Page 184 of Quicksilver

Donotlose consciousness, Saeris. If you pass out now, you're dead.

That didn't sound like my voice. It sounded like Fisher's. So clear. So loud. So close...

Malcolm hooked the toe of his boot underneath Solace's hilt and kicked the sword out of my hand. He stooped low beside me, and, with cold fingers, he prized open my fist and took thecoin I'd fought so hard to find. It burned his skin, but only for a second. He dropped it into a little leather pouch and attached it to the belt at his waist, then he flipped my hand over, running an ice-cold finger over my marks. Pointing at the runes on my index and middle fingers, he named them one at a time. “Earth. Air. Fire. Water. Salt. Brimstone. Quicksilver. The full gamut. More power than any Alchemist I've ever encountered. You are capable of restoring me to my power and a lot more besides.”

“Just kill me and have done with it. I won’t help you,” I groaned.

“Really?” The vampire cocked his head to one side. He tapped the intricate, interlocking rune on the back of my right hand. I tried to pull my hand away, but he shook his head, tutting disapprovingly. “Speaking of impressive marks, I haven't seen the likes ofthisbefore, either. Such pretty artwork. It seems as though you've landed yourself a mate. I wonder who it could be.”

“Fuck you,” I spat.

“I've spent a lot of time with Fisher over the years. He's quite something to look at, so you'll believe me when I tell you that I noticedhisnew marks immediately. But I didn't need to see ink on skin to know you were his, did I? I scented you on him the second he showed up here, demanding I let his sister go. I scented your body on him.” He forced out the words as if they left a foul taste in his mouth. “But the scent of your blood was much stronger. I couldn't believe it. That he'dfedfrom you,” he sneered. “He wore that silver plate at his throat every day he was trapped here in this labyrinth. A gift from his mother, I believe. Pure silver imbued with some particularly nasty magic. I couldn’t have torn it off him if I’d tried. Edina always wassucha thorn in my side. I promised to let Fisher go if only he gave me a taste. I promised to wipe Gillethrye from his memory, so he'd forget all about this place and what had happened here...if onlyhe fed frommejust once. I wanted to know the bliss that would come at the points of his teeth. But he denied me. He chose to stay and suffer. And thenyou. A pathetic, weak human? His mate? It's offensive.”

“Sorry.” It was scary how rattly my lungs felt when I spoke. “He's just not into the undead.”

“You have no idea how miserable the rest of your short existence will be, girl,” the vampire hissed. “Fisher will be mine, one way or another. Youwillhelp me heal. You'll help me build an unstoppable army that will sweep across all of Yvelia. And hewillgive himself to—”

I lunged. The blade strapped to my thigh wasn't as impressive as Solace, but it was sharp, and in the end, that's all that mattered. I plunged the dagger into Malcolm's throat, screaming through the pain in my chest. The vampire's eyes went wide, his pupils contracting to vertical slits.

“You...stupid...”

I twisted the dagger as I yanked it free, growling with the effort. A flap of Malcolm's flesh came away with the blade, and smoke and blood gushed like a geyser from the wound. The vampire king's blood wasn't black ichor like that of his feeders. It was arterial—darkest crimson, but still red. Incandescent with rage, Malcolm clutched a hand to his neck and roared. He didn't need a weapon to kill me. His hands were enough. With a rabid snarl, he slammed his fist into my stomach and drove it upwards.

Hold on, Saeris. I'm coming!

It was Fisher's voice. Crystal clear and perfect.

He was coming for me.

He would be too late.

A ripple of cold shock rocked my body. There was no pain. Not right away. It crept in at the edges of my awareness like a morning frost stealing over a windowpane.

And then it shattered me.

I was dying. Malcolm made sure of that. His glee was sickening as he pulled his blood-soaked hand from my stomach. “They say abdomen wounds are the worst way to go.” His voice was a wet rasp. I'd done some serious damage with that blow to his neck, but his head was still attached, more was the pity. “I think I'll leave you just like this. You'll last long enough for him to find you that way. I love our Kingfisher the most when his heart is breaking.”

Our Kingfisher?OurKingfisher? This sick piece of shit couldn’t claim any part of my mate. Fisher wasmine.“I'm going to kill you,” I groaned. “It'll be the last thing I do, but it'll be worth it.”

Malcolm laughed. “Please, girl. Die with some dignity. You can't kill me. I'm eternal.” When he lowered his hand from his neck, I could see that his throat was already healing. It was slow progress, the fibers of his muscle reattaching one by one. But hewouldheal. That wasn't important anymore. I hadn't fooled myself into thinking that I would end him with the dagger. I'd just wanted to distract him a little.

Malcolm's smile fell when I lifted the little leather pouch he'd placed the coin inside. The very same one I'd unhooked from his belt while he'd torn a hole in my stomach. He held out his hand, his eyes widening a touch. “Give that to me,” he demanded. “Give it to me, and I might still save you. There's time.”

It was my turn to laugh now. My mouth filled with blood, my body seizing from the agony that tore through me, but it was worth it. “Does it really matter that much to you? That he has to stay here and suffer? That you get to keep all of these people here, burning and in pain for the rest of time? Is your soul reallythatblack and twisted?”

Malcom shrugged apologetically. “I don't have a soul, girl.” And he pounced. I couldn't stop him from snatching the pouchfrom me and darting away, of course. I didn't even try. What little energy I had left, I was saving.

The vampire's eyes were bright with victory. That brightness dimmed when he opened the pouch and found nothing inside. His gaze snapped up to me, his jaw falling open.

The little coin hummed happily in my hand as I held it up for him to see. “What was Belikon's deal again? Leaves or fishes?”

“Don't!” Malcolm cried.“DON'T!”

I flipped the coin. Not high. I wouldn't give him the chance to grab it out of the air the way he'd done when Belikon had flipped it. The little coin flashed brilliantly as it spun. It didn't matter which side it landed on anymore. Only that it landed. The ground shook when the shining silver struck the obsidian.

There was a moment of stillness, and the ruins of Gillethrye held its breath.

“Stupid little bitch. What have you done?” Malcolm whispered.