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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.
Ruin me.
“How long have you known I was here?” He smiled sadly. “I always know where you are, Little Osha.”
“Is this the kind of thing you imagine me wearing often?” “When I imagine you, Little Osha, you’re very rarely wearing clothes.”
The problem is that it’s fucking mocking me.” Carrion snorted. “Mocking you?” “Yes! It laughs every time I attempt to combine something new with it.
“Then, have you thought about just asking it to meld with the pure silver?” “Psshhh! Don’t… don’t be ridiculous. Of course I haven’t!” “Why not?” “That’d be too simple, Carrion. I can’t just ask it to become a relic.”
“You’re making a weird face,” Carrion whispered loudly. “Are you talking to it?” “Yes, I’m talking to it. What do you think I’m doing?” “I don’t know. You look constipated.”
Not Danya’s sword, the quicksilver hissed. We are reforged. New unto this place. You do not claim us, Lorreth of the Broken Spires. We claim you
“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. It’s offensive that he even lets a human sit at the same table as him. But this…” She waved at me with her remaining hand. “This is just too much. Like I said. You should move.”
But Ren assessed the scene, shot me a wink, and said, “Don’t you worry, Saeris. You’re perfect right where you are.”
“No rules have been broken, Danya. And even if they had, that wouldn’t be any of your business.”
You can’t be serious, Fisher. We all know you’ve fucked her. The whole camp can smell it on the two of you. But she’s a human—”
“What’s with the plant?” Ren asked. Carrion shrugged. “I don’t know, I liked the look of it.
I don’t want to go back to Zilvaren anymore. Not forever, anyway. I want to go home, get Hayden and Elroy, and then bring them back here to Yvelia.
She gave him a chastising look, holding up both of her hands and showing him their backs. “I regret to inform you that I am still happily mated and married, Carrion Swift. And my husband isn’t the type to share.” “Is he handsome?” Carrion arched his eyebrow suggestively. “I do love a husband-and-wife team. Maybe he’ll let me join you both if he…”
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.”
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.”
“All right, fine. Have it your way. At first, I didn’t say it because I fucking hated you,” he 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
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“The Oshellith hatch once in most Fae lifetimes. Up north, in the wastelands, far beyond Ajun Sky, where the dragons used to live. The air’s so cold there that it’ll freeze in your lungs if you breathe it in without a mask. No life exists there for long. But once in a thousand years, the howling winds drop, signaling the coming of the Oshellith. News of that event travels quickly. That’s when the bravest of our kind set out. They go on foot where no horse can go. When they reach the valley where the Oshellith hatch, they find the butterfly’s cocoons and they shield them with their bodies. They
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So I called you Osha instead. But it meant more, Saeris. To me, it meant more.”
“She said, when I needed you most, you’d come blazing into my life like a meteorite, riding on a wave of chaos that would turn my whole world upside down. That you’d shine so brilliantly that you’d light up hell itself and guide me out of the darkness. She had no idea what your name would be. Just that you’d have dark hair, and a beautiful smile. And that I’d love you with a fierceness despite myself.”
“She said she felt like she knew you. That you and she were friends, even though a thousand years stood between you. She… she drew you.” Fisher’s voice grew tighter as he fought to speak. Balancing on the edge of tears, he forced himself to laugh instead of cry. “And she captured you almost perfectly, too.”
“Of course we’re coming,” I said. “Everlayne’s our friend.” “I’ve actually never met Everlayne,” Carrion chipped in. “But I’m still coming. Solidarity and all that.”
“And you?” he said to Carrion. “You’re ready for that?” “Sure. Why not. I’m too pretty to die old, anyway.”
“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.”
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. Fisher! I clung to him, panting, already anticipating the surge of heat I would feel the moment he thrust himself inside of me. Wanting it. Craving it so badly that I could have screamed. God-bound. We were God-bound. Mates.
Your scent drives me crazy, Fisher rumbled. You’re like a fucking drug. You light me up.
“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.”
“All right, fine. I’ll tell you. In the past, one party always got the mating marks first. When the other party accepted the bond, sometimes Marks showed up on their bodies, too. It didn’t happen all of the time. But sometimes…” He trailed off in a hushed voice.
“I accepted the bond. Earlier. When I was inside you. When my soul was wrapped around yours.”
“And what, pray tell, have I done to deserve such special attention from the likes of you?” “You spayed my mate when she was a fucking child,” he seethed. “For that alone, I’ll make your undying existence an unending agony. An eternity of suffering the likes of which even your evil mind cannot comprehend. You’ll know no peace at my hands. I will destroy your empire and erase your name from the annals of time. When I am done with your legacy, Madra the Undying will never have existed. And you’ll live on at my behest, suffering for all of eternity. And no one will know. And no one will care.”
“Don’t move, Swift.” “What the hell are you talking about!” Carrion called back. “I’m one hundred percent going to move.” “Stay the fuck where you are,” Fisher growled. “It can’t see or hear you. It tracks movement.” “But—” “You move, you die,” Fisher barked. “Okaaaayyyy.”
“You…” he said. Carrion was deathly pale, but he grinned up at Malcolm like a lunatic. “You really should have let me finish introducing myself earlier. It’s rude to interrupt people.” Malcolm let go of him, shoving him away. Miraculously, Carrion managed to stay on his feet. “My name is Carrion Swift. But there was a time when I was known as Carrion Daianthus. Firstborn son to Rurik and Amelia Daianthus.”
But look how much evil exists here. So much pain, and death, and suffering. Isn’t it time for some good? For balance? I…” I trailed off, not knowing how to win this argument. “I love him,” I said. “I can’t bear for him to die.” The Kingfisherrrrr, the whisper buzzed. Yes. Your mate.
I punched him in the chest. “Ow! What was that for?” I shoved a finger in his face. “Because you’re an asshole. I’ve known you since I was fifteen!” He shook his head, hands palm up in the air. “And? I’ve known you since I was a thousand and eighty-six. Do I win a prize?”
Speaking of which. I glared at him even harder. “You slept with me.” He grinned shamelessly. “You’re welcome.” “Carrion!” “What? You’ve been fucking Fisher for the past gods only knows how long!” “Yes, but I knew what he was when I decided to sleep with him. And he was my mate.” Carrion huffed. Folding his arms over his chest, he rolled his eyes and sighed. “All right. I’m sorry I didn’t disclose to you that I was a magic-wielding political asylum seeker, posing as a human when I slept with you. Does that make you feel better?”
“Absolutely not. Fisher, I’m not even a full vampire. I’m half-Fae! I can’t!” “Tell them that. As far as the vampire court is concerned, you’re to be coronated. In two days’ time, you officially become the new queen of Sanasroth.”
