Page 118 of Harnessed in Gold

Strong arms wrap around my legs, just above my knees. “Gotcha.”

Stiff and terrified, I let go. Leo guides me down his body, the hatch slamming one second before my feet touch the floor. Shaking and gasping, I rest in his arms. I’m okay.

He’sokay.

As he sweeps the dust from my hair, I fumble for his face, touching every bone and hollow. Only when I’m convinced he’s real and whole do I allow my awareness to reach outward, beyond the circle of his arms.

If the room we just came from was shabby, then this one is a certified demilitarized zone. Ash blankets the floor, and the crudely built walls are plastered with dirt, cobwebs, and moss.

I approach the collapsed fireplace on the far wall. The forge. The pit of hell.

“Be careful,” Leo tells me. “Stay close to Topaz until I help everyone else down.”

I’m too spooked to realize what’s happening to me until it’s too late. I’ve breached the nest, and like wasps, the emotions are on the attack—swarming, stinging, bombarding me. I stumble toward Topaz, surprised when she grabs my hand.

“Hold on to me,” she commands, swinging my arm over her shoulder.

I’m on fire, feverish and throbbing and close to delirium. Elation lifts me; terror throws me to the ground.

They say I can’t, but I can. Iwill. I just need more.

Sounds reach me through the wavering heat: clanking metal, glass and rock crunching underfoot. I even make out a sneeze.

“Look everywhere!” orders a voice close behind me. “Harness, Betts!” shouts another.

Darkness surrounds me, pressing in on me and stealing my breath. I claw at it, and it dissolves into shadows that seep under myskin, that wind around my neck and choke me. They pin my arms to my sides, and no matter how hard I twist and kick, they won’t let me go.

“Betts, stop!”

Horror bleeds through my nose, eyes, and mouth. I can’t breathe, can’t scream.

“Hold her.”

Warmth pours over me, flowing from my head down my torso and trickling to my toes. I sway as my muscles release, but strong arms keep me upright. The terror still lurks even though my body is limp and numb. Who just shot me up with ketamine? I sigh as I tingle. It feels so good I want to laugh and cry and scream all at the same time.

“Help me get her out of here.”

“Leo?” I whimper.

“It’s me.”

How is he holding me if he’s standing in front of me? His hands are on my head like he’s offering me a benediction. A blessing of healing calm.

I reach for him, desperate to be in his arms, but he holds back. “We need to get you out of this room. So whatever you can do to make it easier—” He glances up at the dark, rectangular hole in the ceiling, then says to whoever’s holding me, “I’ll go up first, then you lift her up to me.”

“No, I’m fine,” I argue.

“You’re not staying down here,” says the voice behind me. Rime. Keeping a hand on my back, he drops to one knee, offering Leo a boost.

Leo yanks down the hatch and shoves off Rime’s thigh. The hole swallows his body but not his voice. “Lift her up.”

Rime is patient, making sure I’m steady enough to stand upright before he clamps his arms around my thighs and lifts me, rocket-straight, high enough that Leo can grip me around the ribs and help me pull myself up through the hatch.

Leo wiggles down the chute to the furnace room, and I slide down after him, landing in his arms.

“Betts, I’m so sorry. I made sure to get down there first, thinking I could help you, but I had no idea?—”

“I’m okay.” Except for the burning in my throat.