Quicksilver (Fae & Alchemy, #1)

by Callie Hart

The name Kingfisher echoed throughout the hall, spoken with a mix of reverence and fear.

🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹 fisher

“Him? Righteous purposes?”

“I just wanted to see if you knew what hard work was. I told you I was magic,”

“He didn’t consider a son from a previous marriage an asset?”

“Not even a little. He wanted a son of his own, and as quickly as possible. He didn’t want Kingfisher as his heir by marriage, but it took a long time for my mother to fall pregnant again. Fae children are a rare gift. Most couples are lucky if they have even one child. Belikon thought Fisher had ‘used my mother up.’ He actually said that once. He still insists that when our mother did fall pregnant with me a long time later, it was Fisher’s fault that she wasn’t strong enough to produce another male heir. His fault that she wasn’t strong enough to survive the delivery, either. Her pregnancy with me was difficult. None of her healers were surprised when she passed shortly after I came into the world, but Belikon…” Everlayne shook her head sadly. “According to the king, everything’s always Fisher’s fault. But our mother’s death wasn’t because of him. It was because of me.”

“You like it?” he purred. “I figured some extra protection was in order this morning since you’re now given to hurling yourself at me like some kind of rabid feline.”

“Cats scratch,” I said flatly. “I came this close to knocking you on your ass.”

“In your fucking dream...

“What are you doing?”

How did you even kill a Fae warrior? Did you need a special weapon? Could they be poisoned? I made a mental note to ask Rusarius—the old librarian was bound to know.

I breathed in sharply, inhaling cheese. Choking and spluttering, I tried desperately to get rid of it, but it wasn’t going anywhere. Kingfisher leaned forward, his tongue running over his teeth again. He smiled suggestively as he said, “Swallow.”

Annorath mor!

Oh, Fisher wasn’t messing around with lesser alchemical compounds. He’d thrown me in at the deep end and slapped raw quicksilver in my hand without so much as a by-your-leave. Again, I made the decision not to spill that little tidbit of information. “I was wondering whether there were any references relating to how the Alchemists used the pathways to travel from one place to another specifically. As in, how they made sure they would wind up where they wanted to go,” I clarified. “Was there a panel, or some incantation, or…” I shrugged, channeling as much nonchalance as I could muster. “Did they have to say a place’s name out loud or something?”

“I wasn’t eye-fucking you. I was trying to see through all of this… steam.”

His cheeks were flushed from the heat, slick with perspiration. Not a hair on his head was dry. From root to tip, his waves were dripping wet, some of them plastered to the side of his face. As if suddenly conscious of this, he shook his head like a dog, showering sweat everywhere.

I held my hand up in front of my face, blocking the spray. “Disgusting.”

Fisher laughed silently as he peered into the crucible, peeling his shirt free of his chest as he inspected what was inside. “There you go again, lying your little he...

“Are your kind supposed to nap in the afternoons? You’re really grumpy. I’m the one with the hangover, y’know.” “What did you even do last night?” “Wouldn’t you like to know.” “Actually, forget it. I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want to know.” “Ren and I went to The Blind Pig. We gambled away half his savings and drank the bar dry. I’ll invite you next time.” I pulled a face. “Please don’t.” Kingfisher grabbed me, his hand closing around my wrist. I’d been about to poke the powder inside the crucible with my fingertip, but… “Where you come from, does a smith poke a finger into a crucible right after it comes out of a blazing furnace, Osha?”

“What is that?” I stabbed my finger at the hideous thing crouching next to the hearth. It hissed at me, baring its teeth, showing the whites of its eyes. Kingfisher took one look at the creature and straightened out of his defensive stand, cursing in a language I didn’t understand. “What’s wrong with you? It’s a fox! Gods, I thought you were about to get your face torn off.” “Fox? What’s a fox?” Kingfisher muttered darkly under his breath as he went and stood over the strange animal. It had a thick, furry coat, white as the snow out of the window, and glassy black eyes the color of jet. It cowered, pressing its body against the stone floor, small, black-tipped ears pinned back against its tiny skull as it watched Kingfisher raise his sword over its head. “Just so you know,” the warrior growled, “transporting like that when you have a headache is the worst.” He brought the blade swinging down. “NO! STOP! What are you doing?” He drew the weapon to one side just in the nick of time. “Graceless fucking gods, human! Stop fucking yelling!” “I don’t want you to kill it! It just surprised me, that’s all!” “It’s a fox! A pest! This is probably what was living in the hearth before we ripped that den out. They steal food from the kitchens.” The creature wasn’t nearly as hideous as I’d first thought. I darted forward, stooping low, covering the little thing with my body, gripped by a sudden remorse. “You definitely can’t kill it, then. Not if we destroyed its home.” “It’s going to bit...

Kingfisher set the tip of his sword against the stone at his feet and casually leaned his weight against it, watching the scene play out with no obvious feeling one way or another. “They carry all kinds of diseases. Lung rot,” he said. “A flaky

skin thing, too? Some kind of fungal infection, I think.” “Ow! It’s almost down to th...

“This… is a learning experience, I think. There are always consequences to our actions. Your new furry bracelet is a consequence of human weakness. Wear it with pride.”

The little fox sneezed, his black eyes locked on mine. If a fox could have an expression, his would have been one of panic. He wanted me to help him, I thought, but how was I supposed to do that when, if anything, he was biting down even harder?

“Let go, let go, leggo, leggo, leggo,” I pleaded. “Please let go. I don’t want to have to hurt you. I’m sorry we ruined your home. I promi...

“Don’t make promises on my behalf,” Kingfisher interjected. “I think it would make a great hat.” I growled at K...

As if we’d found some common ground, the little fox slowly relaxed its grip on my forearm, its jaws shaking as if it were going against its better nature by releasing me. I stood, pressing my hand against the puncture marks in my skin, attempting to stem the flow of blood. The fox shot Kingfisher a wary look and darted under my sk...

“Finally. A use for all of that ridiculous material. Such a pretty little doll in her pretty...

“Hey! I don’t want to w...

“What was I wearing when you...

“A whole lot of blood.” Fisher pondered. Frowned. “Wait. I seem to recall that your intestines might have...

Pants and a ...

“And a pair of boots with really good soles. Do you have any idea what...

“Let me guess. Your virginity.” “Fuck you, Fisher.” “Sure.” He smirked. “But I’m afraid I don’t have any new bo...

“I know knives,” I said, looking down at the floor. “You said you knew your way around a forge the other day. And then you tried to stick your finger inside a glowing hot crucible.” “I do know my way around a forge. I just… I wasn’t thinking.” He wiped his hands on his shirt and tossed it onto the workbench. “You could slice your own throat wide open with a knife like that if you forget to think, Osha.” “Just give me the damn quicksilver already. Let’s see if we can bind this bone with it and turn it into something useful.”

“What do you know about Fae anatomy, Osha?”

Not much,” I said, burning a hole in the pendant. “Your kind looks a lot like humans. I’m assuming a lot of it works the same.”

“On a surface level, yes,”

“We have similar internal organs, though we do possess a few that humans do not.”

“We’re bigger. Taller, o...

“Of co...

“Our hearts are bigger ...

“Rea...

“Mm-hmm.” “Wow. Weird.” “Our eyesight is far superior to yours. O...

Dum. Dum. Dum.” Kingfisher tapped the back of my hand in time with the rhythm of his heart. The pause between each beat was so long that I thought I was going to scream around the tension that built between each one. “Slow. Steady,” he murmured. “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.” Quickly, he placed his hand on my chest, right between my breasts. I didn’t have time to react to the contact; he began tapping out the rhythm of my heart against my sternum. “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 wouldn’t fuck you—if you were the last living—” “Don’t bother.” The words held bite. “Lying is pointless with your heart betraying you so loudly.” “It’s beating fast because I’m afraid,”

“Of me?” Kingfisher huffed a blast of laughter down his nose. “No, you’re not. You should be, but you’re not. That’s one of the things I like most about you.” “You’re holding me against my will.”

“Really?” He looked down at our bodies: his legs still on either side of me but held away from me. His other hand, resting on top of his thigh again. My hands clenched into fists at my sides. “You can pull away at any time. Looks to me like you’re choosing to stay. It also looks like you’re having to stop yourself from touching me. You want to touch me the way I’m touching you, don’t you? To feel the weight of me beneath your palms. The ...

Aren’t you curious? Don’t you want to know what I taste like?”

“Careful,” he panted. “I swore I’d be still while you kissed me. At no point did I promise to exercise restraint if you climbed up into my lap and started grinding yourself against my cock.”