Page 135 of Harnessed in Gold

Topaz asks, “Were any of the Indigenous people killed?”

Leo scans the pages and shakes his head. “He doesn’t say.”

“Considering I heard gunfire,” Aaron muses, “probably, yeah.”

I explain to Liv what Aaron and I experienced down by the river. She looks at me like I’ve grown two heads—not because she doesn’t believe me, but because she does.

Topaz nudges Aaron. “Have you checked that crime report thing this morning?”

He opens his phone and soon he’s breathlessly reading aloud: “‘Two suspects evaded arrest last night when area police were called to the Brownhill College library at 8:56 p.m. after an apparent forced entry triggered the library’s alarm. The building’s basement and grounds sustained damage, but the main floors were left unharmed. No items were reported stolen. Police describe the suspects as two white males, age 20-30, one approximately 5’10’’ with dark brown hair, and the other approximately 6’3’’ with blond hair. Anyone with information yada yada yada…’” Dazed, he rests the phone on his knee.

“Holy crap,” I mutter.

“Yeah, holy crap.”

Topaz drums her fingers on her chin. “Juniper must’ve glamoured herself in time.”

I feel bad for the poor cops. They’re used to breaking up rowdy frat parties, not apprehending evil fae. What a sight they must’ve beheld in that basement: dangling tree roots, straggling rats and snakes, and two threatening figures that were there one moment and gone the next.

Dishtowel in hand, Rime appears in the kitchen doorway and signals to Topaz with a nod. It must be time for a scouting mission. “I need to counteract Burdock’s birds,” he tells her as he tosses the towel on the counter and stalks across the living room.

She meets him at the front door. “And I’ll check out their apartment.”

While she grabs her jacket and heads out into the cold, Rime turns back to the rest of us. “Does anyone know anything about the birds of prey in this region?”

Leo and I point to Liv.

Rime’s blue eyes widen. “You do?” He seems more pleased than shocked.

“Um, yeah… I… well…” Pink blooms on her cheeks and neck.

“She’s an Environmental Science major,” I offer up.

“Really?” His smile has even my heart fluttering. “Do you know which species are the mostaggressive?”

She answers confidently, like a kid who knows she’s about to nail the spelling bee. “Either the great horned owl or the red-tailed hawk.”

His grin grows crooked as he considers her.

Giddy and flustered, she adds, “The owls can be pretty brutal, but it’s the hawks that are really territorial.”

“Yes! Territorial!” He pauses to point at her as he shrugs into his jacket. “That’s what I need. Do you know where to find them?”

She gulps as he sheaths his dagger. “Yeah.”

“Are you willing to come with me?”

Interestingly, it’s Leo’s assurance she seeks. At his nod of endorsement, she stands. “Yeah, okay.”

I beam like a proud mother. She’s not good enough for Kappa Phi Theta or Braden McCormick? Please. She’s helping a warrior faerie save his realm. Eat your heart out, Lara and Peyton.

“She’s safe,” Leo tells me the moment the door shuts behind them.

“I know.” I join him on the couch and lay my head on his shoulder. “He wouldn’t let anything happen to her.”

Leo stretches an arm around me and fiddles with my hair as he idly flips through entry after entry of failed alchemy experiments.

“Wait.” I sit up straight. “Go back.” I gesture for him to turn the pages. “Keep going, keep going…. stop! Look. Did you see this?”