Page 166 of Harnessed in Gold

Oh god.Thank you, Topaz, for staying behind.

Juniper slams the back car door. “It’s not in there.” When Burdock orders her to check the trunk, she draws the gun, aiming it at Rime. “Give me the keys.”

“I don’t have them,” he says, wearing his ‘duh’ face. “You should know, you searched me.”

Burdock’s arm is like a vise, choking my ribs. “Hawthorn has them.” He raises his voice to a shout, “Stay in the shadows if you want. You’ll still be able to see them bleed.”

The only reply comes from the wind in the trees.

My phone, somehow still alive, buzzes, lighting up as it does itslittle disco on the pavement at our feet. Juniper’s eyes flash to it, then up at Burdock. Startled, his grip loosens—ever so slightly.

A blast like a roaring wind hits Burdock and me from behind, sending us flying. I hit the ground in a bone-rattling, skin-chafing slide, Burdock landing on top of me and pine needles and sap showering down all around us. Metal sings as his dagger skids across the pavement near my head.

With an elbow to the face, Rime knocks Juniper back against the car. A bullet splits the air, but no one collapses. Another punch and the gun flies from her fist and tumbles to a halt behind the rear tire.

Groaning under his weight, I reach for Burdock’s dagger, pulling it closer, little by little with one finger until I can get my entire hand around the handle. He growls and writhes, but it doesn’t seem to be me he’s wrestling. I glance over my shoulder to see him roll off me, his shoulders, waist, and legs bound by wiry roots snaking out of the cracks in the asphalt.

In a stream of light from the open church doors, Leo descends the steps, left arm raised.

Squeaks and skittering draw my attention back to the ground. A swarm of rats rushes toward me, pink eyes level with mine, twitchy noses and scrabbling feet making straight for my face.

With a yelp, I launch to my feet, staggering as the wave of rodents breaks around my ankles and crashes over Burdock. Within seconds, his arms are free. The rats are chewing through the roots.

Leo comes closer, sweeping aside the rodents with pine boughs. “Go inside, Betts.” His eyes meet mine, pulsing with panic. “Please.”

Now, as I stand in the midst of danger, I realize what he was trying to tell me before we left Avery’s. I’m more than a pawn.

In the wrong hands, Betts, you’re a weapon too.

I duck into the shadows and head for the steps, handing Leo Burdock’s dagger as I pass. To my surprise, he hurls it with all his might into the trees and goes right back to coaxing roots and branches.

By the car, Rime and Juniper throw punches and grapple withtheir daggers, each trying to keep the other from getting the gun. In what appears to be a foolish move, she hops onto the hood. Rime scoffs and lunges for the rifle, but Juniper flips off the car roof like fucking Jackie Chan, and her booted foot makes contact with his head.

I freeze on the bottom step, covering my scream with both hands as Rime’s huge body goes slack and crumples to the ground.

At the edge of the lot, the rats swarm Leo, hanging off his back and climbing his chest as he struggles to keep Burdock down with roots and boughs.

We’re losing.

Someone is going to die.

Juniper looms over Rime, gloating. Moonlight glints off the gun still lying on the ground behind the back wheel. Rallying all my strength and speed, I leap for it.

Juniper’s eyes widen; she realizes what I’m doing. With a grin, she lunges in the same direction.

Sliding home-run-style, I swipe the gun off the ground and grip it tightly, bracing for the inevitable punches and kicks. But Juniper lands in an awkward sideways splay, and by the time she gets to her feet, I’m already on mine, the gun in my trembling hands aimed at her heart.

“Go ahead, little girl,” she taunts. “Shoot me.”

My fingers twitch around the metal.Shoot her. You don’t have to kill her, just hit her in the leg. But for fuck’s sake, just shoot her. I grit my teeth. My hands are shaking too hard to pull the trigger. What if I accidentally hit Rime?

Leo urges, “Hand it to me.”

I glance over my shoulder to find him approaching, swatting rats from his arms and kicking them aside with his feet. Behind him, Burdock staggers like a drunk, face coated in blood.

As Leo nears my side, I hold out the gun.

A squawk stabs my ears, and rustling whips my hair. All at once,I’m blinded by feathers and claws. I beat at the flapping wings. Another caw and they’re gone.