“I can try, but I won’t be able to match the pronunciations.” I cleared my throat and concentrated, then gave it my best shot. “‘Ennlindanna fjeur seern densolla / den orn av gullat svoavva ennung.’”

Elof’s eyebrows shot up. “That sounds very familiar.”

“Yeah.” Dagny had stopped what she was doing to look up at me. “We’ve heard that before, haven’t we?”

19

Earworm

I walked down the hallways of the Mimirin, mostly empty because it was Saturday, and the stones felt cold and smooth under my bare feet. Bryn was still back with Dagny, getting her blood drawn while Elof questioned her about her biology. Though my light-headedness had passed, I’d left under the guise of needing fresh air.

But the truth was that while I had been sipping on my water, listening to Dagny and Elof discuss the strange familiarity of the song—though neither of them could quite place it—Dag had let slip that Pan was down working at the Inhemsk Project, making up for missed time.

I hadn’t had a chance to see him yet, and I’d been hoping to do that this afternoon. But now, knowing he was a couple floors down, it was too close, too tempting to wait any longer. Since we’d already been playing phone tag, I hadn’t told him that I’d be coming back, hoping I could surprise him.

The door of the Inhemsk Project had frosted stained glass in it, and instead of the name it was marked with a yellow flower dipped in blood. I opened it without knocking, and the large office space appeared deserted. There were half a dozen desks, partitioned off by bookshelves and file cabinets overflowing with papers, files, and binders—one of the side effects of trolls’ distaste for technology. There were old, clunky laptops on most of the desks, but Pan said they mostly used them for typing reports and playing solitaire.

It was dark in the office, except for the light from a solitary desk lamp. Pan was hunched over his papers, his hand buried in his thick, wavy hair. He was so focused on his work, he didn’t hear me until I was nearly at his desk.

He looked up, his dark eyes widening. “Ulla?” He blinked at me. “Is this a lysa?”

I laughed. “No, I’m really here. I got in at around two this morning.”

“You’re here?” He smiled as he got up and came around the desk. “I can’t believe you’re here.”

Pan pulled me into a hug, wrapping his arms around me. And that’s all it was for a minute, neither of us saying anything, just content to hold one another. I couldn’t remember a single time in my life that someone had just held me like this, not pulling away or asking for anything more.

“I missed you,” I said quietly.