“Yeah, I know, but . . .” I paused, thinking about why the spider had bothered me so much. “Spiders make me think of the Ögonen. They chased me out of the catacombs with spiders, and my memory filled with spiders when the Ögonen tried the aural healing.”

“Are you saying that you think they implanted a spider in the memory Sunniva just showed you?” he asked—not so much dubious as confused. “Why would they do that? And how could they do that out here? We’re so far from the Mimirin.”

I sat up and looked down at him. “The Älvolk have Ögonen helping to mask their location. And someone told me that they have a hive mind.”

“So wait.” He scooted so he was sitting up with his back resting against the headboard. “Why are they putting spiders in your memories?”

“I don’t know if they’re trying to tell me something or scare me off.” I shook my head. “Maybe it’s a warning.”

“You think they’re warning you that a monster is coming?” he asked.

My breath came out short. “What if they are?”

Pan ran a hand through his hair. “Why? Why warn you?”

“Because I was nearby? Because I’m Omte so I can handle the aural healing better? Because I’m half-álfar?”

“Dammit.” He glanced over at the alarm clock on the nightstand. “Elof’s probably asleep now. We’ll have to wait until the morning to talk about the Ögonen with him.”

“And we should get some sleep.” I sighed and lay back down, resting my head on his chest again. “Or try to, anyway.”

He wrapped his arm around me, and I snuggled deeper against him. I tried not to think about the terrifying things crashing around us. And even as tumultuous and frightening as things were, being with Pan did make it easier. In his arms, I felt like his love could protect me from everything.

Deep in the logical part of my mind, I knew that wasn’t true. Love hadn’t been enough to protect my parents—or me—from harm, and it wouldn’t protect us now.

But I managed to fall asleep quickly, and morning came too soon. It was still dark when we got dressed and headed down to the hotel restaurant to meet with everyone.

Over harsh nettle tea and stale pastries, I told Finn, Elof, Dagny, and Sumi about the memory of my parents. The most pertinent bit seemed to be the arrows, and Finn immediately set about getting the very limited sorgblomma supply to tip our weapons.

“Sumi and I were up late trying to figure out a way to do the leat fámus en masse,” Elof explained with a suppressed yawn. “We think we got it now.”