Page 117 of Harnessed in Gold

“Then come on.” She snatches the phone from Rime and shoves him to the door. “They told me how to get down there.”

They? Oh, the snakes.

We’re taking orders from snakes.

I don’t know whether to be grateful or terrified.

Avery stands in the doorway, arms folded and one brow arched. “You want us to climb upwhere?”

“The chute,” Rime answers matter-of-factly.

Topaz’s voice echoes, her head and shoulders stuffed up the crumbling hole in the wall, “The snakes said there’s a way in through here.” She backs out, flicking a cobweb off her shoulder. “It looks like there’s some sort of hatch up there.”

The bad news? We have to crawl up a coal chute. The good news? There are no snakes in this room.

“Um.” Aaron clears his throat. “I’m no expert on coal chutes, but aren’t they pretty narrow?”

We all eye Rime’s broad shoulders and long legs. Frankly, Leo’s not much smaller, and Aaron, although slim, is as tall as Rime. I’m not calling the fire department to chisel two faeries and a musician out of a coal chute.

Topaz shrugs. “I fit. So would Betts.” Her gaze drops to Avery’s chest. “You, however?—”

Avery smirks. “I’m not scared to go in there, but if it means squishing the girls, count me out.”

Biting back a chuckle, Leo steps to Topaz’s side and shines his phone light up the chute. “Boost me,” he tells her.

I gasp in sudden panic. “Wait!” He’ll get stuck. He’ll suffocate.

Rime shoots out an arm, blocking me from getting to him. “He’s fine.”

I throw him off, but he grabsme and holds me back.

Leo grunts as he pulls himself up, dust and chips of mortar showering the floor where just a moment ago he stood. I hold my breath and watch him disappear, the chute slurping him up like a hungry monster.

A metallic clang, as low and loud as a gong, sounds throughout the room, making me jump and gripping my throat with dread. “Leo?!” I twist, trying to pry Rime’s hands off my waist.

“Wait!” he hisses. “Just wait!”

“I’m going,” Topaz announces. Aaron steps up to help her, lifting her just enough for her to get a grip on something—god only knows what—up in the chute, then shining his phone light to help her see. The gong rings out again, followed by Topaz’s voice, “It’s wide, but the drop is steep.” Another clang, then silence.

But what about Leo?

I shove out of Rime’s hold. “I’m going next.”

“Whatever you wish, a ghrá.” He all but picks me up and rams me up the chute. I’ll bet he wishes there was a trash compactor on the other side.

The chute isn’t as steep as I was expecting it to be, and once my knees are inside, I’m able to crawl further up, about halfway to the top, where it becomes steeper and where I feel the frame of a hatch underneath me. Apparently, this coal chute was designed to serve both rooms. The hatch door, as rusty and heavy as an old cast-iron skillet, fights me as I push on it, ready to snap shut as soon as I let go. But eventually, I’m able to pry it open enough to allow a sliver of light to reach my eyes.

“Who’s coming?” Leo’s voice.

“Me. Betts.”

“Hold on. There’s about a ten-foot drop to the ground. Come slowly, and I’ll catch you.”

Heart pounding and eyes gritty with dust, I push my feet through the door, its weight threatening to cut my legs off like a guillotine.

“Watch the door,” Leo warns.

Yeah, thanks. There isn’t much I can do to keep it frommercilessly scraping my thighs and raking my stomach as I bear my weight on my elbows and send my lower body through the hole.