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Back The Ever After Save as PDF
Chapters (92)
  1. Cover
  2. TheEVERAFTER
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. 3
  6. 4
  7. 5
  8. 6
  9. 7
  10. 8
  11. 9
  12. 10
  13. 11
  14. 12
  15. 13
  16. 14
  17. 15
  18. 16
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  20. 18
  21. 19
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  27. 25
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  40. 38
  41. 39
  42. 40
  43. 41
  44. 42
  45. 43
  46. 44
  47. 45
  48. 46
  49. 47
  50. 48
  51. 49
  52. 50
  53. 51
  54. 52
  55. 53
  56. 54
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  59. 57
  60. 58
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  62. 60
  63. 61
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  75. 73
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  80. 78
  81. 79
  82. 80
  83. 81
  84. 82
  85. 83
  86. 84
  87. 85
  88. 86
  89. Epilogue
  90. GLOSSARY
  91. TheEVERAFTER
  92. By Amanda Hocking

“The Älvolk always thought time moved more slowly because Alfheim is home to the gods,” Sumi said with a derisive snort. “After I was excommunicated, I did my own research, even using human resources. And that answer seems to be more scientific than mystical. The farther someone is from a gravitating mass, the faster time passes. Alfheim is just much closer to a much larger gravitational field than you are.”

“Is the bridge to Alfheim incredibly long?” I asked, thinking of something I’d heard before: that the bridge took ages to cross.

“Not that long, but the bridge isn’t how you actually get to Alfheim anyway,” Sumi explained. “It’s merely a gate, a lock to keep out those that don’t belong in Alfheim. On the other side of the bridge, there is a waterfall, and that’s the entrance. You pass through, and you’re in Alfheim.”

“Then how does it have different gravity?” Finn asked.

“Alfheim is much farther away than the journey implies,” Jem said simply.

“So wait, are you my uncle?” Hanna interjected.

“Great-uncle. I think,” Sumi said.

Hanna stared at Jem a moment longer, then looked back at the computer screen. “How come you didn’t remember him anymore?”

“I—” Johan shook his head, at a loss for words, and he was visibly choking back tears. “I have no idea how I could ever forget my brother. My family.”

“A few things could be at play.” Sumi offered up an explanation. “The Älvolk are fond of playing with memories. They even know how to do something called fúinn muitit that causes memory to decay over time.

“Then there’s the fact that going through the entrance to Alfheim is exhausting,” she went on.

“I thought you said it was fast,” I said.

“It is,” Jem assured me. “But it leaves you bone-tired and discombobulated. Usually, it passes within a few days, but if you’re not well when you go through, it can be much, much worse.”

“That’s why we haven’t brought Eliana home yet,” Sumi elaborated. “But that puts us in a difficult position. I’ve begun to suspect that staying here long term is deleterious to pure-blood álfar.”

She held up her hand and ticked off her fingers as she spoke. “Senka came back ill and died shortly after spending over a decade with the Älvolk, Illaria’s spent even more time here and she’s very unstable, and Eliana and Johan have serious memory issues, to say the least.”

“Wait, wait,” I said. “The fúinn muitit. How do you know if that’s been done to you? How long will it take your memory to decay?”

Sumi gave me a grim smile. “You don’t know. It can take years before you notice, and even then, there’s not much you can do about it. It’s one of the most powerful incantations known to the Älvolk.”

46

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