Page 145 of Harnessed in Gold

She nods, gulping in air. I have to get away from her before I fall apart.

Rime puts Topaz on standby in case we need backup at the river, and orders Avery, Aaron, and Liv to go to a crowded, public place if they sense danger. All instructions received, the two male fae and I stumble out the door and into the chilly March afternoon.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Silently,we charge across campus, three hawks and a half-dozen sparrows circling discreetly overhead. Leo takes my hand, but his grip is tense and tight, his posture defensive. Rime walks ahead of us, shoulders rigid and arms stiff. Meanwhile, I match their pace and try not to think too hard. Do the next thing, right? The next thing, and don’t worry about the rest.

We cross the practice fields and arrive at the culvert, but instead of going right, toward the massacre site, we head left, into the woods. After speed-walking more than a quarter mile along a dirt path, we come upon a footbridge spanning the river. It’s a sturdy but narrow structure, its steel rails hemming us in, forcing us to walk single-file. Leo leads the procession, and behind me marches Rime, his eyes alert. And red.

The river’s current, churned up by recent rains, is so fast and strong it makes me dizzy to watch it rushing underneath us. Clouds briefly block the sun, abandoning us to a grayness that turns the bare trees into menacing slashes in the sky. I shiver and keep my eyes forward, dismayed that when we reach the other side of the river, the path abruptly stops and dumps us into the underbrush.

As we enter the woods, I’m consumed by a closed-in feeling, the trees looming over me on each side. I should be grateful for the cover, considering the chances we’re being followed, but I’m so freaking creeped out. Twigs and branches crack under my feet and whip at my legs.

“Get us through, Hawthorn,” Rime orders. “I’m watching our backs.”

Leo traps me behind him with a hand on my hip. “Hold on to my jacket and follow me; that’s all you need to do right now.”

He sweeps his free hand at the ground in front of him. Shrubs bend away from our path like parted hair, and the brambles and vines flatten into a carpet at our feet.

“Warn me when we get closer,” I remind him. “Like, within fifty feet.” I don’t know how far from the bracelet Ember’s emotions extend, but the more time I have to prepare, the easier it’ll be to dissociate from them.

Leo stops and turns, shocking me when he presents his phone to Rime. “You heard her. Can I trust you with this? We can go faster if I use both hands.”

Rime’s unblinking red eyes meet Leo’s. “Yes.”

Satisfied, Leo steps forward with me hanging onto the back of his jacket and Rime close enough behind me that I can feel his body heat. We trudge through the woods, the hazardous brush parting for us like the Red Sea as Leo raises one hand, then curls the other, flicks his right wrist, then twists his left. All the while, the river races past us on our right. I watch it between the trees, the peachy orange of the sunset casting a shimmer on the unbroken waves.

For what feels like miles, we carry on in our little three-person train, the silence wearing on my nerves. Every snap and rustle has my heart running riot in my chest. When Rime whispers, terrifyingly close to my ear, “We’re almost there,” I nearly jump out of my skin.

I clench Leo’s thick jacket, trusting him to guide my body while I focus my senses. I drop my head between his shoulder blades and close my eyes, not caring that I’ve slowed us to a totter. I visualizemy velvet cloak enveloping my shoulders, thick and heavy and damp. It shields me from the anxiety of the men I’m sandwiched between, but unfortunately, it traps me alone with my paranoid imagination.

Reluctantly, I leave the safety of Leo’s shoulders and open the front of the cloak a mere sliver, exposing myself to the energies. To my surprise, nothing other than Leo and Rime’s emotions worm their way into my chest.

Were we wrong about the bracelet’s location? Is the lead box doing a better job than we expected?

Rime tugs on my sweatshirt, bringing me, and subsequently Leo, to a halt.

“I see something,” he whispers, red eyes like fire in the light of the setting sun. He hands Leo back his phone. “Keep going.” With that, he takes off, snaking through the underbrush.

I grab Leo’s arm. “What did he see?” Has Brier’s team found us?

Leo’s eyes dart back and forth, almost as bird-like as Rime’s. “I don’t know. Do you feel anyone?”

“Only you.”

“Come on.” He shuffles me behind him again. “He saidkeep going,so that’s what we do. Whatever or whoever he saw, he’ll take care of it.”

Alone? Or will he call Topaz? I hold my breath for a millisecond, listening. No leaves crunching, no birds screeching. Maybe it was just a deer he saw, running through the forest.

In the dawning twilight, the trees are no more than silhouettes, but I can still see the vines, bushes, and saplings making way for Leo and me, bowing gracefully as we pass by.

Over the low roar of the river, I ask, “How close are we? I don’t feel anything.” The bracelet can’t possibly be here. Rime is risking his life for nothing.

“Close,” Leo says, peering down at his glowing phone. “Very close.” Undeterred, he leads me onward.

With every step, I grow more frustrated. Nothing, nothing, and nothing.

We were wrong.