Quicksilver (Fae & Alchemy, #1)

by Callie Hart

“Tell me she fucking consents!” Taladaius yelled. The world faded away. Fisher’s voice was the last thing I heard. “She consents.”

This… was really happening? They were gods? I swallowed down my nerves, then bowed my head respectfully, looking down at my feet. “How could anyone love Bal more than Mithin? Or treasure Mithin more than Bal? You’re worshipped equally by all those who know your names, my ladies.” “My ladies!” the sun goddesses cried at the same time. They grinned at each other happily, still holding each other’s hands. “She speaks with such lovely manners.” The one who gave me their names held out her hand to me.

“Zareth. God of Chaos.” Zareth grunted. “And you are Saeris. Sister to Hayden. Daughter to no one.” He nodded to the inkwork on my hands. “Also, mate to my champion.”

“We must make this quick, or you’ll die before you’ve been of use to me. I will be as concise as I can, given the circumstances. I’ve spent a great deal of time watching the threads of the universe, waiting for one such as you,” he said. “An Alchemist, at last, to reset the balance and clear the way for what is to come.”

“Here, we stand at the edge of the universe. The roots you see, growing down into the earth, into the quicksilver, are the anchors of fate.”

“The silver leaves above mark all the realms of our domain. My family are the stewards of all you see here. We water the roots of fate. We train the boughs and prune the leaves to prevent rot and decay. You see the bough there? The blackened one?”

“There is a rot spreading throughout my domain, Saeris,” he said. “Realms that are infected with that rot have to be summarily destroyed to protect the rest of the tree and prevent that rot from spreading. Do you understand?”

was very intrigued when I saw you, Saeris Fane. Not just you. Kingfisher, too. I saw an axis in the flow of things. A burning knot in the tapestry of all that would come to be. When I focused and saw the strength of the bond that connected the two of you together, I admit I attempted to sway the fates.”

“You were supposed to have been born Fae, in the same realm as your Kingfisher. So I separated you. Hundreds of years before you were born, I shifted the events around your birth. Moved the pieces on the board and placed you far away, in a realm that should never have come into contact with his. But I watched as the boughs of the universe grew against their nature and aligned in such a way that you would still meet. I foresaw then that no matter how the boughs and branches of this tree were manipulated, you and he would always collide. There was nothing I could do to stop it.”

Fisher had said his mother was wrong sometimes, about small things that had big consequences. When she had predicted me rushing into her son’s life, she had seen me with sloped ears and canines like her son. It turned out she hadn’t been wrong after all. I should have been born Fae. The God of Chaos had simply interfered.

“In nature, there is a counterweight to everything, child. Light has darkness. Life has death. Joy has sorrow. And good has evil. That law applies, no matter which realm you exist in,”

“Threads like you and Kingfisher, that are drawn together and cross on an axis create a well of power. The energy the two of you draw together attracts an equal and opposite counterweight. Every possible future where the two of you are together ends with the vast majority of this tree dying. None of us can foresee any other way.” “So… you’re saying that Fisher and I are responsible for the end of the entire universe?”

“Not you personally. But the moment where you meet, along with the moment you become mates, is a spark. The flame in the dark that draws the moth. It was incumbent upon me to try and stop that spark from taking place, but as you’ve already l...

“Does Fisher know any...

“No. I orchestrated events so that he would be brought here as a young male. His mother had just died, and his ...

“He made an enemy of my family. He was only allowed to live because I demanded it. I’d spent a great deal of time studying the various outcomes and paths of this universe once you and Kingfisher met, and while I never found a balance that meant...

“Uncertainty?” “Pathways that lead down roads, where both the way and the destination are blocked to even my sight. And in all of these veiled futures, where a chance stil...

“You and Kingfisher fought at each other’s side, and you were God-Bound.” He pointed to the script writing that wrapped around my wrists. “These oaths mark you as my ward. They protect both you and Fisher from the unwanted attentions of my brothers and my sister.”

“Protection from them?” “They would rather kill Fisher and roll the dice on what comes next. They would prefer to weather the storm on the horizon and replant our tree once the slate has been wiped clean. I don’t want that to happen. It would break my daughters’ hearts.” He broke off, watching the girls dance down in the field, mimicking the grasses as they swayed in the wind. Their laughter rose up to us like sweet music. “For them, I’m willing to take a chance. If you truly accept Fisher as your mate, then you must agree for the thread of your life to be severed from the tapestry of the universe. Once you do, none of us may affect your future. We won’t be able to see you at all, nor will my brothers and my sister be able to interfere with timelines or events that affect you, either. You’ll be on your own.”

“This burden shouldn’t be placed on one person’s shoulders. It definitely shouldn’t be placed at mine. I’m a thief! Just… one woman! I can’t be held responsible for—” “You’re not responsible for anything. All you need do is live your life.” “But—” “Let me put it this way, child,” Zareth said, cutting me off. “Do you want your mate to die?” “No, of course not!” “Then this is how you save him.” “I…” What was I supposed to say? If I did this, then Zareth and the other gods wouldn’t be able to see ahead or do anything to affect events as they were about to happen. But should they be allowed to do that, anyway? Their meddling meant that I...

“Fuck the fates. They don’t get to decide shit for me. I decide what my future is going to be. Did you not just say that mere days ago?” I had said that. And I’d meant it, too. “Yes, but…” “If you truly wish to be the master ...

got the feeling that Zareth was desperate—a God who would say anything to bend me to his will. But there was no denying it. He was a God. He could make me do anything he desired, and yet he was giving me this choice. I asked carefully, “How painful are we talking? This thread cutting?” “No more painful than the transition that is already beginning inside your body as we speak, Saeris Fane.” Why the hell didn’t that sound reassuring? “How would you do it exactly?” “By transforming you into something that has never been seen before,” he answered cryptically. “The universe cannot focus on that which it does not recognize.”