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The Bifrost slammed into her thoughts with such force Anrid lost purchase on the ground and slid deeper into the bowels of the earth, deeper into the shadows. The darkness snarled and snatched at her, at the hem of her clothes, at her exposed skin.

If she didn’t know better, she would think it was trying to devour her. But darkness couldn’t devour, it only existed. It wasn’t real, only an absence of light.

A horrible cackle reverberated from deep within the yawning pit that opened up before her.

We are very real, mortal.

The words invaded her mind unbidden. She snatched at loose rocks to try to stop her tumbling descent. Her fingers caught hold of a stalagmite jutting from the ground at the precipice of the tunnel. Her body hung free over the void, her fingers pulsing with pain as she clutched the stalagmite as hard as she could.

Set us free and we will show you how real we are.

She cried out and knew she would die if she fell. She could feel it, the knowing, the certainty that death waited for her in the endless pit of blackness that wasn’t real, that couldn’t be real.

Her arms shook from the effort of supporting her weight. Her fingers grew numb, and she feared she didn’t have much strength left. She was going to fall, and if she fell into that dark abyss...

Horror clawed at her throat, and she screamed as her stinging fingers lost their grip and plunged her into shadow.

But a hand caught her wrist at the last possible second, and she swung in a wild arc. Instead of disappearing into the darkness, she rose upward, back toward the light. Someone grabbed her other hand and hauled her up over the precipice and back to solid ground.

Arms pulled her to safety, away from the chortling darkness that shouted for her to stay and play.

Jael’s arms felt real, impossibly solid. It must be him, for who else would it be? A brief respite from the terror bolstered her courage.

“We need to get out of here,” he said in her ear.

“The children,” she gasped.

He tugged her to her feet. “They’re not here.”

“But I can hear them—”

“Don’t listen. It’s the shadows. They lie.”

She didn’t understand how or why he thought this, nor did she want to believe him. To leave the children behind and save herself? Absolutely not!

“Uh-NEE!”

She struggled to go back for Rig, for sobbing little Medda. But Jael—curse him, why did he have to be so strong? Jael caught her around the waist and hauled her off, away from her goblin children. She screamed their names as he spirited her away against her will.

Chapter 22

Anrid was surprisingly strong, even in this half-dream state. Jael struggled to keep hold of her waist and not drop her into an undignified heap on the ground. She kicked and clawed at him to get free. He pinned her tighter against his chest and raced back up the tunnel as darkness lashed at his back and shredded his tunic to ribbons. He could sense her fear, not a vague presence but a battering ram at the forefront of his thoughts. Her fear threatened to become his own. Focus. It’s not real. It’s not real. It’s not…real…

She was losing her mind, trying to save children that didn’t exist, not here in this place. Whatever voices called to her were not the voices of the children.

He only heard the voice of the darkness. Why couldn’t she see it wasn’t real?

A coil of black shadow caught him around the ankle and yanked him off his bare feet. He hit the ground, rolling at the last minute to land on his own shoulder instead of Anrid. She tumbled out of his arms and came up hard against the tunnel wall.

For a fraction of a moment, they stared at one another, but then her eyes moved to something behind him.

“Jael—”

Whatever else she intended to say cut off in a scream as the shadows yanked him back down the tunnel with abrupt ferocity. He clawed for purchase but found nothing to grasp on the hard stone floor. The pads of his fingers shredded against rocky shards and sharp cracks in the ground.

He lashed out with his free foot in one last desperate attempt to free himself. The coil around his ankle dissipated with an angry hiss. He found his footing and barreled back up the tunnel. Anrid smacked into him, obviously thinking she should come to his rescue, but he caught her by the elbow and dragged her alongside him.

“This isn’t a dream!” she gasped as she pelted her bare feet against the floor and tried to keep up with him. “We can’t—we have to go back for the children! Jael! The children!” Her voice ended in a wail that threatened to undo him.