Harnessed in Gold (The Secrets of Brownhill #2)

Leo’s Prologue

LEO'S PROLOGUE

Betts saw Brier’s team.

It’s the middle of the night and she’s here in my living room, dressed like a princess in light blue.

Rime looms beside me, hands on his hips, asking her a million questions.

What were they doing? What did they look like?

What did they say? But each one floats past her like dandelion fluff on a summer breeze.

Her blue eyes glaze over as she aimlessly fumbles for a handful of my shirt.

I recognize the signs; she’s drained herself.

“Betts?” I grip her bare, ice-cold arms.

She nods, dazed.

“Are you tired?”

Another nod.

“Come lie down.”

“No. I don’t want to stay, I just—” She trails off, biting her lip and swaying like she’s about to pass out.

I catch her and brace her against me, ignoring the pang in my chest when her mouth forms an angry, flat line.

Now’s not the time for either of us to wallow in regrets.

I sweep her up into my arms and carry her to the couch, Rime hopping out of the way of her swinging legs.

Fire blazes in her eyes, and I’m sure if she had the energy, she’d fight me.

As soon as her body hits the cushions, she relaxes. I go to the kitchen for some chocolate and return to find Rime sitting near her on the floor, the two of them talking.

“She was at a ball,” he tells me, swiping the box of Cocoa Puffs from my grip and offering it to her.

“At the Asheville Hilton,” she adds, voice straining as she sits up.

A ball. So that’s where she went with Zander. That beautiful dress was for him.

I choke down the bile in my throat and focus. “And you said there were three of them?”

“Yes.” She munches on a handful of cereal. “Two men and one woman.”

I grab the blanket to drape around her, but she snatches it from me before I get too close. “They were checking out,” she says. “Which is weird. No one checks out of a room at eleven o’clock at night.”

Checking out? That’s significant, I’m sure. But I can’t concentrate on the implications when she’s gutting me like this. When she’s letting Rime wrap her in the blanket she wouldn’t let me touch.

Topaz finally deigns to join us, albeit with a scowl. She smooths her sleep-rumpled black hair as she pads into the room. “What in the gods’ name is going on?”

At our explanation, her scowl deepens. She narrows her eyes at Betts. “How do you know they were fae?”

Indignant, Betts blinks at her. “Because I can see through glamours, remember?”

Topaz scoffs. “That was an accident.”

“Yeah, but I figured out how to do it whenever I want to now.”

The room goes silent except for Betts’ crunching.

She returns our stares, fearlessly taking in our unglamoured fae features.

She’s a different creature from the girl I first saw at the frat house, wide-eyed and frightened by her own power.

Sitting on my couch, eating dry cereal, is the Betts I’ve been trying to awaken for months. My Betts. My rebel violet.

And it seems she has no intention of forgiving me.

I keep a professional distance as Rime, Topaz, and I try once again to question her, hoping she’s relaxed enough now to answer.

But she barely manages an incoherent description of the three fae.

Despite the Cocoa Puffs, she’s fading, eyelids drooping and the color draining from her cheeks.

I ball my hands into fists to keep from reaching for her.

If we’re going to find that weapon, if we’re going to keep it out of the hands of Brier’s team, then we need her. So if she wants me to stay at arm’s length, I will.

Gods above, I’ll try.

For her and for Nàdar.