Page 153 of Harnessed in Gold
“Betts, stop,” Leo pleads.
“Shame to kill her.” River tugs sideways on my hood, giving me a view of his icy eyes and lurid sneer. When moonlight glints off a dagger poised in his free hand, I realize why Leo is balking.
“Do I slit her throat?” River asks him. “Or do I strangle her, just like you did to me?”
Leo jerks into action, raking through the brush and leaves, hunting for the bracelet.
“Leo, don’t,” I rasp, but my hood strangles my words.
River twists it one more time and yanks up until I’m awkwardly suspended and my windpipe completely restricted. I kick and flail, trying to get up on my knees to bear my weight, but River onlypulls me higher. “Survival of the fittest. Have you heard of that, saoi? It’s how nature really works. The strong prey on the weak. They kill to dominate, and dominate to survive.”
My blood beats against the noose, and my lungs scream for air. I claw at my neck, oblivious to the pain.
“And Subworlders?” River scoffs, spraying me with spit. “The only thing they’re good for is bait. For picking off, one by one, until you meet our demands.” He jerks me another foot higher. “Starting with this one.”
Lights and spots consume my vision. My chest blazes and my heart cries out for Leo.Just let me touch him one last time.
A horrific pop splits the air, and my hood goes slack.
I crash to my knees as a sickening thump resounds behind me.
“Don’t look!” Leo hisses, snatching me into his arms.
Stupid me, I look.
Splayed in the mud and leaves is River, limbs twisted and blood spurting from the side of his head.
Leo presses my face to his chest, his jacket muffling my fragile scream.
Leaves crunch and branches snap, drawing my attention to my other side. Rime emerges from the trees, moonlight flashing off something shiny in his hand. Something aimed at the crumpled figure on the ground.
“Get her out of here,” he says, his unblinking red hawk’s eyes trained on River.
Leo rises, bracing my shaking body against his and supporting me with his arms. But neither of us has the strength yet to walk.
Like a seasoned mobster, Rime stands over the fallen fae, handgun and glare pointing down. When River doesn’t move, Rime flips him over with the toe of his boot. “He’s dead,” he says flatly, lowering the gun.
“Oh my god.” There’s a dead body on the ground beside me. Not in a movie. Not on my phone. For real. Leo tries to hold me, but I push back, eyes drawn to the morbid sight.
Rime saved my life.
Leo reaches for the gun, sliding it out of Rime’s trembling grip and setting it behind us out of sight. Rime crouches beside River and drops his head in his hands, moonlight bathing his blond hair.
The river drums and the wind moans in the trees.
Finally, Rime looks up, inhaling deeply and running his hands firmly down his face. He unsheathes his dagger, and without flinching, twists the tip of the blade into the pad of his middle finger.
I cling to Leo and watch in reverent silence as Rime squeezes his own blood onto the chest of the fae he killed. There he lays his cut hand and murmurs words too soft for me to hear. A benediction? Commending the spirit to the gods? It’s more than I can grasp, more than my heart can contain. I drop my head onto Leo’s shoulder and let him hold me, both of us struggling to restrain our bone-rattling shivers.
With a sigh, Rime stands, jaw clenching as he glances in every direction. “We need to get out of here,” he says. “And we need to get you two warm.”
Leo gestures something to him, mouthing words I’m at the wrong angle to read. When he encircles his wrist with his thumb and forefinger, I realize what he’s saying.
Several beats of dead silence ensue before Rime shakes off his shock. “Where is it?”
Leo hasn’t let go of me, and he makes no move to do so now. “Somewhere behind me.”
Surprisingly, Rime doesn’t complain about searching the area on his own. “Tell me what I’m looking for,” he says, dropping to his knees and pawing through the mud and dead leaves.
