Brimstone (Fae & Alchemy, #2)

by Callie Hart

“Come on. Come back up here. I need you.” I need you.

But the one percent? That had already been his. And now all of it was his, and he was holding on to me like I was the only thing that mattered in his entire fucking universe.

“All mad as dogs,” Danya hissed under her breath as she stalked out of the room. Fisher pointed the business end of his blade at her as she went. “So help me, Danya, I will kill you my fucking self if you touch a single one of those sprites.” “Fisher—” He faced me quickly, his pallor ghostly and haunted. He placed a kiss against my forehead and then pulled away.

Hayden’s jaw tightened, the muscles in his throat working as he thought about that. But he shook his head. “No. No matter what, you’re the only family I have. If you’re staying, then so am I. I’m sorry I doubted you. And I’m sorry I never appreciated everything you did for me back in the Third. I am going to figure this out. I’m gonna do better. I want to be useful here, Saeris. I don’t want to be a burden.”

Hero? I wanted to laugh. Gods, how I wanted to. I’d never heard anything more ridiculous in all my life. “I don’t pretend to be anything,” I told her. “Saeris makes me kinder than I should be. Do not misjudge me. I would do all manner of unconscionable things in the pursuit of her safety.

She wasn’t what I’d expected. She was so much more. She really had come blazing into my life like a comet, and now she was changing everything.

She’d always looked good in her fighting leathers, but now they belonged on her. My chest tightened with unspeakable pride when I saw her black tresses now hung in war braids beneath her hood. Fae war braids. She had become a part of this world—a part of me—and I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

“I shouldn’t tell you this, since you seem blissfully unaware of the power you hold over me, but… I will give you whatever you want, Saeris Fane. Always. No matter what it costs me.”

“I’m yours to command, Queen Saeris,” I whispered into her hair.

The way she looked at me made me want to do better. To be better. Every day of my life, I was going to have to work my absolute fucking hardest to deserve her love and respect. I wasn’t afraid of the challenge.

Relief stabbed through me at the sight. In an estate full of valuables and riches, it was the books they were saving. The information inside some of those tomes couldn’t be found anywhere else in Yvelia.

He knew that, to control his people, he had to control the information they had access to. Hide the truth from people, and you kept them in the dark.

“Because I always end up sitting in a snowbank, waiting around for hours while everyone else disappears off to do something dangerous. I don’t love being cold, Saeris.” “Why are you saying that like the weather is my fault?” she asked. “It is your fault. You could have fallen in love with an outcast warrior from Gilaria or, better yet, from Lissia, but no. You fell for the one from the frozen wasteland that is Yvelia.”

“The Randy Swine,” Lorreth said. “Excuse me?” Saeris’s eyebrows shot up. “That’s the name of the tavern we’ll be at.” “Oh. Right.”

“Of course. I’ve got the fox. Don’t worry about him,” I told her. “Go on. I’m right behind you.” I gave her another kiss on her forehead. “Go.” And then, so that only she could hear: I love you, Little Osha. I love you, too.

It was a strange thing, to make eye contact with Zilvaren’s cockiest smuggler and find no smile on his face. Relief flashed over his features when he registered who we were. Then the smile came, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Ahh, here she is,” he said, his chest heaving. “Too used to queenly perks these days, are you? Leaving us to do all the heavy lifting?”

Suddenly, I was in Lorreth’s arms. “Fucking merciful gods. Thank you. Thank you,” he chanted. He hugged me so hard, I couldn’t breathe.

He’ll murder me if I let anything happen to you out here.” I let him guide

“Zilvaren,” I said breathlessly. “The city, fashioned after the shape of a wheel. The walls form the wards, but they aren’t spokes. The whole thing…” My head was spinning. “It’s a sigil. This entire time, Madra has been using the city itself to siphon the magic of its inhabitants. Zilvaren is the biggest piece of spellwork ever created.”

In your shoes, I can see how, well, no, wait, satyrs don’t wear shoes, do you. Let us check that body, and we’ll be out of your hair. I mean fur. I mean—” “Carrion, stop talking.” Carrion stopped talking.

I couldn’t. Not with Fisher missing. Nothing was allowed to be beautiful in the world without him.

“How can I consign myself to another endless dark when I’ve been given back the light?”

The former vampire looked lost for words. “And it’s for me?” “Yes, it’s for you.” “What am I supposed to do with it?” “I’d recommend you start by picking it up.” “But what… if it doesn’t choose me? What if it doesn’t think I’m worthy?” “You are, Tal.” “But—” “You are.”

Tal let out a long, shaky breath, considering the sword. “Tarsarinn,” he said. “It means… redemption.” I grinned at that. Couldn’t help myself, despite everything. “Fitting. I like it.”

The former Keeper of Secrets to the Blood Court of Sanasroth smiled.

“What should I do?” Carrion mouthed over the tops of the satyrs’ heads. I performed a one shoulder shrug, unable to answer that question for him.

“My name is Carrion,” he said. “Nice to meet you all. I really like your horns.”

“Wake up,” I whispered. “Wake… the fuck… up. Are you seriously going to do this to me? Are you going to leave me here alone, to fix this without you? This—” I huffed, my desperation rising. “This is your fucking realm, Fisher. Your friends. Your people. And you’re just going to disappear and leave it to everyone else to defend them?”

“Fisher, if you love me… If you care about me, or… or any of us, you will figure this out and wake up right now. We need you. I need you—” “Save your breath, King Killer.”

The fine print of the deal I made with Malcolm stated that I could observe him, not his court. Him. It is irrelevant whether the Blood Court exists, Saeris. It is you who I observe. Wherever you go, whatever you do, you have given me permission to follow and witness alongside you.”

Her spirit, that is. She bound her soul to that blade, so she would always be with her friends. That’s why he named the sword that. Ni’ Merelle. For Merelle, in Old Fae.”

For the first time in Yvelian history, a god sword had entrusted itself into the hands of someone it wasn’t bonded to. Because Kingfisher loved me. I had come here to save him… and that was good enough for his sword.

A heart ruled by hatred and fear could not experience miracles. You had to know love, joy, and trust for that, and those concepts were as foreign to him as the idea of Yvelia had been to me not too long ago.

Khydan Graystar Finvarra, in honor of the name you were given at birth! Rise up and fight!”

KINGFISHER (Khydan Graystar Finvarra)

Rise, Khydan Graystar Finvarra, in honor of the name you were given at birth! Rise up and fight! The name resonated in my chest, triggering something fundamental, deep within the foundations of my soul. I knew the name. Knew it like I knew the sky was blue and which way was up. It was a part of me—had always been a part of me—and now it had settled on me like a perfectly tailored cloak.

Orious had been a second away from slitting Saeris’s throat… but then there was Onyx. The little fox raced out of the shadows and launched himself at the seneschal’s face. He snarled and scratched, sinking his teeth into the thin male’s jaw and cheek. “Demon dog!” the seneschal growled. He clawed at Onyx’s fur, trying to get a hold of it. “I thought you were dead!”

Saeris’s response was instant and ruthless. She buried her face in the seneschal’s neck, and she ripped out his fucking throat. Blood and viscera sprayed the snow. My magic struck the male a second later.

Gods. I needed to comfort her, but what comfort could I be, with my own tears streaming down my face? I went to her anyway, crouching down behind her and folding her into my arms.

In all my years alive and traveling this realm, I had never encountered anything so mighty and brave as this little fox with the heart of a wolf.

“I—oh.” Fuck. We were on the side of a mountain. A steep one, at that. At the top of the slope we sat on, an entire city lit up the night, its two white towers so tall that I had to crane my neck back to find the top of them. It was beautiful. It was… “Ajun,” Fisher said quietly, twisting to look back over his shoulder. “We should head up to the gate. This far north the sun rises later, but it’ll be here soon.” Ajun.

I wanted to tell Fisher not to stop me, but the power relaying around my body was too great now. I couldn’t find the clarity to speak, not even into his mind. Fisher’s hand pressed into the small of my back—strong, warm, comforting. I waited for the words of common sense to come… Fisher spoke with resolve. “He isn’t just a fox. He’s family. And if Saeris says she’s going to save him, then she’s going to.” “Such blind faith?” “In her? Yes,” Fisher answered. “And if she dies while trying to accomplish this fool’s errand?” I felt my mate’s shrug. “It is her life to spend. Her decision. I will respect it.”

Stargazers, also known as kingfishers, can be found in abundance from the Gilarian Mountains all the way down to the coastal cities of Marinth, Bodish, and Inishtar. Many individuals among the Fae, selkies, elemental sprites, and satyr populations consider the stargazer a symbol of hope.

“It worked. You did it.” His expression was breathtaking—pride and a dash of wonder thrown in for good measure.

I’d saved him. I’d done it. But the cost… “You must think I’m crazy.” I didn’t even want to look at my mate… but when I did, I found no consternation or anger within the endless green of his striking eyes. He laughed a little breathlessly. “Yes,” he agreed. “You are crazy. You came looking for me. You took on Belikon by yourself and you outsmarted him. And you made a costly sacrifice to save a friend,” he added. “Only a crazy person would have done all of that. But I would have made the same choices, Saeris. So I suppose we’re well suited.”

He could only ever be Khydan to me now. And he was ready to face whatever awaited us on the other side of this door.

“I’ve come for a dragon, as is my right. Summon our father. Tell him I’ve come to make a trade.”