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Anrid hesitated and then reached out to brush her fingers on the side of Jael’s hand. Did he shiver beneath her touch? His eyes met and clung to hers. She saw his desperation and longing and wished more than anything she could tell him how much she cared, that she would die for him…that she would stay with him forever, if he asked her.

But there wasn’t time for sentiment. Only action.

“Do it.” She gave him a stern look, the kind she reserved for the naughtiest of children. “Let’s end this. All of us. Together.”

He leaned a hair closer, his breath teasing her face and stirring her loose bangs against her cheeks. “I—I don’t want to hurt you.” The agony in his expression made her heart ache unlike anything she’d ever experienced before.

She wanted to weep, but instead she smiled and grasped both of his hands, clinging to him as he clung to the book that could save or end their lives.

That could save or end the world as they knew it.

“I know,” she said simply. “But you won’t. Not if we do this together. I won’t leave you, Jael.”

I’ll never leave you.

Perhaps he understood the words she didn’t have the courage to utter, for a hint of a smile touched his mouth before he lowered his gaze to the book and steeled himself for the task at hand.

It was time to end this madness, no matter what it cost.

Chapter 38

His hands shook as he traced the new bonding rune. The Bifrost knew what he wanted to do: she pulsed her approval, her urgency. Glowing white runes formed in the cavern, encircling each of them. The runes around him and Anrid glowed brighter, their souls previously bonded to the magic. But with each passing moment, the others’ runes burned a little brighter as the bonding took root.

“Rig, no!” Anrid’s hoarse cry tore his focus away from the book and the magic and the strain it required to maintain it.

A circular rune had appeared around Rig and Medda, faint and luminescent.

“I want to help!” he cried.

Jael’s hands shook as he tried to remove the rune forming against his will. The Bifrost fought with him. He’s willing. He’s willing. Need him…need him…need him...

“Jael, do something!” Anrid clenched his hands tighter and dug her nails into his skin.

He ground his teeth together, shaking from the effort. “I—I can’t. The Bifrost has already bonded to him, and she won’t let him go.”

Tears spilled down her cheeks, but she didn’t argue again.

The shades pounded against the fracturing barrier above them, as if they knew their time was running out. They screamed in his ears, drowning out the whispers of the Bifrost. He tried to ignore them, but they spoke such vile things…dark words that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

The runes flared more brightly as the bonding took full root. The Bifrost hummed with renewed energy and fed more power into the runestones maintaining their protective domes. Hope stirred inside him, and he waited to see if it would be enough to drive the shades back to their hellish realm.

But the cavern continued to shake, the ground bucking beneath his knees. Light shuddered from the Bifrost, erratically, as if it still struggled to grasp its full strength.

Not enough…it’s not enough...

A groan of dismay tore past his lips. “It’s not working!” he cried over the tumult. Anrid leaned closer to him, so close he could have tipped his head to kiss her. “It’s not enough!”

Her eyes held his, refracting the white and amethyst lights swirling around them. “Can you expand the spell?”

“What do you mean? There’s no one else here.”

She pursed her lips and leaned even closer. “Maybe it takes a kingdom to save a kingdom!” She had to shout to be heard over the screaming of the shades. “Can you spread the spell to the rest of Agmon?”

“No!” Horror twisted his gut at the mere thought. It was his job to protect Agmon, his calling, his purpose. He couldn’t bring the rest of the kingdom into his mess. “I can’t bind them without their consent! That would be—wrong! So wrong!”

She flinched but didn’t argue more, as if she understood.

There had to be another way, but no matter how hard he thought, he couldn’t think of one. His body grew weaker, his fingers numb and head light. He couldn’t do this. There had to be another way...