Brimstone (Fae & Alchemy, #2)

by Callie Hart

“Hell is empty and all the devils are here.” —The Tempest, William Shakespeare

A WOLF WAS a versatile creature. Adaptable. When part of a pack, it was part of something larger than itself. It had a role to play and a place in the way of things. There was safety to be found in a pack. But a wolf could survive alone, too.

Emotions painted the blood.

Happiness. Anger. Sorrow. Lust. Each gave off its own energy. A vibration, if you will. In the same vein, each of them had its own scent. The Fae betrayed subtle indicators of their moods, no matter how good they were at masking their emotions.

“They’re going to… destroy her, you know? It has already… been seen. This court will… fall… with her inside it.”

He’d left the safety of Cahlish. For her. He’d climbed the mountain. For her. He’d snuck through Irrín and crossed the river. For her.

And now he was being chased across the dead fields of Sanasroth by a horde of feeders. He must have been tired and ready to give up, but he was still coming. For her.

And I was not about to let that li...

Then I drew Nimerelle, and the killing began. The god sword bled black smoke as she scythed through the air. Where I swung her, necrotic flesh and brittle bone parted like wet paper in her wake.

I wanted to sweep her into my arms and hold her. I knew the slope of her shoulders so well. The way the fine wisps of her hair curled at her temples. I knew the hard defiance she wore on her like a shield, but I hadn’t met her grief yet. It was an unwelcome stranger I wanted to banish as soon as possible; its presence in the room made my chest ache.

“Don’t you know? There isn’t much I wouldn’t sacrifice to make you happy, Osha. A little healing magic is the least of it.”

God Bindings marked her hands and her wrists. They were wrapped around my wrists, too. We were of one another, bound to one another, in a way that felt strange and thrilling.

I didn’t recognize the woman in the full-length mirror of my dressing room… and there was a reason for that. The strange creature staring back at me wasn’t a woman. Not anymore. Once she might have been, but now she was a Fae-vampire hybrid, touched by the gods.

This was real. I was Fae. I was a vampire.

“Well, I suppose if no one else is going to say it, then I will. You look downright fuckable, Saeris Fane.”

Vampire. Fae. Maker. Mate.

“Only once she has that circlet on her head will she be in a position to effect change. Change that will benefit all

of Yvelia.”

Not too long ago, I’d dreamed of him standing close to me like this. My fool’s heart had craved him more than my lungs had craved air… and now that he was mine and I was his, my need for him had only intensified. He had saved Onyx for me. He had risked his life for me, and from the look on his face now, he wouldn’t blink if he had to do it again. The tattoos marking his skin shifted as he swallowed, the muscles of his throat working. “You don’t need to do this,” he whispered. “There are other ways to accomplish our goals.” She’s here. Here. Here… I ignored the whisper that rushed in my ears, refusing to give it my attention. Not here, and not now. This wasn’t the first time I’d heard the quicksilver since I’d woken in the palace after my transition. I knew it wouldn’t be the last. I gave my focus to my mate instead, reaching up and cupping his cheek with my gloved hand. What I wouldn’t have given to feel the roughness of his stubble against my palm. Gods alive. That I even got to touch him like this. That he was mine in the first place. “Those other ways involve blood, and death, and fire,” I answered softly, my response meant only

It was bonded to me now. The god swords were loyal, territorial things. It would have taken Fisher’s hands off for touching it had he not used a scrap of silk to pick it up. He held it reverently as he brought it to me.

He took one of his own daggers from the sheath at his waist, then dropped down to one knee in front of me. He looked up, his eyes locking with mine again, burning with a myriad of emotions as he slowly… carefully… parted the material of the dress along the slit to expose my bare thigh.

With his other hand, he pressed his dagger against my flesh. The magic simmering below the surface of my skin registered that, just like the chain he’d wrapped around my waist, the weapon was pure silver, but it didn’t burn me the way it would Taladaius or any other vampire.

We already discovered I was immune to the effects of both silver and iron. Perhaps it was that I wasn’t entirely one thing—neither wholly vampire nor Fae.

Perhaps it was that I was an Alchemist on top of everything else, and I still had an affinity for metals. Either way,...

A god sword will make worm food out of any of us, no matter who wields it. But, regardless,” I called in a clear voice. “I am no child. My name is Saeris Fane, and I am your queen.”

the Hazrax had said that it “wanted to watch.” From that point onward, the Hazrax had become Keeper of Silence.

So you’ve been imagining this, then, have you, Little Osha?

You can own your fantasies with me, Little Osha. There is nothing in this realm or the next that I won’t give to you if you desire it. All you ever need do is ask.

There wasn’t much quicksilver left in his eye now, but the small amount that remained was also shifting, forming the geometric shapes and patterns among the vivid green of his iris.

My mate and I stared at each other, panting, our bodies tensed taut as twin bowstrings. The feeling coursing through me was like nothing I had ever encountered before. It went beyond want. There were no words to describe it.

For the first time since it had infected me as a youth, I had

begun to think of the quicksilver as more of a blessing than a curse. It urged caution now,

Tal had been able to manipulate most liquids. All liquids, in fact, apart from quicksilver. Blood was a liquid… and right now, he was boiling the blood in the high bloods’ veins.

It made perfect sense that there would be a sharp edge to his tone when he said the words Your Highness. But hearing that edge in his voice when he spoke to me? That hurt more than I cared to

admit.

“Far be it from me to come between a female and her fox.”

“From now on, you are Lady of Cahlish.”

Mate. Queen of Sanasroth. King Killer— A tightness formed between Fisher’s brows. They’re calling you that? They are. And now you want to add Lady

of Cahlish to the mix?

The things that really mattered hadn’t changed, and that was reassuring. I was independent. My temper was still quick to rise. My sense of humor was still dry. I still loved the smell of coffee, and the thick flaky pastries I had first eaten in Ballard. And I still loved the male walking beside me.

“I love you, and nothing else matters beyond that. Wherever you are, I’ll beg the gods and all the fates to let me be there, too,” I whispered.

“There are too many pricked ears in this godscursed manor,” he groaned. “They aren’t going to like what they hear over the next few hours.” A shiver sank into my bones at that. He planned on being inside of me for hours. He was planning on making me scream. Gods…

“You forget that I’m a winter creature, Saeris,” Fisher murmured. “I don’t crave the attention of the sun. The snowcapped mountains, the forest, the frozen river… those places are my home. You are home.”

“Three nights. That’s how long I’ve paced this room, fantasizing about fucking you raw, Saeris Fane.”

“Come now, Osha. Where else would an acolyte kneel to worship but at the altar of his god?”

“Suck,” I told him.

Kingfisher of the Ajun Gate, slayer of the last dragon and Lord of Cahlish, obeyed me.

Fisher’s blood was an eternal song. It cleaved my soul from my body. The taste of him was more exquisite than fresh, clean water. His blood was holy, and I drank like I needed to be saved.

There was something very empowering about a male like Kingfisher relinquishing control and offering free rein over his body. It was an act of trust. Submission, even. And a lethal creature baring his neck to you was a heady thing indeed.

Saeris wasn’t just pulled into the quicksilver. She was called by the gods.”