Page 104 of Harnessed in Gold

“I know,” Leo says softly, somehow reading my mind. “And I’m sorry. For every single lie.”

I shake my head. “I’m not angry anymore.” Because if I’d listened to Zander, if I’d held onto the resentment, I wouldn’t be here right now.

“And you trust me?”

I kiss him. “Yes.”

He tips onto his back, pulls me on top of him, and kisses me harder.

I rest my hands on his chest. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course.”

“How old are you?” Because if he’s not a college senior, then he isn’t necessarily twenty-one.

“I’m twenty-four.”

“Twenty-four?” I raise up on my hands to look into his dark eyes. “But that’s like, what, twenty or twenty-one in faerie years, right?”

Chuckling, he tucks my hair behind my ears. “It doesn’t work that way. We’re not like cats. We age at the same rate you do, we just survive old age longer.”

“Oh.”

“Does twenty-four seem old to you?”

“A little, maybe?” Maybe not. Zander is twenty-two. “How old are Rime and Topaz?”

“They’re both twenty-six.”

“Now that isold,” I say, smothering a giggle.

Leo laughs and seizes me by the ribs. Next thing I know, he’s flipped me onto my back. “You think I’m an old man, huh?”

“No, I think you’re an oldfaerie.”

I’m braced for him to tickle me, but he doesn’t. He kisses me. Deeply. I reach up to hold the hair back from his eyes. “You’re not old at all,” I say, more to myself than to him. “You’re young. Too young. All three of you.”

Too young to have the fate of an entire realm in their hands.

Catching my meaning, he replies, “We’re strong and healthy. We don’t have children at home or anyone who depends on us. We can be spared.”

Spared.

A lump settles in my throat, so thick I can barely swallow. It’s a struggle not to cling to him when he rises from the bed and ducksinto the bathroom. Thank goodness it’s en suite. I picture Rime sitting on the couch under the cold light of a lamp, waiting up like a parent whose teen is trying to sneak in after curfew.

I’m half dressed when Leo returns.

“What are you doing?” he asks, frowning.

“Going out to sleep on the couch.” I pull my sweater over my head.

“No—” Leo yanks it off before I can get my arms into the sleeves. “You’re not.”

“But—”

He shakes his head as he backs me toward the bed. “Rime is my problem, not yours. I want you—no, Ineedyou—to stay with me.” He pulls me in close. “Betts, please.”

I nod and sag against him.