Kruk and the place he came from. How had he known all this? And why hadn’t he told me he’d written the book when I was at his house? Why would he hide it?
Eliana’s bracelet felt heavy on my wrist. She’d been here, and Indu and Noomi—my father and my half-sister—were hiding that from me.
Why? And what the hell was going on around here?
The bracelet tickled my wrist, and when I looked down, I saw it wasn’t the bracelet but a inky black spider crawling up my arm. I flicked it away and scooted back from the edge of the cliff, right into waiting arms. Long fingers wrapped around my face, cold and strong, and blotted out the sunlight.
