Page 77 of Harnessed in Gold

When the tremors subside, I open my eyes, sigh, and proclaim, “It’s gone.”

“You sure?”

“I’m sure.”

He peers over his shoulder at the area we came from. “Are you willing to do it again? See if you can harness faster this time?”

That’s why I’m here, isn’t it? I give him a firm nod and start to rise, but he pulls me gently back down.

“Maybe you should rest a bit first.”

I sigh my assent, stretching my legs out in front of me and crossing them at the ankles. Leo does the same, and for a moment we sit in silence, watching the river foam collect around the rocks and listening to squirrels scampering up trees.

Body relaxed and tongue loose, I confess, “I don’t know why, but it feels like my ability is completely out of control, like it just keeps getting stronger and stronger and it’s never going to stop.”

Leo sits up straighter. “Stronger in what way?”

“Like I’m picking up everything, even little, everyday emotions.” I angle toward him as I tell him about the amorous guys in Brit Lit and the girl who was crying in the stairwell over her failing grade. “Is my power getting stronger, or does it just seem that way because?—”

He silences me with an arched brow. “Because you’re finally paying attention?”

I roll my eyes, recalling all the times he’d urged me to accept my gift. And all the times I stubbornly refused to believe him. “Do you think that’s what’s going on?”

He shakes his head. “I don’t know. Your power could very well be getting stronger. It makes sense. Like any muscle, the more you use it, the stronger it gets.”

“So if I stop using it, will it go away?”

“Betts—” he sighs.

I crack a smile. “Relax. I know it won’t.” I pull my knees to my chest. “I’m here, aren’t I? Practicing. Trust me, you and Jean both scared me straight.”

“I’ve never tried to scare you.”

“Jean did.”

“No, Jean tried to scareme.”

You need to protect her, Sidhe. She doesn’t know half of what she can do.

“She made it sound like I was doomed,” I say, trying to sound flippant and failing. “Like I’m going to blow myself up or something with my own power.” A thought occurs to me, and I sit up straighter. “Is that what Rime is worried about? Am I a potential hazard? Am I going to get everyone killed?”

“No.” Leo gently tucks my windblown hair behind my ear. “No, I don’t think that’s what she meant.”

“Then what did she mean? And what was it she sensed in my blood? Was she talking about my clairsentience?”

“I don’t know.”

Suddenly I want to scream. Why doesn’t he have any answers? “She said you would tell me.”

“Maybe in the future, I will. But right now I don’t know what she was talking about.” He sweeps my hair back again, fighting the wind. “All I know is that you’re incredibly powerful. And that you’ll be safest if you learn to control it.”

“But how can I control it if I don’t even know what I can do?”

“You learn to control what youdoknow, so that you’re strong and prepared for anything new that comes along.”

He makes it sound so easy. So logical.

I rest a cheek on the backs of my hands where they’re folded on my upraised knees. “I don’t want to hurt anyone.”