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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
  19. 17
  20. 18
  21. 19
  22. 20
  23. 21
  24. 22
  25. 23
  26. 24
  27. 25
  28. 26
  29. 27
  30. 28
  31. 29
  32. 30
  33. 31
  34. 32
  35. 33
  36. 34
  37. 35
  38. 36
  39. 37
  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
  57. 55
  58. 56
  59. 57
  60. 58
  61. 59
  62. 60
  63. 61
  64. 62
  65. 63
  66. 64
  67. 65
  68. 66
  69. 67
  70. 68
  71. 69
  72. 70
  73. 71
  74. 72
  75. 73
  76. 74
  77. 75
  78. 76
  79. 77
  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

Since it was so late, I used my key instead of knocking, but Dagny was waiting up for us. Or at least she’d tried to. She was sitting on the couch, her head sagging to the side, a dog-eared copy of Recovering Memories in the Troll Brain on her lap.

Her long black hair was pulled back in a braid, and when she looked up at us, blinking groggily, I noticed the eyebrow above her left eye—one half was burned off, leaving a jagged ruddy pink mark in its stead.

“You’re back with another houseguest,” she said with a yawn.

I dropped my bag on the floor and stopped short. “When we talked on the phone, I told you about Bryn.”

“I know, Ulla.” She smiled as she stood up. “I’m only joshing you.”

I hugged her. “It’s good to see you, Dag.”

18

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Lyrical

“Are you ready to face the pain this time?” Elof Dómari asked with a wink. The last time he drew my blood I had nearly fainted, but that had been a long time ago.

I smiled down at him. “Yeah. I made sure to eat before we came here.”

“I made them both eat a big breakfast,” Dagny said over her shoulder as she walked across the troglecology lab to get the equipment for the blood draw.

The lab was Elof’s domain, as the esteemed docent from the Vittra kingdom. His main interest was blood—finding out as much as it could tell him about ourselves, our abilities, our ancestry. Trolls have always known that we had supernatural powers that humans could only dream of, but it was only recently that we started looking into why.

Some trolls were afraid of the science behind it, since humans were the ones that mastered it first. Others feared what they might find, or that it was going against “troll ways.” Fortunately, trolls like Elof relentlessly pursued the truth, and they convinced the Vittra-controlled Merellä to join the human world in the twenty-first century.

That made Elof’s sleek lab on the third floor of the Mimirin the best place within the troll kingdoms for Bryn and me to go to check our blood. The labs were a strange juxtaposition of original architecture, including stained-glass windows and barrel-vaulted ceilings, with slick lab equipment and modern islands.

Dagny had arranged for us to meet with Elof, which wasn’t that hard because he hadn’t resumed teaching his classes since he’d gotten back. Elof had been with Dagny, Pan, and me when Indu and the Älvolk held us for a month. While we’d been gone, his courses had been on hold, and when the planned trip of a few days stretched on for uncertain weeks, the Information Styrelse had suspended the summer semester.