Quicksilver (Fae & Alchemy, #1)

by Callie Hart

“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.”

“Mm. You’re right. I don’t think you will invite me. When the time comes, I think you’ll beg—”

“None of us are. All we know is that when the god swords went silent and abandoned the rest of the Fae who carried them, Nimerelle stayed. At a cost. The blade used to shine brilliant silver. As the centuries have passed, it’s blackened and tarnished. But Nimerelle has stayed. The spirit of that sword or the magic inside it, whatever you choose to believe it is, has stayed. No matter what, it’s never left him.”

“Of course I want you to stay. You’re the only Alchemist we have,” he said. “I’d keep you here and have you working in that forge until you died of old age if it were up to me. But a deal’s a deal.”

“I don’t want you, Fisher.” “You’re thinking about my hands sliding up the insides of your thighs right now,” he said. “About my fingers slipping inside the wet folds of you. Working against your swollen clit, rubbing you until you’re panting and whimpering, begging for me to sink my cock into your—”

I did want Fisher. I hated myself for it. Hated that he knew it. And now Ren knew, too. It was mortifying.

“And I bet you’re so shocked. A female human, holding her own against a Fae warrior. That must have grated something fierce.”

“I want to help you, Fisher! I’ll do it gladly. I might not understand your people or even believe that everyone in this realm deserves saving, but that’s not my judgment call to make, is it? For some reason, I have this weird ability that can help protect Yvelia from being ravaged by a tide of corrupted, bloodthirsty monsters. I’ve seen what they’re capable of. I know how horrifying they are, and I wouldn’t wish them upon anyone! Can’t you just trust that I—”

I should not have let him do that. I should not have kissed him back. I shouldn’t have rubbed myself against his cock like that. I shouldn’t have moaned. I definitely shouldn’t have told him that I wanted him. For the love of all the gods in all the heavens, why had I said that? I was going to throw up.

“No! No, Fisher. You were here, and you didn’t breathe a fucking word of it to any of us. How many times have every single one of us in this room stood at your side and bled with you? We were supposed to be a family, and you just fucking abandoned us.”

“No, Little Osha. We’re not. Our lifespans are the subject of much research and conjecture. We outlive your kind by a long, long time. But we age. Eventually, we die. There were those like Malcolm who didn’t want to age. They weren’t content to make the most of the thousands of years they had already been granted. So they took what was supposed to be a punishment and embraced it with open arms. Malcolm is the strongest of them. Their king. Of all the Fae who chose to remain vampires, he alone is strong enough to fully turn someone and ensure they remain themselves. What makes them who they are. Their personality and their character traits. When his princes bite and turn someone, their victims die and return without their souls, nothing more than mindless, hungry shells. They obey their masters, and they feed.”

“My, my. So worked up already? You’re slick as hell. What do you taste like, mm? Are you going to scream for me like a good girl when I have you ride my face?”

“I can’t wait to hear what kind of sounds you make when I thrust into you for the first time,” he purred. “I’m going to make you pant for me, Little Osha. And when we’re done, I’ll close my eyes and replay the sound of you moaning in my head every time I stroke myself to completion.”

“You smell so, so fucking good,” he said thickly. “Back in the forge at the palace, I caught a hint of this. I knew then I had to taste you. This smell has been haunting my fucking dreams. I haven’t been able to think straight for remembering the scent of your need.”

“Oh, no, Little Osha. You’re gonna be looking right at me for this,” Fisher said. “Look.” He waited until I’d made eye contact with him again, then his hand moved up to my jaw. He held me almost tenderly as he said, “You still want it?” His chest, his arms, his defined abs; the deep groove that dipped over his hips, leading down between his legs: his entire body was a work of art. He took my breath away. The ink that covered his skin fluctuated as he waited for the answer he already knew I would give to him.

I hated him, I did. But you couldn’t hate something without caring about it just a little, too.

“Gods and fucking martyrs. Holy fucking shit. That’s right. Come. Show me how pretty you are when you fall apart.”

his head a little, nostrils flaring, and spoke in a low rumble. “Because she is moonlight. The mist that shrouds the mountains. The bite of electricity in the air before a storm. The smoke that rolls across a battlefield before the killing starts. You have no idea what she is. What she could be. You should call her Majesty.”

“It’s a sex thing. If a male drinks from someone, it’ll make his dick harder than it’s ever been in his life. It makes you euphoric. Both of you. While you’re fucking.”

“Good question. If I die first, the piece of Fisher’s soul returns to him. He becomes whole again. Everybody has a big party. The end. But if he dies first, he’s condemned to wait here for me to die before he can move on. He’d be trapped here, in a non-corporeal state, unable to touch anything or anyone. Unable to be heard.

“Fisher says he’s not worried about what happens to him if he dies first,” Lorreth said. “And I’m not worried, either. Truth is, I plan on dying first, anyway. But if the fates guide the stars in a different direction and our better angels claim him first, I won’t permit a single breath into my body beyond the last one Kingfisher takes. By my own hand, I’ll make sure the piece of soul he loaned to me finds its way back to him. And if the fates consider it just, and I’ve done enough to earn a place at his side, I’ll go quietly and happily with my brother into whatever lies beyond.”

“You made it very clear that, as far as you were concerned, it was going to be a one-time thing,” I said slowly. “You made it very clear that you could hate me and still want to fuck me. And I’m not the type of person who keeps throwing herself at the things that hurt her. So no. I haven’t brought it up. What would have been the point? Would you have made me a cup of tea and sat and listened while I tried to convince you how good we could be together?”

“If you use the oath you tricked me into to force me from this room right now, I will never forgive you. I will find a way to make your life absolutely fucking miserable. In fact, while we’re here and having such a lovely conversation about this, you’re never going to compel me against my will again. Do you hear me? Do you understand?”

“I am not fucking around, Fisher. If you have any respect for me, if you care about me even the tiniest, most minuscule amount, you will never, ever compel me again. Do you understand?”

Fisher hooked his fingers underneath the hem of my shirt and rested his hand against my skin. The move wasn’t sexual. It was simple contact between one person and another. Grounding. Intimate. A connection.

I wanted him. More than I wanted to go home. Gods and martyrs, what kind of sister did that make me? Hayden needed me. Elroy did, too. But in the moment, with the smell of him drowning out the entire fucking world and robbing me of all common sense, I wasn’t capable of feeling bad about that. There would be time for guilt aplenty later but for now…

I’ll make you beg, Little Osha. I’ll fill every one of those pretty little holes. I’ll fuck you so hard, you’ll never want another male ever again.

Every warrior in Innìr will smell me on you, Fisher’s voice rumbled in my mind. I’m going to make you hoarse from screaming my fucking name. I’m going to mark you in every way imaginable, so that everyone knows you’re fucking mine.

And then the world ended. Existence blinked out into a blank void. The stars tumbled from the heavens, and hell rose up to meet them. Everything and nothing, here and gone.

He smiled sadly. “I always know where you are, Little Osha.” Opening his eyes, he turned and looked at me. The smile developed a dangerous edge to it when he took me in.

“When I imagine you, Little Osha, you’re very rarely wearing clothes.”

“No. I’m coming.” That was it. Final. I was sick of being told to wait, told to stay, told to hide where it was safe. I wasn’t hanging back here, pacing in a tent while Fisher, my friends, and the rest of the entire fucking war camp faced down Malcolm’s monsters. It just wasn’t happening.

“The only way I’m staying in this tent is if you force me to,” I said in a shaky voice. And here it was. The moment he officially won me or lost me. If he ordered me to stay and took away my will, it didn’t matter how much things had changed between us. Nor would it matter how much I needed him. I would never speak to him again. Never look at him again. This would all be over before it had even had a chance to begin. That would hurt, but nowhere near as much as his betrayal would. I waited, praying to gods I’d only recently learned the names of that he was about to make the right decision.

“Don’t you dare die on my watch, Saeris Fane! Fisher will never forgive me if his sole reason for living is torn to pieces on her first fucking battlefield.”

“You can kick and scream all you like,” he said. “But he wants the Alchemist, Fisher. If he has to burn down all of Yvelia to claim her, you know perfectly well that he’ll do it.”

“Not you! Me!” He thumped himself in his chest, suddenly furious. “My weakness! My vulnerability! I’ve known for centuries that you were coming. That you were just going to show up one day and change everything. You’re the chink in my armor, Saeris. The soft spot where the knife slides in. You are the thing that Malcolm will hurt in order to hurt me, and I couldn’t… couldn’t fucking bear it!”

“No. No, really. I’m thrilled that you’ve had so long to think about all of this. That you’ve known for hundreds of years that I was going to show up in your life. That you knew what those tattoos meant, and you got to decide that you were going to reject me for my own good and send me packing back to Zilvaren. I’m ecstatic that you’ve made all of these awful, difficult decisions on my behalf, Kingfisher.”

“You saved him. You gave him part of your soul. If you die, you’ll be trapped, waiting for your soul to be made whole again before you can move on.”

“You’re such a fucking idiot, Fisher. These people are your friends. They love you. You’re really going to ask Ren to help kill you? Then keep it a secret from everyone else who cares about you? You’d really put that on him? And Lorreth is smart. He isn’t going to accept that you’re abandoning Yvelia and you won’t be coming back.”

“If it were up to me, we wouldn’t spend another night without each other again.”

“Let’s have tonight. You and me. Tomorrow night, we’ll bring Everlayne home. And once Iseabail and Te Léna have her fixed up and good as new, then we can worry about me. Okay?”

Yes, he answered simply. And for me, too. I am selfish, Saeris. I wanted something quiet and small and special for the both of us. Something we could keep. He buried his face into the crook of my neck and kissed me there.

My soul was on fire, and I didn’t care if I burned for all eternity. So long as I was burning with him, then so be it.

When I get you out of these clothes, you’re in trouble, he snarled in my head. I’m going to fuck you so hard you won’t be able to sit down for a week.

Your scent drives me crazy, Fisher rumbled. You’re like a fucking drug. You light me

You’ve got me, Little Osha. And I’ve got you.

“Nobody will ever fuck you the way I’m about to fuck you, Saeris Fane. I’m about to introduce you to all seven gods. When you meet them, don’t forget to tell them I’m the one you worship on your knees.”

“I’ll be grateful for every second that I can say that I belong to you, Saeris Fane. Eighty years or eighteen hours. It doesn’t matter to me. It’ll still be the highest honor of my life. But don’t—Are you about to have a heart attack? Your pulse is flying.” The bastard laughed, and I nearly burst into tears. “Don’t freak out. Here. Look.”

“I’m in love with you, Saeris Fane,” he whispered quietly into my hair. “And I’m already half-mad, anyway. What’s a little complicated thrown into the mix?”

There won’t. I told you I’d never forgive you if you forced me to do something I didn’t want to do again. Never is a long time, Fisher. If you sacrifice yourself for me, I’ll reject our bond in this life and the next.