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My gaze was locked onto the bead of sweat that was hanging from Fisher’s chin; for the life of me, I could see nothing else.
“You could at least say hello before you start eye-fucking me.”
“You are temporary,” he said, looming over me, his huge frame just… everywhere. “And you are rude,” I shot back.
“It’s Saeris. My name. Call me that or nothing at all.” He cast an amused look over his shoulder, his lips parted a fraction, exposing the briefest glimpse of teeth. “Nothing at all? I like the sound of that. Come here and look at this, Nothing At All.”
LOL
He looked happy, and that was what really fucked with me. It was easy hating Kingfisher when he was being a bastard, but in this moment, he appeared very un-bastard-like, and that was… confusing.
“Let me guess. Your virginity.” “Fuck you, Fisher.” “Sure.” He smirked. “But I’m afraid I don’t have any new boots to trade you for your time.”
I wasn’t about to lie to myself; I wanted to know about every single one of them—what they meant and when he’d got them. I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of asking, though. I had things I needed to take care of.
I hadn’t seen many beautiful things in my short life. But, of all the beautiful things I had seen, Fisher was the most beautiful of all.
“If you want it, come here and touch it,” he rumbled.
At best, we were loose allies who irritated the hell out of each other. So why, then, was he looking at me right now like I was an ally he’d like to fuck?
“Thrum, thrum, thrum, thrum, thrum. Fast. Erratic, like a hummingbird. I hear it bouncing around all over the place when you look at me. Did you know that?”
“I don’t hate your kind. I’m just disappointed by how breakable you are. If I held you down and fucked you the way I’m imagining fucking you right now, I doubt that you’d survive it.”
Ope
“That your body is betraying you in other ways. That I can smell you, Little Osha, and I’m thinking about drinking the sweet nectar you’re making for me straight from the fucking cup.”
“Yeah. Right. I’m just… going to kiss you. And you’re just going to sit there. You aren’t going to move a muscle. You’re not even going to kiss me back?” Gods above, saying it out loud made it sound even more ridiculous. Kingfisher just stared at me. “Find out.
This was the kiss to end all kisses. Demanding, urgent, and carnal.
“I don’t owe you a goodbye. I don’t owe you anything!” “YOU OWE ME YOUR LIFE!
I rounded on the warrior, the dull roar in my ears growing progressively louder, louder, louder… “This is not my brother, Fisher. This is Carrion fucking Swift!”
Again, I wanted to refuse his command just to spite him, but my whole body ached to comply with his order.
“Good. Leg back,” he ordered. I moved my leg back.
Shew
“Feeling a little sore, human?” “Sore doesn’t come close,” I grumbled. “I’ll happily kiss all of your aches and pains better for you once we strike camp. I’ve been told my mouth has healing properties. Especially when administered between a pair of thighs.”
“I don’t enjoy hurting people. I don’t like it at all. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t necessary. To avoid far more serious pain, sometimes we have to endure a little sting. Sometimes, some of us have to inflict it. You say it so mockingly, but I do care about your well-being. You’re important. Without you, I can’t end this war or protect my people. I have to keep you safe so I can accomplish my goals. So yes, I’ll hurt you if it means I keep you safe. I’ll force you to follow me to the ends of this realm, because that is the only way I can make sure you stay alive. Now drink your beer.”
“How the hell am I supposed to stay alive in the middle of a war zone, Fisher?” When he laughed this time, the sound was hollow. “By sticking close, Osha. Really close.”
“Mm, of course. You’re so eager to get back to that awful city.” Kingfisher turned a corner and then halted abruptly, opening a door to his left. “Back to all that oppression and starvation. I can really see the appeal.”
“Shadow gates are of this realm. They can only be used within this realm. Quicksilver is not of this realm. Therefore, it can be used within this realm, but also within or to other realms as well. No, no more fucking questions. We have work to do.”
And to be blunt, Saeris, you’re a tool none of us can afford to let Fisher break. He needs to see you as a person. He needs to know that you’re more than our way out of a tight corner.
“Fire sprites are just very emotional. They love to overreact, that’s all.”
Just like me fr
“There’s every way,” Fisher rumbled, his eyes darkening. “I’d know the smell of you anywhere. On anyone. I’d know it blind and in the dark. Across a fucking sea. I’d be able to scent you
Kingfisher became death.
“For the record, I’d never use an injury as an excuse to sneak my way into a bed,” Fisher said. His voice was even closer now. I could almost feel the brush of his lips against the shell of my ear. “I’ve never had a problem securing myself an invite.”
I could smell him—the complex scent of a cold winter forest—every second of every hour of every day, until he was literally all I could think about. I wanted to kill him.
He’d visited before, but he’d annoyed me so much with his pacing and his questions that I’d screamed at him and made him leave. He hadn’t returned after that.
Mood
“You know what’d really piss him off?” I knew he wasn’t talking about Onyx. “Just don’t, Carrion.” “Revenge fucking on his bed.”
“You could eviscerate a man with that expression. It’s one of the things I love most about you.”
Carrion snagged a grape from the tray and popped it into his mouth. “That I take a bath.” “A bath?” “Yes, a bath.”
Not that I need to use my imagination when it comes to your body, but—” A sinister growl echoed around the dining room. Carrion had enough common sense to stop talking.
Ope
Carrion held up a hand. “I’d prefer not to be here, actually.”
Fisher looked from Carrion to me, as if he were wondering if I had ever found myself at the bottom of a pit with a dagger in my hand, fighting for a cup of water. I wondered how he would react if he knew that I had.
“You said you were going to the camp for a week. You were gone for two.” “Did you miss me?” “I didn’t appreciate being stuck in your bed for five days, y’know.” “Really?” He picked up a piece of cheese. “Most females like spending time in my bed.”
Fisher nodded toward my plate. “Eat, Little Osha.” His lips moved, but he spoke softly, casting his voice. “Gods, will you stop doing that?” I hissed under my breath. “Why? I’ve seen the way your skin breaks out in goose bumps when I speak to you like this.”
“If I were evil and using your oath for my own purposes, I’d order you onto your knees for me,” he said, cutting me off. “I’d order you to part your legs for me. I’d order you to suck and fuck me until you passed out from exhaustion. Is that what you want, Little Osha?”
“I know it’s virtually impossible, but could you at least try to be nice?” Ren asked,
A large tent, then. Had to be. Fisher would need a sizable space to house his fucking ego, after all.
“It’s just a meal,” he said. “Let’s eat it and try not to draw blood this time, shall we? Please?”
It wasn’t just how he looked. There was something else there, too. Something that made my body come alive. His scent, and the way I knew that he’d entered a room before I saw him, and the melancholy tug at the root of my soul whenever he wasn’t in a room, and—
The smell of smoke and cooking meat assaulted my senses, but nothing could replace the scent of mint and midnight forest in my nose.
“I can smell you as well as him, Saeris. I wasn’t worried that he’d hurt you. I was asking if you were okay. There’s a difference.”
“We have a fucking Alchemist?” “She’s mine,” Fisher said.
“You never wore the dresses I put out for you,” he murmured into my hair. “I don’t want to talk about dresses,” I whispered. “Fair enough. Let’s talk about food, then.” “Food?” He nodded. “Don’t share food with that prick again, Little Osha.” “What?” “Swift. Earlier. Back in the war room. You were trading that cake back and forth with him for ages.” “It wasn’t cake.” “I don’t care what it was. Just stop sharing food with him.” There was a dangerous edge to his voice. One that dared me to challenge this order. If he hadn’t learned by now that I wasn’t one to be told what to do, then perhaps he
...more
“No,” he answered stubbornly. “It doesn’t mean anything. Share all the bowls of stew you like with Lorreth or Ren. Just don’t share food with that prick. It’s bad enough that you insist on sharing air with him. I’d rather you didn’t eat off the same fucking plate, too.”
Forget? How did he imagine that I’d ever forget that? “If those feeders had made it to our side of the river—” “I would have cut them down and made a pile of their bones.” He was so fucking confident. Not a shadow of doubt in his abilities.
