Quicksilver (Fae & Alchemy, #1)

by Callie Hart

This bastard would shit himself if he realized he had the Saeris Fane in his grasp.

Why are you a big deal?

I only ventured across the tavern’s threshold when I’d had a bad day. I came here to blow off steam. To fuck. To fight. A wild array of outrageous things was whispered about me behind the backs of sunburned hands here: that a man might either get lucky or be beaten unconscious depending on my mood when I sat my ass down at the bar.

Lmaooo what a reputation

“It isn’t far from the wall. It would only take half an hour to move an item from here to there.” Gods, he really was mad. “You think I’d give it to you?” Too late, I realized that I’d given myself away.

Stuuupid! How could you slip up so fast like that?

When I stepped out into the brilliant evening, Hayden was gone. And so was the gauntlet.

That little shit!

“Six. Ounces. And our water doesn’t come from a tap. It comes from a standing reservoir that fills from your run-off.

That is atrocious

I looked down and immediately wished I hadn’t. Harron’s blade was buried in my stomach, the metal plunged deep. The captain’s brows drew together for the briefest second—the smallest flare of something he refused to give way to—and then his features smoothed out. “Ready, Saeris?” He closed both hands around the hilt of his sword. “This is the part where you scream.” And then he twisted…

Holy shit!

Almost as stunned as Harron, I watched as the knife liquified in the captain’s gloved hand and ran through his fingers in rivulets of rolling silver.

What magic is this?! And is she the one even doing it?

I’d thought it was some kind of lever. But this close, I could see that it was, in fact, a sword, buried halfway up to its hilt into the ground.

Like an Excalibur situation?

I was sinking. The ground that I had assumed was solid stone beneath my feet was nothing of the sort. Harron’s blade had melted into a respectable amount of liquid metal, but the ground at my feet… the pool at my feet… was more silver than I had ever seen in my life, and it was hissing and spitting like an angry cat. It hadn’t been like this a moment ago. It had been solid. Now it was softening by the second. The roiling mass of it was already up to my ankles.

'Quicksilver' like quicksand.

No one had ever seen such a blanket of clouds blotting out the suns.

Multiple suns?

Where was I, and what the five hells was happening?

Lol 5 hells?

I also had no idea what a moon was, but I set all of that aside for now.

Whaaat?!

I was unprepared for how the sight of so many bound, hardback books would affect me. This was a treasure beyond Madra’s hoard of gold. More precious than rubies and diamonds. The information inside a place like this was too vast to comprehend. And the light!

Every girls’ dream

“You’re my brother,” Everlayne hissed. “Though I sometimes wish you weren’t!”

Damn, shots fired. But necessary since he’s being an ass.

“What does it mean?” He’d turned around. Was walking away. I listened to his boots striking the cold stone beneath his feet, each step ringing in my ears. “An Oshellith is a type of butterfly,” he called as he went. “Osha for short. They hatch, live, and die all in one day. The cold kills them very fast.

A blink of an eye in a fae life span. Still rude though.

“I just wanted to see if you knew what hard work was. I told you I was magic,” he whispered. And then he was gone.

Wtf!? I would be sooo pissed!

“Next time you’re curious about me, feel free to ask me,”

Jealous for attention already? ;)

“Elroy swears that a man will lie about the size of his cock every time a woman asks him.” Kingfisher stilled. “Are you asking me how big my cock is, Osha?” “I don’t care how big it is. I care about the way you answer.” A slow, terrifying smirk spread across his face. “It’s big enough to make you scream and then some.”

Whaaaaaaat?! Why would you ask THAT kind of question just to prove a point?

Wood, and leather, and spices, and something green, and faint musk, and—

Ok but I love those scents.

“I have to say, I was expecting that to go differently,” he mused. And then I punched him square in the mouth.

Nice

“We’ve been over this. You’re too pretty to wear pants.

Hate that sooo much.

“Admittedly, I do enjoy when a female kneels for me, but in this particular case…”

He needs to chill with these jokes lol

“I don’t owe you a goodbye. I don’t owe you anything!” “YOU OWE ME YOUR LIFE!”

Ok that's true

“This is not my brother, Fisher. This is Carrion fucking Swift!”

Nooo! But her brother would just ruin everything with his impulsive self not thinking anything through.

“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.”

Yooo chiiiillll with these jokes Fisher! She might think you're hot, but you're still anoying to her at the least.

“After you, Little Osha.”

Why is the nickname growing on me now? Like it's cute.

“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.

“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—”

When did he become OBSESSED??

I had to be so, so careful around that smile. It would wreck me if I let it. “Mm. You’re right. I don’t think you will invite me. When the time comes, I think you’ll beg—”

EXCUUUUUSE MEE!?

That was why Fisher’s voice had sounded so firm when he told me to stay in bed and rest—because it’d been a command issued through the oath that bound me to him. I had to stay in his bed. I didn’t have a choice.

I would be soo pissed

Carrion nodded. “That night, before you had dinner with him, actually. You’d already left for the dining room. He showed up with these in his hand and said he’d give them to me on one condition.” “Which was?” Carrion snagged a grape from the tray and popped it into his mouth. “That I take a bath.” “A bath?” “Yes, a bath.” “That’s a weird request.”

LMAOOOO! He HATED that Carrion still had her scent on him! Had to make it a condition bc he's jealous af lol

But he was all wound up about not liking the way I smelled,

I bet not!!

And, as if I’d just dowsed him with a bucket of cold water, Fisher tore his mouth from my skin and pulled back. A split second later, my feet were back on solid ground, and Fisher was on the other side of the tent, dragging his hands through his hair. I felt his absence like a physical blow.

Why tf? Is it the silver fucking with his head making him all stop and go?

“I can’t trust anything,” he whispered breathlessly. And that was when he let me go. When I needed him not to. Right when I needed him to stay and explain what the last one hundred and twenty seconds meant. He gathered up his cloak, swung it around his shoulders, and headed out into the waning light.

But whyyyyyyyy?!

“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.

JEALOUS MUCH? Or posessive. Or insecurrrre?

He wasn’t in control. “You’re bound, aren’t you?” I said, dismayed. “You literally can’t tell me—” “Stop,” he commanded.

Oh shiit. It must be Malcom then. But why?

But there was something else tying me to him. Pulling me in like I was trapped. A part of me knew that Fisher himself was the trap, and I was well and truly snared…

This is more than lust. Are they fated mates?!

“Did you know, the Yvelian Fae are the youngest of the Fae houses? By a thousand years. There was a dispute between these two brothers, and they splintered off to make their own court.”

This just feels important for some reason.

Carrion said. “I was fast asleep in my tent. Then, there he was, a black cloud with a shitty attitude, growling at me to get up. The sun hadn’t even come up yet, and he kept griping about me being lazy. He called me a waste of carbon. What does that even mean?”

Lmaoo this realm has some advanced science to know they are carbon based life forms.

“Don’t call her Sunshine,” he commanded. “Why not?” If Carrion’s plan was to poke the bear, then he sure as hell knew how to go about it. But Kingfisher didn’t respond to the taunting note in his question. He just cocked 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.”

EXCUSE ME!?! SWOOOON

I marveled at the sight of our fingers touching, an array of emotions vying for my attention. Fisher rested his chin on top of his forearms and sighed. “What?” I whispered. He thought for a moment, appearing to decide whether he’d answer the question. Then he said, “I was wrong, y’know. You are a good thief.” “What have I stolen?”

His heart duh! Cheesy but true lol

“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.”

Ooh snap! They're definitely mates.

Giving me a very tired, very sad smile, he said, “I give you my blood in thanks, Saeris Fane.”

Oh he says her name now!

“That seat is reserved for the lady of the house, you stupid girl. Etiquette dictates that only Fisher’s wife is permitted to sit there. It’s a position of high honor meant for a Fae female born into one of the old houses, and you’re just sprawled out there like you own the damn seat.

Bc she unconsciously does. She has been put there so much that she knows it’s her place regardless of how important, even if she doesn’t know how important it is.

But Ren assessed the scene, shot me a wink, and said, “Don’t you worry, Saeris. You’re perfect right where you are.”

“Once upon a time, that was the case. Back when true mating bonds existed. Unions between true mates were blessed with marks from the Fates. That’s where the tradition of inking our hands originated from. But there’s no such thing as true mates anymore. When the gods left Yvelia, certain elements of our magic either died or waned over time. The god swords, for example. They were very slowly cut off from the source of the magic they channeled. Our ability to form mating bonds also died out over thousands of years, until it disappeared altogether.”

*Eh ehem*????

“And what about script? You know. Writing?” I could only get a few words out at a time. “Do people… get that sometimes? Going around… their wrists?” “Oh, no. Definitely not. You only see that kind of thing in storybooks,” Te Léna scoffed. “They called it a God Binding. A blessing from the gods themselves. They weren’t real, of course. The most important couples in Yvelian history were said to have had them, but it was all romantic rubbish. Just something storytellers embellished to make their tales more tragic. Plus, they looked impressive in the illuminated books.” I met her eyes, but I was looking right through her. “Tragic?” “The lovers in those stories always suffered terribly. One of them always died. They were beautiful tales, but they ended with heartbreak.”

Not just fated by Fate, but by the gods themselves?!

“Weakness. Vulnerability.” “I am not weak, Fisher! I’m not like those butterflies, pathetic, hatching and dying in the cold—” “Not you! Me!” He thumped himself in his chest, suddenly furious. “My weakness! My vulnerability! I’ve known for centuries that you were coming.

He knew this whole time?! What an annoying way to to know about a fated mate and just have to wait for them.

That’s what Oshellith means in Old Fae, Saeris. Most Sacred.

No wonderer he said to call her majesty.

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.”

Daaaaaamn! I'd melt