Quicksilver (Fae & Alchemy, #1)

by Callie Hart

“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.”

I didn’t appreciate the hateful look Danya sent me, nor did I feel too warm and fuzzy about the way she kept stabbing her finger at me. “I’m sorry, are you just permanently on the brink of a nervous breakdown, or have I shown up at an inconvenient time for you?” I sniped. Her jaw dropped. “Unbelievable. Are you seriously going to let her speak to a high-born Fae like that?” she said, eyes on Fisher. “What do you want me to do about it?” he replied. “She has a mind and a mouth of her own. I am the keeper of neither.”

It came back to me at once. My thinly veiled “how big is your cock?” question. And Fisher’s slow, arrogant smile. “Big enough to make you scream and then some…” Turned out he’d been telling the truth about that, I realized with a healthy dose of annoyance. Fuck.

I arched an eyebrow at him, then looked down at my chest. “Is this the kind of thing you imagine me wearing often?” “When I imagine you, Little Osha, you’re very rarely wearing clothes.”

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.

“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.

“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.”

“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.”

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.”

“What’s the big deal? It’s just a chair.” I said it oh-so-flippantly. If she knew I was really interested in the answer, she probably wouldn’t tell me just to be difficult. Danya kicked the legs of the chair opposite me, shoving it back so she could sit down. “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.

Danya smirked, as if I was in for it now and she couldn’t wait to watch me get dressed down. But Ren assessed the scene, shot me a wink, and said, “Don’t you worry, Saeris. You’re perfect right where you are.”

My mind was racing, a million miles a minute. “So, they don’t just show up on their own? The marks? Like… out of the blue? Overnight? Or… while… y’know… you’re having sex with someone?” Te Léna laughed brightly. “Of course not. Don’t be silly.” The edge of panic rising inside me settled just a little. But then Te Léna spoke again. “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.”

“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.”

He sat there, his bare, inked chest not moving, his black waves tumbling into his face, so perfect, so handsome, and that cursed fucking thing deep down in the basement of my soul ached and said mine.

“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 spot where the knife slides in. You are the thing that Malcolm will hurt in order to hurt me, and I couldn’t… couldn’t fucking bear it!”

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

Fisher hung his head, a bitter smile at his mouth. “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.”

“In all of her drawings of you, your ears were like mine. You were Fae.

“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. His eyes were cautious when they sought out mine. “Does that scare you?” he murmured.

Make me forget that I’ve ever suffered, I commanded. Make me forget that I will again.

“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.”

“I thought you were hiding these from me,” I said. “Maybe I was. But I’ll be damned all the way to hell and back if you use that sweet mouth on me and I don’t get to watch.” He gazed at the ink staining my skin, taking it all in. When his eyes met mine again, they were full of fire. “And, anyway. I’m not afraid of them, Little Osha. Are you?”

“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.

Once I was settled, he slowly stroked his fingers through my hair and spoke again. “I’ll be grateful for every second that I can say that I belong to you, Saeris Fane. Eighty years or eighteen hours. It doesn’t matter to me. It’ll still be the highest honor of my life. But don’t—Are you about to have a heart attack? Your pulse is flying.” The bastard laughed, and I nearly burst into tears. “Don’t freak out. Here. Look.”

“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?”

Tell Lorreth to live his life. Tell him not to worry about me. I have endless patience and no interest in having martyrs for friends. Tell Renfis that I’m sorry. That he was the standard that I always held myself to, and Yvelia would have been a better place if I was half as good as him. And you, Osha. I release you from your oath.

I’ve never been one to trust in the gods, but I choose to believe that all things come from the same place when life begins. I have hope that they return to the same place when it ends. I’ll be waiting for you there, Saeris Fane. F

HE WAS the first thing I saw. Always. My heart and my soul knew exactly where to find him.

“Remove yourself from me, or you won’t like what happens next.” “Oh, please.” Madra waved away his threat. “I hate to tell you this, but I can do anything to you that I want. Malcolm has always let me play with his toys.” “I play back,” Fisher spat. “It might not be today, but oh, I am coming to find you, Madra. Fear the shadows, bitch. I’m made of them. One night soon, I’ll climb out of one and slit your fucking throat.”

“You bored him to fucking tears and he couldn’t take it anymore,” Carrion sniped.

“I don’t need magic to mess you up, you fuck,” he growled. “This is for me. But mostly, it’s for my parents.”

“My name is Carrion Swift. But there was a time when I was known as Carrion Daianthus. Firstborn son to Rurik and Amelia Daianthus.”

He is the storm. You are the peace that must come after it.

“Tell us what it’s like,” she said in a clear, pleasant voice. “I’m—” I cleared my throat. “Sorry. Tell you what what’s like?” “Sex,” the other girl said, tilting her chin. “With that male. Our father’s champion.” “With… Fisher?” In unison, the girls nodded eagerly. “Uhhh…”

“You know who I am?” I bowed my head a little, again looking down at my boots. “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.”

Lolol the fact Fisher always flips him off 😂

I remembered pieces of him, and all at once, and I remembered how to drown. I needed him like I needed air.

I glared at him even harder. “You slept with me.” He grinned shamelessly. “You’re welcome.” “Carrion!”

“Are you going to tell me about my parents, or are you going to start undressing each other? Because I can leave. I don’t have to, but I can,” Carrion said. “Please leave, Carrion,” Fisher said flatly.

“In the Fae courts, the crown is passed down to a regent’s heir. But if the regent is murdered, the crown is claimed by the one who slew them. The vampire court has only ever had one king. Malcolm never named an heir. He planned on living forever. He never conceived of the possibility that someone might kill him…” My head was already shaking no. I retreated from the window. “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.”