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He suspected there was a whole lot more to it than that but had no intention of voicing his suspicions out loud.

“Well, you are good and truly stuck with me now.” Her voice held a melancholy quality that tugged at his heartstrings in a way he didn’t like. She made it sound like he was the one being inconvenienced when they both knew she was the one who had no desire to be stuck.

It wouldn’t be helpful to point that out, however, so he cleared his throat and managed an awkward, “It would seem so.”

Her sun-kissed face twisted before she smoothed her expression and produced something bright and cheerful. “Truce, then? You and I?”

She stuck out her hand to seal the deal. The Bifrost shivered with delight and sent a rainbow of colors and sparks of light whirling around them like pixies in celebration. He hesitated before he reached to accept her offered hand.

Her delicate fingers felt so right in his, but he told himself it meant nothing. She didn’t care for him and intended to leave the moment he figured out a way to break this binding.

That thought twisted his insides. He didn’t want to break the binding, not with her. Standing in this magical place alone with her...he had never wanted something for himself like he wanted this—whatever this was.

He didn’t wish to break the binding.

“What if—what if I can’t undo this?” He stared down at their clasped hands and couldn’t summon the courage to study her face.

Her fingers twitched in his palm before falling still again. “Oh. I—I don’t know. It would mean—I wouldn’t be able to—would I have to stay forever?”

Yes, his traitorous heart whispered, but his lips proved more obedient. “I can’t say for certain, but I suspect that distance might strain the binding. Runestones require close contact with the Bifrost to be most effective. I don’t know what this means for...souls...for...us.”

“I see.”

The pain in her voice drew his focus to her tense mouth and then up to her guarded eyes. He searched for condemnation, for anger, but he only found confusion and fear.

He gripped her hand a little tighter and told himself it was to comfort her. “I would set you free this moment if I could.”

Her mouth softened at the corners although the cornered expression remained. “Thank you for that. It—it means a great deal. I don’t blame you, you know. For any of this.”

He allowed himself a wry smile. “Rig is more to blame than anyone.”

“Hardly. He’s just a child.”

Jael hesitated a moment. “Still,” he conceded, “he knew using his magic on you was wrong.”

She shrugged one shoulder and seemed a little annoyed. “If anyone is to blame, it’s me. I’m the one who walked into the forest to begin with. I’m the one who threw myself into your storage room and got myself...” Her cheeks darkened with embarrassment. “...entangled.”

He liked the sound of that word when it applied to her. She wasn’t like most complications. If anything, she was more complicated, but that only made her more intriguing.

Stones help him, but he was in danger of losing far more than his soul.

Chapter 19

The Bifrost brushed against her and thrummed, much the way a purring cat might rub against her ankles. Anrid shivered and laughed. “I think she’s happy.”

Jael blushed and dropped her hand as if she’d scalded him. Strange how cold her fingers felt now, as if she’d lost something she didn’t even know she had possessed.

“Indeed.” He shot a warning look at the magic prancing around them, but it did no good. The Bifrost continued to frolic and purr and kiss their exposed skin.

She rubbed her arms and glanced about. “So how do we get out of here?”

Jael exhaled and shifted a quarter turn. “I suppose when the binding’s complete, the Bifrost will send us back. I hope.”

Her heart stuttered and restarted much faster. “You don’t think we will be stuck here, do you?” She hated the panic in her own voice. When he peered at her more intently, she tried to smooth her expression into a weak smile but failed miserably.

“I don’t think so. We wouldn’t be able to eat or sleep and our physical bodies would waste away. That wouldn’t benefit the Bifrost, so why would she allow it to happen? She needs us alive to draw on our strength.”

But his brow twisted as if he didn’t quite believe his own words. There was something he wasn’t telling her. A part of her longed to press him for complete honesty, but she wasn’t sure she wanted the whole truth right now.