Page 109 of Harnessed in Gold

We cross the lobby with the others and wind around carrels and tables. In the audiobook section, Leo, Rime, and Topaz hide between the shelves, emerging a few seconds later, visible to no one but us. Before they disappear around the corner, Leo signals for Avery, Aaron, and me to wait in the lounge area behind us.

As we flop into armchairs upholstered in waiting-room-geometric polyester, I tell Avery how much I like her blue hair.

“Try magenta next,” Aaron suggests.

“Or purple,” I say.

Avery smiles. “Blue would look good on you, too… Oh!” She sits up straight. “What was it you wanted to talk about yesterday?”

Yesterday? What was yesterday? It was jasmine and Leo, and Leo some more. And pizza with Liv, that was yesterday, too, I think.

“I just had some questions about hedge riding,” I say. “Nothing urgent.”

“By the way,” Aaron cuts in. “I think I already know the answer to this question, but does anyone else hear footsteps?”

I whip around, glancing between shelves and into every corner.

“No,” Avery answers. “Do you, Betts?”

“No, but—” In low tones, I tell them about my gaffe last night in the drugstore. “I can’t believe I looked right at her.”

“You’re human,” Avery reminds me. “You couldn’t help it. That’s why it’s called a reflex.”

I lean into the center space where all three pairs of our knees nearly meet. “Do you think they’ve been following me?”

Aaron whispers, “Well, if they’re here, they’re following all of us.”

“But we should be able to see them.”

“Not if they’re hiding behind bookshelves,” he says.

True.

I scan the area at least three times before I drag my ugly chair even closer and say as quietly as I can, “They can use sound shields.”

Avery’s chin nearly hits the floor, and Aaron’s eyes double in size.

I say to him, “I wonder if a sound shield would even work on you.”

Avery agrees, “I’ll bet it wouldn’t.”

I doubt it would, too. We all three go silent, straining to listen. Nothing. Even Aaron shakes his head.

“Does the shield work onthem?” he asks.

“Um, um yeah, apparently.” I don’t explain how I know.

Too nervous to sit any longer, I rise and stretch.

“Betts—” Aaron hisses as I wander in the direction the fae went. “We’re supposed to wait.”

“I am waiting,” I whisper back.Waiting far enough away that if Brier’s team is after me, you and Avery are safe.

I do my best to look casual as I meander, peering through open doorways and around curated displays. In the periodicals room, today’s newspapers sit neatly stacked on their shelves. I pick upThe Washington Post. It’s obvious from its crisp folds no one’s read it. Same with theWall Street Journal. EvenUSA Today.

Behind the magazine racks, a narrow, nondescript hallway stretches. Peeking around the corner, I see a meeting room, complete with a large table and high-backed cushioned chairs. It reminds me of the boardrooms you see in movies where a bunch of suits—and one or two token women—debate around the table, some underling taking notes on a whiteboard.

I’m about to head back the way I came when Rime emerges from a room at the end of the hall.