Page 54 of Quicksilver

“I don't want you to,” I snapped.

“Tough. Layne will string me up by the balls if I let you go anywhere alone.”

“Then send Ren to walk with me.”

Kingfisher crossed the workshop and stood in front of me, his eyes alive with hunger. I hadn't seen him like this before. It was both exciting and terrifying. “If I send Ren, you'll wait for him here?”

“Yes.”

“All right, then. Have it your way. I'll go.”

“Thank you!”

My head spun as he leaned down and held his mouth close to my ear again. “Come on. Was it really that bad?”

“Yes!”

He laughed again, cold and cruel, as he placed his hand at the center of my chest again and began to tap. “Thrum, thrum, thrum, thrum, thrum, thrum, thrum. So fast. Like a hummingbird. Get the fox bite looked at, Little Osha. You don't want that arm falling off.”

Right before my eyes, Fisher dematerialized into a blur of black sand and smoke.

13

DURESS

I'd spent halfmy life running in Zilvaren. Running from Guardians. The traders I'd cheated. The people I'd pickpocketed. Not only was I fast as lightning, but I had stamina, which was a damned good thing because I had no idea how far I had to run now. All I knew was that I had to get there quickly. It wouldn't be long before Kingfisher noticed what I'd done and came looking for me.

The bag I'd packed earlier bounced against my back, approximately ten pounds heavier than it had been when I'd carried it into the forge. Originally, I'd only packed a few items of clothing and a little food. Most of the bag's weight had come from the large water reservoir I'd stuffed into it, the soft leather bladder filled to brimming. Now, there was a fox in the bag, too, and by the sounds of it, the furry little shit wasn't happy about all of the bouncing.

He yipped as I sprinted through the hallways, heading down, down, always down. Fae males and females shouted, annoyed as I barreled past them, not giving them time to recognize me for who I was. Any of them could stop me, and I wasn't getting this far, only to be snagged by someone who wanted to knowwhy Belikon's prize human wasn't in the library, learning about portals so they could win their stupid fucking war.

The fox yowled as I spun around a corner and hurled down a flight of stairs, my feet barely touching the glossy marble floor. “Shutup,” I hissed. “Did you want me to leave you back in the forge? You heard him. He wanted to turn you into ahat.”

The yowling cut off, replaced by a disgruntled (though much quieter) grumbling. The next floor down, I sprinted through reading rooms, and indoor hot houses packed with exotic plants and flowers. I bolted across some sort of games court, where eight or more long-limbed Fae females were gracefully volleying a ball back and forth to one another across a net. Training rooms, and art studios, and all manner of different workshops, and grand halls all whipped by in a blur.

If I came across a staircase, I went down it. After some serious wriggling and gnawing, the fox managed to poke his head out of the bag and started anxiously licking the back of my neck.

“It's all right. I'm not gonna let him hurt you. Shhh, it's okay.”

I should have had Rusarius and Layne take me down to the quicksilver and show me where it was. They would have wanted to wait until tomorrow, though, and I couldn't afford another day. Not when I’d already waited this long.

Six floors.

Seven floors.

Eight.

Twelve.

Fifteen.

I stopped counting after that. My thighs were screaming when I finally hit a level where there were no more windows. The rooms became smaller, the roofs lower. As far as I could ascertain, these were all signs that I'd made it to thesubterranean floors. Eventually, the only Fae I encountered were Belikon's soldiers.

Fuck. Of course there would be soldiers down here. The quicksilver might have been dormant for a thousand years, but it was one of Yvelia's most valuable assets. And I'd managed to wake the silver. Now Belikon knew that it could be done, he wasn't likely to leave the pool unguarded if there was a chance it might open again and danger could come rushing through.

Damn it. I was losing precious minutes. I could feel the quicksilver tugging at me. After sleeping for so long, it wanted to be awake. It wanted me to find it. I knew which direction I had to go in now. Straight ahead, a yawning, rough-hewn mouth opened in the stonework wall, giving way to what looked like one of Rusarius's tunnels. If I took that tunnel, I knew I'd find the pool. The only problem was three guards standing at the entrance to the tunnel, eyes trained ahead, gloved hands resting on the hilts of their swords. I only had the small dagger Kingfisher had given me and an ornery fox to defend myself with. That wasn’t really a problem. Icouldkill them, but engaging in a fight right now would only waste time I didn’t have.

“What are we going to do?” I mumbled to myself. “What are we going to do. How am I gonna get myself out of this one?”