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“Should I come back?” Math inquired, still looking between them with a speculative, almost knowing expression on his youthful face.
“Of course not,” Jael grumbled. He waved his hand toward the book Math held up. “Does it say anything useful about joint dreaming?”
Math nodded, brightening. “Oh, yes. There’s a great deal about the benefits and also some cautionary bits. For example, it’s said that joint dreaming can be very helpful for couples experiencing difficulties in their relationship...” He trailed off when Jael lowered his eyebrows at him. “Ahem. Not important. Yes, well, there is another bit that said it can help uncover lost memories. That might be helpful.”
“If I had forgotten something.”
Math’s cheeks reddened, and Anrid coughed. “Erm. Yes. I see your point.” He hunched over the book and flipped pages as quickly as he could, running his finger down the lines of tidy, hand-written text. “Ah, here is something! Joint dreaming can be a side-effect of magical influence—”
“Which we already know. We both bonded with the Bifrost.”
Math’s expression twisted in frustration. “Perhaps you should read the book yourself.” He held it out and waved it at Jael, as if daring him to take it.
He snatched the book from his apprentice’s hand and flipped through the crisp, yellowed pages, but he wasn’t seeing anything. The lines of text scrawled on to eternity, and he couldn’t focus on the thoughts they portrayed.
He feared no book in Rhuin held the answers he sought.
“Perhaps we’re looking at this the wrong way.” Anrid’s voice cut into his despairing thoughts. She cleared her throat and motioned toward the book in Jael’s hands. “I mean, the shared dreams aren’t really the problem, are they? They’re the most immediate problem. Shouldn’t we be trying to figure out the root of the problem?”
Jael exchanged a mildly embarrassed look with his apprentice.
Math cupped the back of his neck with one hand. “Well, we are trying to do that,” he hedged. “Naturally.”
“The root of the problem, as you describe it,” Jael began, closing the book with a snap, “is that something is invading the Bifrost.”
She nodded in encouragement. “Precisely, and that’s what is causing the joint dreaming to be dangerous.”
“But we don’t know anything about the shadows.”
“That’s what I’m trying to say,” Anrid interrupted him. “Maybe we don’t need to learn more about them. Maybe we just need to learn where they come from. Where they got into the Bifrost. Where does it go? The Bifrost, I mean? I know it is all throughout Agmon, but where does it start? Where could the shadows have gotten access to it?”
Jael met Math’s gaze, both of them frowning. “The lines run throughout all of Rhuin,” Math began to explain.
Anrid swept a hand at him, getting frustrated. “Not all of the lines. Just the one I touched. The one where all this started. Where does that line come from?”
Jael’s breath hitched. Now he understood what she was driving them toward. “That particular line follows the curve of the river Acheron deep into the heart of Gelaira,” he whispered.
Math’s mouth formed a large O.
Anrid crossed her arms over her chest as though pleased with her efforts. “So maybe you need to ask them about the shadows.”
Jael nodded, but his thoughts were shaking their little heads. He couldn’t talk to the dark elves. That would mean leaving Agmon, taking Anrid to the surface, to the one place she wanted to be...
And letting her slip out of his fingers forever.
His chest squeezed until he feared his ribs might break.
“So let’s just go ask them!” she continued with a bright smile, as if she’d single-handedly solved all their problems. And simultaneously ruined all his hopes.
“You can’t go!” The words barreled out of him, almost a shout.
Anrid and Math both flinched and took a step away from him. He drew a staggering breath and tempered his tone. “It—it wouldn’t be safe or wise for you to leave. You should stay here.”
Disappointment shadowed her features. Her dark eyes clung to his as if searching for answers to the things he hadn’t yet told her. How could he tell her now that she would never leave Agmon? That she needed to stay close to the Bifrost, to him? That this magical binding couldn’t be undone?
He opened his mouth to tell her, but the words wouldn’t come.
“I’ll go,” Math murmured. “Nestra is close to the border. I could be there and back in just a couple of days.”
