“She won’t be a baby, not by the time it’s safe for her to cross the bridge.” Senka was crying again, and the fat spider crawled off my father’s arm. I could see the fangs as it came toward me.

“We will find a way to be together,” he promised her again. “But now Violetta must go into hiding. Orra is here.”

And then, somehow oblivious to the spider biting into my cheek, my mother fiercely said, “My love, you must remember—only together can we slay the monsters that chase us.”

The door opened, and Orra Fågel slipped into the room. She was nearly as tall as Thor, with ruddy cheeks and honest golden eyes.

“Are you ready, my lord?” she asked him.

“No, but there isn’t more time, is there?” Senka asked through her tears.

“No, there isn’t,” Orra said, her voice firm but sympathetic.

“Here.” Thor pulled a weapon from his waistband—a wolfram dagger with a bronze hilt and the Omte sigil of vultures. “This is the weapon of a warrior. Use it to protect my daughter and protect yourself.”

“I will,” she promised him. She sheathed the weapon, and then she took me from my mother and fled with me into the night.

60

En Masse

In the darkened room, Pan held me in his arms, even though I had stopped crying a while ago. After Sunniva had finished helping me with the memory, I was a blubbery mess.

For the first time in my life, I saw my parents, and I felt how much they loved me. How much hope they had for the future. They truly believed we’d all be together again.

But I knew how their story ended. Orra left with me, and they never saw me again. My father died twelve years later, and my mother returned to Alfheim, where she stayed until she died. I didn’t know if they ever even saw each other again.

“How are you doing?” Pan asked, when I’d been silent for a while. He stroked my hair back from my face, and I rested my head on his chest.

“I don’t think I’ll know the answer to that question for another week at least.” I sighed. “I don’t know. But I just keep thinking of what my mother said.”

“That only they can stop the monsters that chase them?”

I tilted my head to look up at him. “We have to be prepared for that. We need to tell Finn to make sure that the arrows are tipped with sorgblomma poison.”

“Sumi and Jem should know about that,” Pan said. “We’ll talk to them in the morning.”

“Why do you think my parents didn’t see the spider?” I asked.

He exhaled loudly. “I have no idea. I mean, I didn’t see the memory.”