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Chapters (92)
  1. Cover
  2. TheEVERAFTER
  3. 1
  4. 2
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  88. 86
  89. Epilogue
  90. GLOSSARY
  91. TheEVERAFTER
  92. By Amanda Hocking

I collapsed to my knees, next to the body of the beautiful albino elk. Tears spilled down my cheeks as I petted his snout one last time. “I’m sorry.” And then the lysa collapsed around me.

52

image

Authority

“Calm down, Ulla,” Dagny repeated. “You’re not making any sense.”

“Illaria was there, and she stole the heart.” I pushed myself to my feet, and as I stared out from dizzying heights, all I could think of was the fear in the elk’s eyes as it bled out. “They have everything they need. They’re going to cross the bridge and open the entrance to Alfheim.”

“How?” Dagny asked.

Pan stood beside me, and he put his hand on my arm. “What happened?”

“Illaria was there, but she was disguised as my mother,” I said breathlessly. “I didn’t know it was her.”

“You know what your mother looks like?” Dagny asked.

“I don’t.” Tears were streaming down my cheeks—they had been since before I opened my eyes—and I wiped at them with trembling hands. “Illaria chose her image to mess with me. And then she ripped the beating heart from the elk, and when she vanished, she took the heart with her.”

“How is that possible?” Dagny asked, more in awe than incredulous. “Are things in the astral plane able to transport in a tangible way to our world?” Her brow scrunched. “If the elk only existed there, the lysa could work as a conduit between the ethereal and the tangible. But that would require amplified power, more than . . .” She trailed off and looked to the Ögonen.

“She used the Ögonen to manifest the astral essence into a physical body,” she finished, sounding slightly dazed. “They’re powerful enough, or at least Illaria is powerful enough with them that she was able to literally pull what she wanted out of thin air.”

“We have to warn someone,” I said.

“Warn them of what?” Pan asked.

“The Älvolk have everything they need,” I said. “They’re going to cross the bridge and unleash something dark and terrible.”

“Illaria knows that’s what will happen?” Dagny asked.

“She showed me what will happen.” I swallowed hard, trying to calm myself. “She wants the world to burn, and she enjoys torturing her sisters.”

Pan studied me a moment, squinting into the wind, and he nodded. “I still don’t fully understand what’s happening here, but I agree with you that we need to talk to somebody about all of this.”

Dagny had been kneeling the whole time, but she stood up now. “I’ll call Elof.”

“I was actually thinking we should take this up with someone with more military contacts,” Pan told her. “I mean, tell Elof too. But this sounds like something that needs more . . . national defense.” Something must’ve occurred to him because his expression changed abruptly. “Should I alert the human governments?”