He laughed. “I last saw him four years ago, and now he’s an old man. I’d always hoped he was alive and well, that he had love and a family. It’s good to hear that that’s mostly been true.”

“I’m sure he and you have a lot to talk about,” I said.

“We do,” he agreed. “I’m looking forward to talking with him more tomorrow.”

Hanna was going to help Jem and Johan do a video chat tomorrow while I did the aural healing with Tove and Sunniva. Johan was going to make sure his wife was home, so Jem could finally meet her.

Jem and I hung out in the room for a bit longer, talking about the strange twists our lives had taken, and then we went down to grab something to eat at a café around the corner. After that, we parted ways. I checked in with both Dagny and Pan, and everything sounded like it was fine back in Merellä.

That left me free to spend the evening fretting and pacing. When I finally felt tired enough for bed, I ended up tossing and turning for a long time, but finally I fell asleep.

And the next time I opened my eyes, I was in the dungeon again.

Not the prison cell, but the corridor outside it. Narrow and dark, although the stones seemed more rust colored than I remembered. Or maybe it was because all the lamps were lit.

The hallway ended in an almost blindingly bright light, and as I walked into the atrium, lifting my arms to shield my eyes, I realized something.

“I’ve been here before,” I said softly, and lowered my arms. I squinted up the tall silo of a room. A staircase wound around the walls, and the roof was all glass, letting in so much sunlight. “I’ve done this before.”

“All of this has happened before, and all of it will happen again, binrassi,” a woman said in a sultry baritone, and I looked over to see her standing on the steps.

Her wide eyes were dark, like her long hair floating ethereally around her. She wore a gossamer gown, adorned with goldenrod and poppy red flowers, and a shawl of soft bird feathers. She was lovely and luminous, but her expression was grim.

“But this time, you’re the one that must stop it,” she said in her deep, seductive voice. “You must hurry.” She raced up the stairs, her long train billowing out behind her.

“Wait!” I shouted after her, but she never slowed. “Where are you going?”

She was nearly at the top of the stairs, so I ran as fast as I could. When I got to the landing at the top, the only way out was a set of large doors, and I hurried through, but there was no sign of her.