Quicksilver (Fae & Alchemy, #1)

by Callie Hart

Do you know much about metalwork, Captain? I do. It’s under the most unbearable conditions that the sharpest, most dangerous weapons are forged. And we are dangerous, Captain. She’s turned us all into weapons. That is why she won’t suffer my people to live.”

She’d squawked when he’d thrown me unceremoniously down onto my bed and snarled, “Bad human,” at me.

“Admittedly, I do enjoy when a female kneels for me, but in this particular case…”

“Careful, human. We Fae have an excellent sense of smell. You’d be amazed what we can scent floating on the air.”

“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.”

“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.”

“You asked for this. When you’re sore from coming so hard and you can’t recall your own name, remember that, Little Osha.”

“My, my. So worked up already? You’re slick as hell. What do you taste like, mm? Are you going to scream for me like a good girl when I have you ride my face?”

“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.”

She is the dawn. She is the moon. She is the sky. She is oxygen in our lungs.

“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.”

“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.”

This may seem dramatic now, but it’ll make sense in time, Saeris. Go through the gate. It’ll take you back to Cahlish. Wait there with the others. I’ll send Layne back as soon as I can. Tell Iseabail to sedate her the second she comes through the gate. She’ll be close to transitioning. There won’t be much time. She’ll want to go back through the gate before I close it, so you’ll have to be ready for that. You have to stop her. This will all be for nothing if she jumps back through. 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. You know how to make the relics now. A selfish part of me wants to beg you to make as many as you can so that my friends and their families can escape Yvelia before this realm falls. But I understand if you need to go. Find Hayden and Elroy. Help your friends. Then go exploring. There are countless realms out there, waiting to be found. Make one of them yours. 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