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A moment later, he withdrew his hand, a long silver chain hooked around his index finger. He unfastened it. “If you die before you can give this back, I’m not going to be happy,” he groused. The chain was warm against my skin as he looped it around my neck.
“Why are you calling me that? Oshellith?” I snapped. “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.
“Go on,” Everlayne prompted. “I don’t know, eighteen hundred years old?” “Not bad. He’s one thousand seven hundred and thirty years old.” “One thousand seven hundred and thirty-three,” came a deep voice. Adrenaline exploded through my veins, shocking my system so badly that I nearly toppled sideways out of my seat. I twisted around, and there stood Kingfisher in a recessed reading alcove, bathed in shadows.
Okay, i am almost charmed
“Next time you’re curious about me, feel free to ask me,” Kingfisher said as he laid his hand on the forge’s brand-new door.
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.” “See.” I jabbed a finger at him. “You’re not going to be honest.”
“Maybe the issue is that you asked me a question about my cock like a hungry little bitch in heat and didn’t ask me something that mattered.”
Screaming
“There is you, and there is the pain. Nothing else,” he whispered. “Move past it. Move through it. Let it roll over you.” This was cruel. This was torture. I was burning alive. He was going to kill me. “I can’t,” I sobbed. “You can. Show me that I’m wrong. Show me that you’re tougher than I think you are.”
Everlayne had been waiting for me when I returned to my room yesterday. She hadn’t banked on Kingfisher kicking in my bedroom door, me thrown over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and wailing like a banshee. Nor had she expected his ultra-foul temper, his split bottom lip, or the thin line of blood trickling down his chin. She’d squawked when he’d thrown me unceremoniously down onto my bed and snarled, “Bad human,” at me.
I found myself being flashed by a pair of wickedly sharp canines. The sight of them sent a thrill of panic-tinged intrigue through me. Heat rose up from the pit of my stomach, my blood rushing to my cheeks. Kingfisher’s gaze snapped up, singling in on mine. “Careful, human. We Fae have an excellent sense of smell. You’d be amazed what we can scent floating on the air.”
He took the pendant, lifting it, placing the metal between his teeth, holding it out of the way as he moved my hand to the center of his chest. “Feel that?” he asked, his bottom lip pressing against the pendant as he spoke with it still clamped between his teeth. The tips of his canines also pressed into the swell of his bottom lip. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from them.
“Our Fae hearts rarely betray us. We’re calm creatures. But you, Osha? You’re a ball of chaos. Your heart betrays you at every turn.”
“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’ve fucked plenty of humans,” he whispered. “Does that surprise you?” “Yes. Seeing as how you… seem to hate us… so much.” His mouth. Gods, his fucking mouth. I needed to look away. I had to. “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.”
OOOOOHKAY consider me charmed i'm BLUSHING
He grazed the bridge of his nose along the line of my jaw, the contact so light, up toward the shell of my ear. “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.”
HAAAAA
“My brother Hayden and Elroy.” Looking a little hysterical, he threw his arms wide, Nimerelle casting off wisps of black smoke. “Who the fuck is Elroy?”
“You understand that this is a blood oath? And you will be bound by this oath until death?”
Loove a blood oath
“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.”
There is no way you can still smell me on him.” “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
grabbed a tent flap, stepping to one side as he held it open. “Go in. Please.” He winced when he said please; manners were evidently painful to Fisher.
“You want to bite me,” I whispered. “Hah!” He threw his head back and let out a bark of laughter. “Oh, you have no idea what kind of tightrope you’re balancing on right now, do you?” “You nearly did it. Back in your tent. You scratched me with your teeth. You drew fucking blood!!”
Tonight’s one of their feast days. They’re celebrating the longest night of the year.”
hello Feysand
found a dusty glass in one of the cupboards, filled it from a pitcher on the sideboard, and returned to Fisher as quickly as I could. In my absence, Onyx had jumped up onto the bed and tucked himself into the male’s side, resting his head on Fisher’s stomach. He whined when I entered the room, his eyes moving from me to Fisher, as if he were trying to tell me something.
I ran my hands along his shoulders, working my thumbs into his taut muscles as I had been for the past hour. I wasn’t surprised when the ink beneath his skin drew closer to the places where our skin met. I watched it climb my fingers, forming shapes, and then runes and delicate designs as they inched upward. There was every chance they’d still be there in the morning, but I couldn’t bring myself to care right now. “What should I tell you?” I asked.
He rubbed his forehead, massaging the spot between his eyebrows, and I realized that he could move now. But he hadn’t shifted from his position, leaning up against me. When he let his hand fall again, he let it rest against my leg. Comfortable. Familiar.
Placing his hand against my stomach, he drew me close so that my back was flush with his chest. The warmth from his body was divine. I could feel his heart beating against my back—slow and even, in time with the soft push and pull of his breath. Somewhere toward the foot of the small bed, Onyx groaned comfortably and nestled deeper into the blankets.
My HEARTTTT
Bite me, Fisher. It came as a breathless thought. I can’t… Bite me. Do it. I want it! I can’t! BITE ME! The bright, sharp sting of his canines sinking into my skin made me hiss out loud. My eyes shot open, shock causing my heartbeat to stumble momentarily, but then…
HELL FUCKING YES DUDE!!!!!
My stomach rumbled, my eyelids fluttering open. I found myself snuggled up to a snoring fox. Onyx lazily blinked his eyes open, and I swear to the gods, it looked as if he was smiling at me.
Why am i about to cry
For now, all I knew was that I’d wanted it. I’d asked for it, and, sidenote, Fisher and I were now randomly capable of speaking into each other’s minds.
How long have you been out there? I asked. Only a few hours, came his reply. Why didn’t you come in? There was a long pause. And then he said, I didn’t know if you’d want me to.
Fisher let out a surprising whoop, joy shining from his face as he followed the column of energy upward into the heavens. “Angel’s breath, Brother!” he hollered. “Fucking angel’s breath
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?” But he smiled a small, sad smile, slowly shaking his head. “Sleep a little. The water will stay warm. I’ll be back as soon as I’ve spoken to Ren.”
Why am i crying
“I’m Saeris. I’m an Alchemist. I—” We know who she is, the quicksilver hissed. She is the dawn. She is the moon. She is the sky. She is oxygen in our lungs. “I—” I didn’t know how to respond. Why would it say that? I was the dawn? The sky? Oxygen? I shook my head—there was no time to waste on puzzles. “I want you to leave Fisher,” I rushed out. “Leave him?” the quicksilver asked in a quizzical voice. “Yes. Leave him. His body. I want you to come out of him. I’ll strike a deal with you—” “We cannot leave him. We are him.
Fisher straightened and took me in. “Okay. Are you ready?” “Yes.” My heart kicked like a mule against my ribs, and yet I felt steady with the weight of the sword at my hip. “Be unrelenting and unmerciful in the face of the wicked dead,” Fisher said. Ren laid a steadying hand on my shoulder. “And if you should find soul sundered from flesh, order a drink for us at the first tavern you come across in the afterlife. We’ll settle the tab when we get there.”
“Stubborn girl,” he growled. “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.”
I am about to FREAK OUTTTTT
My cheeks were burning, a thousand degrees and climbing, when Fisher quietly came forward and knelt at my feet. His halo of dark hair was all over the place, his skin pale in the flickering torchlight. His eyes were steady, though. They ran me through as he withdrew Nimerelle and closed his fist around her edge. When he placed his hand against my chest, he tapped his index finger and middle finger against my sternum, in time with my racing heart. Giving me a very tired, very sad smile, he said, “I give you my blood in thanks, Saeris Fane.”
“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.
MATES MATES MATES MATES
“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.”
NOOOOOOOO
Fisher was sitting up against the pillows, shirtless, scanning the pages of a book. He smiled when the little fox leaped into his lap and began licking his chin. Actually smiled.
“She was telling me all about where they came from and why. And then! Then! Haha! Imagine my surprise when she told me about God Bindings, Fisher!” “Fuck,” he whispered. “That’s so funny. That’s exactly what I said!”
“Hated what you represented.” My blood was cold as ice in my veins, but I had to hear it. “And what was that?” “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. 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
...more
That’s what Oshellith means in Old Fae, Saeris. Most Sacred.
I wanted nothing more than to walk away without interacting with Fisher at all, but he caught my hand as I passed him, and I didn’t have the energy or the will to pull away. He rested his forehead against my arm, closing his eyes, and a tiny piece of me cracked and broke. I ran my free hand gently through his hair, screaming inside, so fucking angry at him, and at myself, and at the gods, and the whole fucking universe for doing this to us.
Fisher closed his eyes when he realized that I was coming back to him. All of the nerves and trepidation I used to feel over touching him were gone. He leaned into me, resting his head against my stomach, wrapping his arms around my legs, placing his hands lightly on the backs of my thighs, and I held him. Seconds passed. Long minutes. I rubbed a hand between his shoulder blades in circles, hurting, and aching and wishing.
“You really think I’m going to let you sleep out here again?” he asked. “I didn’t know if you’d want me in your bed,” I told him. “If it were up to me, we wouldn’t spend another night without each other again.” Gently, he reached for the end of my braid and drew it over my shoulder toward him. He slowly unfastened it, working my hair loose with his fingers.
“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.”
“You did… what?” “I accepted the bond. Earlier. When I was inside you. When my soul was wrapped around yours.” He was so calm. Not a hint of uncertainty or nerves at all. Meanwhile, I felt like I was about to pass out. “You accepted it,” I said. “I did.”
“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?”
“When we were here last time, you said that the people of Ballard had something you needed. But you never got it,” I whispered. Fisher gently kissed my forehead, and all around us, the flickering candle flames started to blink out. “Yes, I did,” he said. I barely heard his next words as I drifted away. “I came for a little hope.”
