Page 65 of Quicksilver

“No?”

“No!”

“What do you mean, no?”

“I'd like to sleep again at some point in the future. I don’t need to see any tortured souls reliving their deaths, thank you very much. I'll pass.”

Kingfisher huffed. “Suit yourself. But when you hear them scream, don't feel too bad for them, human. This place is a prison. Only those guilty of the most heinous crimes are sent to The Wicker Wood. The trees entomb the evilest kinds of monsters.”

The minutes turned into an hour, which turned into three hours. Could have been more. It was hard to gauge the passing of time, sitting on the back of this lumpy, uncomfortable animal. Aida's barrel of a ribcage was too wide, and every time I rocked forward against the front of the saddle, my hips complained bitterly. My ass, too, along with far more sensitive parts of my anatomy that felt like they were being rubbed raw andnotin a fun way.

The screams grew to a fever pitch. Aida kept close to Kingfisher's horse, her head tossing anxiously. Once or twice, she lunged for Carrion, snapping her teeth at him, unhappy that the weird unconscious creature was getting too close. It was sheer luck that I'd managed to keep her from biting Carrion’s face up until now; if we made it to our destination, wherever that was, without the black-market trader receiving any facial lacerations, then he was going to owe me big-time.

I bit my tongue for as long as I could, but eventually, the dark, the screaming shades, and the driving, endless cold took their toll. “How much longer do we have to do this?” I'd planned on calling out the words so that Kingfisher could hear me over the wind rustling through the tree boughs and the steady metal grinding of the horses nervously chewing against their bits, but my nerves got the better of me; the question came out in a cracked whisper. I was saved from having to repeat myself by Fisher's Fae hearing.

His head angled to the right an inch—the only indication that he'd heard me. But then he said, “We're nearly there. Only another half an hour. We'll arrive even sooner if we trot.”

Trot?I laughed scathingly. “Nothing you can say or do will incentivize me to smash my genitals against this saddle any harder or faster than they’re already being smashed.”

“Feeling a little sore, human?”

“Sore doesn't come close,” I grumbled.

“I'll happily kiss all of your aches and pains better for you once we strike camp. I've been told my mouth has healing properties. Especially when administered between a pair of thighs.” The suggestion in Kingfisher's voice was a promise made of dark silk. Seductive. A little thrilling, if I was being honest. I wasn't in the mood to be honest, though. I was grouchy and officially sick of flinching every time a stray twig brushed my arm. I wanted this little midnight foray to come to an end already. “I'm surprised,” I snorted.

“Why?”

“Surprised that you'd offer to spend any amount of time between my legs. Not when I was able to steal something so precious from you the last time I tricked you into letting me close.”

I could just make out the outline of Fisher's shoulders bouncing up as he chuckled. “You really think I didn't notice you take the ring?”

“I know you didn't.”

“Oh,please.I knew what you were up to the second you climbed up into my lap.”

I preferred the thick silence punctuated with death screams to the sound of Kingfisher's smugness. “Gods, you hate it, don't you? Being bested by a human. Why can't you just admit that I had you fooled?”

“It'll be a cold day in Sanasroth before you fool me.” He said this so matter-of-factly, as if it were a foregone conclusion. “I knew the second you walked into the forge that you were planning something. I admit, I was mildly interested to see what you'd come up with.”

“Wow. You'd rather keep lying and dig yourself an even bigger hole than admit the truth. That ego of yours is impressive, Fisher.”

“I'm not lying.”

“Really.”

“Really.”

“All right. Fine. Tell me, how did I give myself away, then, if I was so obviously up to no good?”

“You brought a bag with you into the forge. A bag packed with food and clothes. Otherwise known assupplies.”

“How did you know it was packed with food and clothes?”

“Because I peeked while you weren't looking.”

My mouth dropped open. “Asshole! You can't go rifling through people's bags!”

“Says the thief who stole a piece of valuable jewelry right off of my body. While rubbingherbody all over me to distract me.”