Page 34 of Quicksilver

Now would be a perfect time to escape. I'd been looking for the right time to make a run for it, but Kingfisher had said the magic word.Forge.I couldn't help myself. What did a Fae forge look like? Did it work the same way as a human forge? Was theremagicinvolved? Gods, I hoped there was magic involved. And anyway, escaping Everlayne and the two warriors at this point would have been foolhardy.

I had nowhere to go. I’d been unconscious when Kingfisher brought me back through that rippling pool of silver. I had no idea where it was located. Or if it was even in the palace. The probability of me finding it on my own was slim, and even if Idid, what then? I'd drawn that sword out of Madra's pool the last time. Belikon had it now. Did I need it to activate the pool? Could I do it again? And how? I had no idea how I woke the quicksilver the last time, and by the sounds of things, the Fae didn’t know how to do it, either. Plus, they kept saying pathways. Plural. How the fuck would I make my way back to Zilvaren, specifically, if there was more than one pathway?

My anxiety over Hayden was all-consuming. Come hell or high water, I was going to get back to my brother, but I couldn't rush into this. Rushing something so dangerous that I had no understanding of whatsoever would undoubtedly mean death or, at the very least, serious trouble.

So, for now, I was staying. Mind made up, I finally broke into that jog and caught up with the group. The three Fae were passing one of the many sets of alcoves occupied by statues of the gods. Everlayne bowed and touched her head to them as she hurried by. Ren grumbled, giving them a cursory nod. Kingfisher stuck out a hand and flipped all seven of them off as he stormed by.

Everlayne cried out, horrified, but Kingfisher only rolled his eyes, continuing whatever it was he’d been saying. “…then talk to Belikon. You heard him. He's the one who told me to help Rusarius with the human.”

“This isn't helping. This is diving into something head-first without considering the consequences!” Everlayne's frustration had become a permanent fixture since Renfis had fastened that pendant around Kingfisher's neck. “We have to cover the theory first.”

Kingfisher huffed derisively. “Whattheory?”

“He's right on that, at least,” Ren chimed in. “Thereareno written accounts of the Alchemist's processes. If there was, the elders might have had some luck understanding their abilities. How can we start at the beginning if thereisno beginning?”

Everlayne's loose hair streamed out behind her in a golden banner as she rushed forward and prodded Kingfisher in the back.Hard.“We start out slow, then. With the important things she needs to know about Yvelia. She won't survive here without—”

Kingfisher halted his charge, stopping dead in his tracks. Everlayne ran straight into his chest, but the dark-haired warrior didn't flinch. He stepped around her and prowled toward me like a hell cat creeping up on its dinner. I was an accomplished fighter. I knew how to put a guardian on his ass in three seconds flat. I could scale forty-foot-high walls and sprint across rotting rooftops, but the sight of Kingfisher prowling toward me turned my insides to a double knot.

Stumbling back, I nearly tripped over my feet in my attempt to put some space between us, but the bastard kept coming.

“All right,Oshellith. Layne isn't going to let this go until you've been given the cliff notes, so listen close. I'm about to furnish you with the only information you really need to know.Youhave the distinct pleasure of being the only living human in all of Yvelia. You arenotsafe here.” He bared his teeth, flashing long, sharp canines that lengthened right before my eyes. “There was a time when this place teemed with your kind—”

“Fisher, stop.” Ren tried to grab him by the shoulder, but the warrior in black jerked away and kept coming.

“Our ancestors were cursed millennia ago. As a result, we ended up with these,” he said, gesturing to his canines. “We used them to drink your kind dry. We drained you by the million before the blood curse was lifted. This was long beforeourtime, of course, but the Fae line still bears the marks of its past. We might not need blood to maintain our immortality anymore, but by the gods, do we still have the teeth for it. Our dirty little secret. Our awful, horrible shame—”

“Fisher!” Everlayne had reached her breaking point. Tears streamed down her face, leaving wet tracks over her cheeks. She moved in front of Kingfisher and slammed her hands into his chest. “Why are you being like this?” she cried.

Kingfisher shrugged. “I'm only telling her the truth.”

“You're being an asshole!”

This elicited a scornful blast of laughter from the warrior. “You should be used to that by now, Layne. Or did you spend the last century years forgetting what a shit I am? I'm the Bane of Gillethrye, remember? The Black Knight?”

“You’re mybrother,” Everlayne hissed. “Though I sometimes wish you weren't!”

Kingfisher jerked back as if she'd struck him. Even Renfis took a step back, his jaw dropping a little, but the general regained himself quickly, glancing up and down the hallway. I got the feeling that he was checking to see if anyone might have heard Everlayne's little outburst. The long, open-aired hallway stretched off in both directions, though, completely deserted apart from our group.

“Careful, little sister,” Kingfisher rumbled. “We don't want to spillallof our secrets in one go now.”

Everlayne's sob filled the hallway. “Oh, fuckyou,Fisher.” She bolted, running back the way we'd come, as fast as her legs could carry her.

Well. It seemed that even the immortal Fae were still susceptible to family drama. I looked back over my shoulder, watching the poor female flee. “I—I should go and make sure she's okay...”

“I’ll come, too,” Renfis growled, casting Kingfisher a look of unmistakable disgust. “You can't wander the court without one of us to watch over you. And you? Everlayne's right. Youarebeing an asshole. The Kingfisher we used to know cared about his family and his friends.”

Even with the cruel smirk playing across his mouth, Kingfisher was savagely handsome. “What can I say?” he purred. “Being completely cut off from civilization and summarily forgotten about has a way of changing you after a while.”

Renfis was already walking backward. “We didn't forget about you. You have no idea what we went through to try and get you back.”

“Oh, yeah. I'm sure my sufferingpaledin comparison to yours.”

A look of hurt flickered across Ren's face, but he said nothing more to the male at my back. “Let’s go, Saeris. We'll find Layne and head back to the library.”

“Oh, come on. She's not going with you,” Kingfisher drawled. “She’s coming with me, aren't you, Oshellith? She wants to know secrets,and I’m the only one willing to give them to her.”

“Why are you calling me that? Oshellith?” I snapped. “What does it mean?”