Quicksilver (Fae & Alchemy, #1)

by Callie Hart

He threw the shirt over his head at last, covering his inked chest. “If you say so, Little Osha.”

🫠🫦🤤 ⚜️👹😏💅😈🫦>>🦋

“All right, then. Have it your way. I'll go.” “Thank you!” My head spun as he leaned down and held his mouth close to my ear again. “Come on. Was it really that bad?” “Yes!” He laughed again, cold and cruel, as he placed his hand at the center of my chest again and began to tap. “Thrum, thrum, thrum, thrum, thrum, thrum, thrum. So fast. Like a hummingbird. Get the fox bite looked at, Little Osha. You don't want that arm falling off.”

🫠🫦🤤 ⚜️👹😏💅😈🫦>>🦋

“I want two.” He tossed his head back and let out a bark of laughter. “What?” “My brother Hayden and Elroy.” Looking a little hysterical, he threw his arms wide, Nimerelle casting off wisps of black smoke. “Who the fuck is Elroy?”

🤤🫦🫠 ⚜️🦋

The smallest I could manage, but it bled. Kingfisher held out his hand and pulled me to my feet, making a derisive sound when he saw the cut I'd inflicted upon myself. “Baby.” I pulled a face at him.

⚜️🦋

“I go and I try to get your brother. You help me and assist me in any way I ask you to, and you do as you’re told. You agree to this pact?” I nodded. “Yes.” “You understand that this is a blood oath? And you will be bound by this oath until death?” “Yes! Gods, I understand! I agree. Just get on with—” Kingfisher slapped his palm against mine and held on tight.

⚜️🩸📝🤝🏻🦋

“Give me something of his,” he demanded. “What?” “Give me something of Hayden's. What, you think I can just show up in your godsforsaken city and immediately find someone I've never met before? I need something of your brother's so I can locate him.” “Oh. Right.” That made sense. But...shit. “I don't have anything of Hayden's with me.” Kingfisher rolled his eyes. “Of course you don't. Is he your full brother? Do you have the same parents?” “Yes.” “Then your blood should suffice.” He held up his hand. “I already have that. Wait here. Do not move from this spot.” “You're going right now?” He raised his eyebrows. “You want to wait? After all of this?” “No! Not, definitely not. You should go.”

⚜️🦋

Onyx

🦊

Kingfisher took one look at him and shrugged. “I tracked your bloodline. It led me right to him. I asked him who he was. He said he was Hayden Fane. Ergo, I brought you Hayden Fane.” “Were you pinning him against a wall and holding a sword to his throat when you asked him?” I demanded. “No. I had him in a headlock. I hadn’t even drawn the sword. Not then, anyway.” “No wonder he lied to you about who he was! He probably thought you were a debt collector or one of Madra's men!” “Debt collector?” Fisher fumed. “Look. Let me ask you something. Do you recall where the gate is in Zilvaren?” “In Madra's palace.” “Correct. And what do you think was there waiting for me when I stepped out of that silver?” “I don't know.” “Fifty trained guardians and a unit of archers armed with iron-tipped arrows. I had to fight my way out of there, cross that scorched, disease-ridden shithole you're so desperate to get back to, find your brother, then get back across the city, back into Madra's palace, back into that cursed hall, and then back into the quicksilver in under an hour. I did not have time to interview the prick! Now, will this one do or not?”

🫠🫦🤤 ⚜️👹👿😤😒

“I hate that fucking place, but I went there for you. I got stabbed seven times in various parts of my body. For you. This prick said he was Hayden.

🫠🫦🤤 ⚜️👿❤️‍🔥🦋

“Comfortable?” he asked. “No.” “Excellent. Don't yank on the reins. Aida's a good girl. She'll follow without any input from you, so just leave her be.” Aida probably wasn’t a good girl. She was probably a hell bitch who was going to dump me on my ass at her earliest opportunity,

⚜️🦋

“Wait! Where's my bag?” I twisted in the saddle, searching for it. “I have plenty of food and water for the both of us. You don't need it.” “I don't care about the food and water. I care about Onyx!” “What's an Onyx?”

⚜️🦋

“I'll happily kiss all of your aches and pains better for you once we strike camp. I've been told my mouth has healing properties. Especially when administered between a pair of thighs.”

🫠🫦 ⚜️🫦😏😈👹👅>>🦋

Kingfisher halted his horse, forcing Aida to stop, too. Carrion wobbled on the horse's haunches, almost toppling off, though Kingfisher didn't seem to notice or care. He twisted around in his saddle, a ruinous smirk dancing at the corners of his mouth. “How hard my what, human?” “Nothing!” I answered far too quickly to come across as casual. “All I mean to say is that—that—you were distracted, okay? You were all over me. Your hands—” “My hands have a mind of their own. My mind was fixed on what yours were doing, and let me tell you, human. You are nowhere near as light-fingered as you seem to think you are. You nearly dislocated my finger, tugging at that damned ring—” “How dare you!”

🫦 🦋⚜️

Onyx jumped into my arms, nestling into the crook of my elbow and hiding his face. “He does not have fleas.” “That you know of,” Kingfisher said. “What about this one, then? Is this one for sale?” The stable hand thumbed a hand in the direction of Carrion. “What's your best offer?” Fisher asked. “No!” Kingfisher had the audacity to look bored when I slapped his arm. “No, the human isn't for sale either,” he said in a flat, annoyed tone. “Put him in a stall with some hay and cover him with a blanket.

⚜️🦋

“Ow!” I tried to swat them away, but Kingfisher caught me by the wrist. “I wouldn't. They're drunk. They get mean when they're drunk.” “I'm a thousand times bigger than them. I could crush—Ahh!” I hissed, pulling my hand away from the cloud of fluttering menaces. There, right on the heel of my palm, was a perfect oval welt. A bead of blood rose up from the tiny wound, shining like a tiny ruby. “A bite? Is that a bite mark?” I held out my hand for Fisher to see, but he didn't even look. “Not only do they get mad when you try to smash them out of the air, but they speak Common Fae and take offense when you imply that you're going to crush them to death.

⚜️🦋

I narrowed my eyes at Kingfisher. “When will Carrion wake up?” “How am I supposed to know?” Fisher drank from his own beer, green eyes glinting at me over the top of his tankard. From within the dark shadows of his hood, they seemed to flash in the most remarkable way. “I was unconscious for ten days. Are you planning on carting him around on the back of your horse for days on end?” “No,” he said simply. “What do you mean, no?” “I mean no, I'm not planning on doing that. You were on the verge of death. That's why you took so long to wake up. And we won't have to ride any further to get where we're going, so your friend's career as a saddle bag has already come to an end.” “Where are you taking me?” “Home.” “And where is home?” I pressed, my frustration levels rising. He took a deep pull from his beer, the muscles beneath the tattooed skin of his neck working. “The place where I was born.” “Urgh! Do you have to be so difficult?” His eyes danced. “It isn't mandatory, but I do enjoy it.”

🦋⚜️

“My father and Belikon had a long history. He saw what Belikon was planning long before he murdered the royal family and stole the crown for himself. He took precautions and warded his lands so that neither Belikon nor any of his supporters could cross into them. He was powerful, and his wards were strong. They remain as solid as ever. Belikon can travel to the borders of Cahlish, but he can’t enter. As long as I live and carry on my father’s line, he never will.”

⚜️>🦋>>📜🦞✨🏰❌🗽

“Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that Cahlish was a battlefront,” I said. “It is.” “No. But. An actual war zone.” Fisher fished a fleck of floating debris out of his beer. “That's right.” “So you make a big speech about keeping me safe in order to save your friends,” I said slowly, “and then you tell me you're dragging me right into the middle of an open conflict?” “Sound like fun?”

⚜️🦋

“We had a plan,” Ren hissed. “Don't look at me. Our little friend here forced my hand. She tried to commit suicide.” “Liar! I did not!” “When I found her, she was two seconds away from taking a dip without a relic,” Fisher said. “I had your ring, smart ass. I thought I did have a relic.” He eyed me over the top of his tankard, the silver around his iris shimmering as he gave me an open-mouthed smile. “Oh? You had my ring, did you? Care to recount the tale of how that came to be in your possession, Human?” “That’s irrelevant.” I glowered at him hatefully.

🦋⚜️🎠

“So, taking it had nothing to do with the fact that Solace was your father’s blade?

🎠>⚜️>>📜⛏️

“Renfis Orithian, Renfis Blood Sworn, Renfis of the Silver Lake,”

📜🎠

Malcolm

🧛🏻‍♂️

Orris.”

🏇🏾

“It'd be a real shame to have to pinch you, but I'm getting bored, and this rabid animal keeps showing me its teeth.”

🐲🦊🦋

Onyx sat at the end of it, baring his teeth at a very disheveled-looking Carrion Swift, who held hands aloft in surrender. “Look! Look! Shh, it's all right. She's awake. I didn't murder her. Stop overreacting.” “If you touch that fox, I'll skin you,” I growled at him. Carrion's pale blue eyes met mine, full of a false hurt I was more than familiar with. “And hello to you, too! What kind of greeting is that? And after we've been so cruelly separated for so many weeks as well.”

🦋🐲🦊

The thief's hands were still in the air. He glanced down at the index finger I was jabbing in his face, smirking at it like he was wondering what I was planning on doing with it.

🦋🐲

the Third continues as it always has without you. Imagine that. The world, audacious enough to carry on without Saeris Fane.” “I'm serious, Carrion. You didn't hear her. She swore that everyone in the Third would die.” “And yet no one has,” he said, shrugging. “Now, I think I've been pretty patient while we've rehashed all of this gauntlet bullshit. I think it's my turn to have a few things explained to me. Principally, where the fuck are we, why are we here, were the people who came in here about half an hour and laid their hands all over you really Fae, or did I hallucinate that part, and lastly...” He pointed at his foot. “Where the fuck is my other boot?” “Someone came in here and touched me?” Carrion threw his head back, groaning. “All of those questions and you respond by asking one of your own. Gods. Yes, they came and touched your hands a bunch. They said they were healing you.”

🦋🐲

Archer.

🍁

Kingfisher flipped off the gods as he passed them, not even breaking his stride.

⚜️🏛️

“Omnamerrin. That’s the name of the tallest peak. The one with the sheer face. It means ‘sleeping giant’ in Old Fae.”

🏔️

“Mm. We'll see what the boy has to say for himself.” “He's twenty-six years old. He's hardly a boy,” I muttered. “He's an infant with a smart mouth, as far as I’m concerned.

⚜️>🦋>>🐲

The unholy delight in his eyes promised that I would hate whatever he was about to say next. “That's right. But I wasn't just covered in your blood, was I? I was wearing another of your...perfumes.”

🫠🫦🤤 ⚜️👹😏😈🫦>>🦋

“When you were grinding yourself all over my lap, you marked me up very efficiently,” he purred. A fire burned in my throat, causing my voice to crack. “I hate you.” “You keep saying that. I'm still not convinced that it's the truth. Either way, your brother wasn't where you said he'd be. And when I reached your ward, I detected your scent from three miles away—” “Just stop talking, Fisher.” “—plastered all over that boy.” He gave me a cruel smirk.

🫠🫦🤤 ⚜️👹😏😈🫦>>🦋

“There's every way,” Fisher rumbled, his eyes darkening. “I'd know the smell of you anywhere. On anyone. I'd know it blind and in the dark. Across a fucking sea. I'd be able to scent you—”

🫠🫦🤤 ⚜️👹🤤😈🫦❤️‍🔥🦋

“Oh, fuck you, princeling. What have you got against humans anyway?” I snapped.

🦋>>⚜️

Rose from the chair and approached the bed. Standing next to me, he reached out a hand and curled a piece of my hair around his index finger, staring at it thoughtfully. “We are nothing alike,” he said quietly. “You nearly died from a scratch that would have been a mild irritation to me. You are soft. You are fragile. You are vulnerable. You are a newborn fawn, stumbling around in the dark, surrounded by predators with very sharp teeth. I am the thing that exists on the other side of the dark. I’m the thing that puts the fear of the gods into the monsters who would eat you bones and all.”

🫠🫦🤤 ⚜️👹🫦>>🦋

“Mm. You’re right. I don’t think you will invite me into your bed. When the time comes, I think you’ll beg—”

🫠🫦🤤 ⚜️👹😏💅😈🫦>>🦋

Te Léna,

🍒

He grunted, fluffing Fisher's pillows, making himself comfortable. “You know what'd really piss him off?” I knew he wasn't talking about Onyx. “Just don't, Carrion.” “Revenge fucking on his bed.” I shoved a piece of apple into my mouth. “Oh, yeah, sure. Sounds like a great idea. Idiot. What do you think he'd do to you if you fucked someone in his bed?” Carrion waggled his eyebrows. “I think he'd never know.”

🦋🐲

Carrion swiped a piece of toast from my breakfast tray. He bit into it, creating a shower of crumbs that magically disappeared before they hit the bed sheets. “Just so I know,” he said, chewing. “Is that a no to fucking in your captor's bed? Or a no to fucking in general?” “What do you think?” He pointed at me with the corner of his slice of toast. “You could eviscerate a man with that expression. It's one of the things I love most about you.” I snatched the toast from his hand and threw it down onto my plate. “I don't love anything about you.” “Liar. There are so many things you love about me.” He winked roguishly, attempting to steal the toast again, but I slapped the back of his hand. “Get your own godscursed breakfast. This one's mine.” “My hair. My eyes. My wit. My charm...” He counted them off on his fingers, making a list.

🦋🐲

“And then,” he said, taking another grape. “They rubbed me down with this special kind of moss, which is where things got interesting. They paid particular attention to my...” His eyes trailed down his body until they rested in his crotch. I raised my eyebrows at him. “You let a fire sprite jerk you off with a handful of Fae moss?” “Not a fire sprite,” he said defensively. “These were water sprites. Three of them.

🦋🐲

All we know is that when the god swords went silent and abandoned the rest of the Fae who carried them, Nimerelle stayed. At a cost. The blade used to shine brilliant silver. As the centuries have passed, it’s blackened and tarnished. But Nimerelle has stayed. The spirit of that sword or the magic inside it, whatever you choose to believe it is, has stayed. No matter what, it’s never left him.”

📜🗡️✨

“I don't see why I have to come.” Carrion tugged at his shirt collar, grumbling as he hurried along behind me down the hall. “I was in the middle of a great sparring session. I'm filthy. I would have gotten changed if I'd known I'd be sitting down with my kidnapper for a nice meal. Speaking of which, you should really have changed after you left the forge, too.” “I did,” I said blandly. Carrion pulled a face. “Really? I seem to remember there being a very low-cut, sheer black dress on the end of your bed when I went back to the room earlier, and I can't help but notice that you're wearing a faded, threadbare shirt and some very dusty pants.” “So what? They are clean.” “That's the only positive thing that can be said about them.” Carrion's nose wrinkled in disgust. “I had a vested interest in seeing you in that dress.” “Why?” I shoved open the door to the dining room. “Your phenomenal tits, that’s why. They would have looked great in that dress. And your ass. The material was sheer as hell. Wouldn’t have left much to the imagination. Not that I need to use my imagination when it comes to your body, but—” A sinister growl echoed around the dining room.

🐲🦋>⚜️👹😡

“Meeting? I thought this was dinner. And how would it be fair for me to enjoy the pleasure of your company while these two miss out?” Carrion held up a hand. “I'd prefer not to be here, actually.” “Sit the fuck down,” I hissed. “All right. Gods.”

🦋🐲

Renfis had been in the process of sipping from his glass, but the second he realized that I'd sat opposite him, next to Fisher, the alcohol sprayed out of his mouth in an arc that nearly crossed the width of the table. Luckily no food had been placed on it yet. “Saints.” He pounded on his chest, wheezing. “What the fuck?” “Oh, yes. She has no sense of timekeeping, and she has unconventional seating preferences, don't you, Human?” “I can sit there instead?” Carrion offered. “Absolutely not,” Kingfisher barked. “Try it and die.” “Whoa. Okay. I was just trying to keep the peace. If you guys need a buffer—” “We don't,” Fisher fired back at him. “And even if we did, I'd ask someone far more likable than you. No!” He held up a finger, stabbing it at Carrion. “Do not tell me how likable you are back in Zilvaren. I don't want to hear it.” Carrion gave him a sickly smile as he sat down in the next chair along.

🦋🐲⚜️🎠

I only realized I'd been staring at his throat when Fisher lifted his chin a little, angling his head so that the tendons in his neck stood proud. That fucking smile again. I wanted to wipe it off his smug face so badly.

🫠🫦🤤 ⚜️🫦😏😈💅>>🦋

Fisher nodded toward my plate. “Eat, Little Osha.” His lips moved, but he spoke softly, casting his voice. “Gods, will you stop doing that?” I hissed under my breath. “Why? I've seen the way your skin breaks out in goosebumps when I speak to you like this.”

🫠🫦🤤 ⚜️🫦😏💅>>🦋

“If I were evil and using your oath for my own purposes, I'd order you onto your knees for me,” he said, cutting me off. “I'd order you to part your legs for me. I'd order you to suck and fuck me until you passed out from exhaustion. Is that what you want, Little Osha?”

🫠🫦🤤 ⚜️😏🫦😈👹>>🦋

He nodded to the piece of pie on my fork. “Eat.”

“You're out of your fucking mind,” I whispered. “That's what they tell me. But I don't know. Aside from the relentless chatter in my head, personally, I think I'm doing just fine.”

🫠🫦🤤 ⚜️😏💅😈👹>>🦋