Page 160 of Quicksilver

“I've actually never met Everlayne,” Carrion chipped in. “But I'm still coming. Solidarity and all that.”

Fisher put his back to the fire, resignation already carved into every line of his face. “You're sure you're ready?”

“I fought perfectly well at the river, didn't I?”

“Yes. But those were feeders. Mindless and stupid. We won't be facing feeders at Gillethrye, Saeris. We'll be facing Malcolm and his lords. Monsters, all. Not one of them knows the meaning of mercy. They'll fill you full of venom and watch you scream yourself to death for sport. If you come, are you ready to face that possibility?”

He was trying to scare me with the truth. A thrill of fear did tiptoe down the ladder of my spine, but he knew me better now than to think I would let my fear stop me from rescuing my friend. “Yes, I'm ready,” I told him.

Fisher's face was unreadable. “And you?” he said to Carrion. “You're ready for that?”

“Sure. Why not. I'm too pretty to die old, anyway.”

Fisher hung his head, folding his arms over his chest so that his shirt pulled taut, highlighting just about every muscle in his body. When he looked up again, he shrugged and said, “Okay. Fine. Who am I to stop you?”

37

MUCH SHARPER

My eyes were strained allto hell when I made my bed on the couch again that night. The bare branches of the trees outside the window tapped and scraped at the glass, the snow coming down harder than ever. It seemed that it wanted to bury Cahlish under its mantle, entombing those of us inside within the walls of the house so that nothing could harm us. Unfortunately for us, we couldn't stay in our warm, comfortable sanctuary, protected from the dread things that lurked in the dark much longer. Tomorrow night, we would venture out into the world and face them.

I was still preparing to try and sleep when Fisher came for me. He padded barefoot and shirtless into the living room, his ink swirling across his skin as he crossed the room. “You really think I'm going to let you sleep out here again?” he asked.

“I didn't know if you'd want me in your bed,” I told him.

“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 werecautious when they sought out mine. “Does that scare you?” he murmured.

“No. I...” Gods. His hands felt amazing. It was so intimate to have him run his fingers through my hair like this. “It doesn't scare me,” I whispered. “I want that, too.”

It would have been easy to let my thoughts run away with me. There were so many angry, hurt, frightened words I could hurl at him, but I'd done enough of that last night, and I really didn't want to do it again.

As if he were thinking along similar lines, he cupped my face in his hands and said softly, “Let's have tonight. You and me. Tomorrow night, we'll bring Everlayne home. And once Iseabail and Te Léna have her fixed up and good as new, then we can worry about me. Okay?”

My relief hit hard. He was no longer talking about how futile it was to try and find a way through all of this. He was saying, let's deal with what's right in front of us and see what the lay of the land is like after that. It was a much more positive approach than the hard line he'd taken last night.

I looked up at him, my ribs cinching tight. “Yes. Let's do that, please.”

He grinned, his expression turning wicked as a shadow gate opened up behind him. He picked me up, fast as hell, and stepped back into the twisting smoke before I could even think about calling him lazy for not walking back to his bedroom.

But when we emerged through the gate, we weren't in his room. We were back at the apartment in Ballard, standing in the living room above the bakery, surrounded by candles. They rested on the mantlepiece and the bookshelves. They covered the little dining table where we'd eaten breakfast and filled the windowsills of the huge bay windows with flickering light. Everywhere I looked, there were candles. Fisher smiled, hismouth pulled to one side, a dimple marking his cheek as he watched me taking it all in.

I spun around, holding my hands over my mouth. “It's beautiful,” I breathed.

He came and stood close behind me, folding me into his arms. “It's not finished yet.” His breath stirred my hair and something else, too, deep inside of me. I felt his power rush across my stomach as black smoke plumed from his hands, filling the room. Soon it was everywhere, cloaking everything from sight. Everything except the flickering flames of the candles. They lit up the darkness, a thousand burning points of light as brilliant as the stars. It felt as though we were up there with them, suspended in the void, where nothing could touch us, and no one could hurt us, and we had all the time we could possibly need.

“You did this for me?”It felt wrong to speak out loud. I didn't want my voice to ruin the illusion he'd created for us, so I asked him in my mind.

“Yes,”he answered simply. “And for me, too. Iamselfish, Saeris. I wanted something quiet and small and special for the both of us. Something we could keep.”He buried his face into the crook of my neck and kissed me there, where my shoulder became my neck. The heat of his mouth seared my skin, and I couldn't help but tremble. Closing my eyes, I leaned back into him, letting my weight rest against his solid mass, feeling safe and so desperately, heartbreakingly sad. My heartbreak couldn't have me tonight, though. Fisher was right. It was stupid to spend the night before we all stepped into our worst nightmares arguing or in tears. I bit back the burn in my throat and spun around, wrapping my arms around his neck.

“Make me forget that I've ever suffered,”I commanded.“Make me forget that I will again.”

He fell upon me like a tidal wave. His mouth found mine in the dark, and the kiss blotted out the world. Hot and demanding, his lips slid over mine, urging them to open, and then he was tasting me, exploring my mouth, his tongue claiming me. I moaned when the tips of his canines pierced my bottom lip. The copper bright tang of blood flooded my mouth, and Fisher huffed out a hard breath, letting out a moan of his own. It coated both our tongues as he kissed me deeper, his hands working their way into my hair, his breath quickening. I felt him, hard against my hip bone, his cock already rock-solid. My stomach bottomed out.

Gods, I wanted him.

I wanted all of him.

My soul was on fire, and I didn't care if I burned for all eternity. So long as I was burning with him, then so be it.