Distrusting this, I stared at him, the red sheen of a dimensional barrier between us.

There’s nothing in either reality that will sever our connection through the rings, he thought, glaring at me. If I get stuck, pull me out. Ah, without physically going into the purple shit, that is. If both of us are in there, what’s the point of a lifeline?

Still I looked at him, weighing his body language against the emotions I was sensing through the rings. He was better than me at blocking them, and I wasn’t sure why he was nervous. Al, I thought at him, hands on my hips. I don’t like this plan.

We don’t have time to find a plan you like. His thoughts slipped into mine, oily with deceit. Newt is paying for the volume lost with her own space. The sooner we get this hole plugged, the better. I just got my atrium back, and I don’t want to lose it.

He was moving toward the purple line, and fear slid down my spine, magnified by Al’s own worry. “Al!” I cried out, hand outstretched.

Al stopped, turned, and gave me a last look. Hold on to me, I saw him say, hearing it echo in my thoughts as well. Don’t let go.

And then, he stepped into the purple line.

I gasped—it felt as if an ice pick was hammered into my skull from the top right to the bottom left. I screamed, falling to my knees. Al’s pain. It was Al’s pain, and I floundered, forcing my eyes open. I couldn’t see him, and I panted, almost losing him in my thoughts. Forcing the bile down, I closed my eyes and searched for him with my mind. I was swimming in a black cloud of acid, unable to open my eyes, arms outstretched and burning as I followed down a rising trace of agony like bubbles to find him.

“Got you!” I gasped, and I wrapped my soul around his.

I flung myself backward with him, crying out because it felt as if my thoughts had been ripped apart. My back hit the scattered tufts of grass, and I stared up at a perfect blue sky. The pain was gone. Al wasn’t with me.

“Al!” I scrambled to my feet, realizing what happened. I’d tried to pull him into reality when the sun was up. It wasn’t happening. I couldn’t feel him anymore, and in a panic, I rushed back into the line, willing myself into the ever-after with wild abandonment.