Page 111 of Harnessed in Gold

Once they’re gone, I take a seat on the floor between two windows.

He lowers himself down next to me. “Take your time.”

I lean back against the thick wall and try to swallow.

“I mean it,” he says. “Don’t rush. Just let in enough energy to identify it, then harness if you have to.”

“I feel a little sick.”

“Can you endure it for a few minutes?”

“Yeah.”

He takes my hand. “If it gets to be too much, tell me.”

I tip the side of my head against the wall and close my eyes. Yep, definitely nauseous. Spit fills my mouth and my chest starts to tingle. Slowly I breathe, forcing the waves down.Dissociate. These are someone else’s emotions, not mine.Without opening my eyes, I wipe the sweat from my upper lip and tell Leo, “Everything feels wrong.”

“Wrong how?” he asks, his soft voice not enough to disguise his concern.

“It’s all out of balance.” And making me dizzy. For no clear reason, I think of Liv’s ten-legged frogs. And trees growing sideways along the river.

I reach for more of the energy hovering outside my cloak. It’s not particularly potent, but it is unquestionably bad. Someone is toying with darkness—stepping in, stepping out, going where they shouldn’t. My face flushes and prickles like it does when I say something that I know is unkind, or when I realize I’ve forgotten to do an important assignment in class.

It’s the way I feel every time I lie to Liv’s face.

And it’s the way I felt this morning, when faced with Rime’s accusing glare.

I take a deep breath and open my eyes, still fighting the urge to puke. “Somebody was doing something harmful here—something that they knew was wrong.” Underneath the guilt, more energy crackles, frenzied and feverish, rising higher and higher. “But they didn’t care,” I say. “They did it anyway.”

Leo tilts his head and studies me with those wise, dark eyes. I know what he’s thinking:Emberdid something harmful. She knew it was wrong, and she did it anyway. Sure, I could be sensing the lies someone told at a meeting last week. This space has been here for centuries, and humans have come in and out of it, doing all sorts of abominable things. But I know, even as this thought crosses mymind, that it’s no ordinary transgression I’m sensing. There’s a darkness to it. And a willfulness that borders on evil.

Leo dabs at my damp hairline with the cuff of his sleeve.

“The feeling is muted, but it’s distinct,” I say.

“Maybe because it’s underneath us and getting filtered through the floor.”

Which means if we can get down there and I don’t harness right away, I’ll definitely be losing my lunch. Or my mind.

His fingers brush my brow. “May I?”

When I nod, he smooths his hand over my head again, his healing power washing through me, cooling my clammy skin and settling my stomach.

“Come on, let’s get you out of here.” He helps me to my feet, making sure I’m steady before he lets go of my arms.

Out in the hall, we face three pairs of expectant eyes.

“Well?” Rime prompts.

“We’re in the right place,” Leo declares.

Aaron lays a hand on my shoulder. “You okay, Betts?”

“Yeah.” I smile. “It’s not pleasant in there, but I’m fine. Thanks.”

Out of nowhere, Topaz appears, no footsteps warning us of her approach. “No sign of the other fae,” she reports with a shrug.

Then who else could be following us? I haven’t seen Aaron use his ability much, but from what I know, it’s never misled him.