“He’s my . . . something.” I tried to seem nonchalant even though my cheeks had felt warm since she’d caught me outside with him, near-kiss. “And he knows a lot about Fulaträsk. He can help us.”

“Whatever works for you guys works for me,” she said, and she went back to folding her freshly laundered clothes. “I went to Fulaträsk with a guy once. He said it was just to help.”

“What happened?” I asked.

She paused and her face darkened. Then she shook her head. “Just be careful.”

26

Sutherlands

In the wee hours of the morning, when the sun was still dark and most of Merellä was sleeping, Bryn drove the four of us—herself, Elof, Pan, and me—to the airport in Eugene. It felt strange going without Dagny, but she wanted to stay behind and keep looking at what was happening with the weather and the eclipse incident a few days ago.

Despite the early hour, Dagny had gotten up to see us off and to take in Brueger, since she was dog-sitting for Pan again. When she hugged me goodbye, she told me to be safe, and I noticed the worry in her eyes—something I wasn’t used to seeing her with.

I hadn’t realized until then how much all of this had affected her. She always seemed so impervious and impassive. But it wasn’t just concern, it was fear—not for me but of her own experiences. There hadn’t been much time for any of us to process what we’d gone through.

It was nearly a three-hour drive to the airport, and I sat in the back with Pan, dozing on and off. As Bryn parked, I woke up with my head on his shoulder, and I immediately mumbled a preemptive apology about snoring and discomfort.

“Don’t worry. I slept most of the time too,” he assured me, and he kissed the top of my head while I was still leaning on him. Then he opened the car door and got out.

The flights were long—we had two stops before finally landing in Lafayette, Louisiana—and I sat by strangers each time. At least I was definitely getting a better hand on flying and making small talk with humans. They weren’t all that different than trolls, really, except that they wore too much perfume and played on their electronics far more often.

After we landed in Louisiana, Bryn rented another car, and we drove until the paved roads gave way to a bumpy dirt road, so overgrown and wild it was almost taken back by nature. Bryn drove slowly as towering cypress trees surrounded us, blocking out the late-afternoon sun.

I had been to Fulaträsk before, with Pan, but we’d gone directly to his friend Rikky’s house on the outskirts of the city. This time we were going right to the heart, for lodging at the Yggammi Tree Inn, an Omte hotel.