QUICK LINKS: Brimstone Recap by Chapter P–13 | 26–38 | 39–47 | 48–52 // Fae & Alchemy Book 1 Summary
Brimstone Chapters 14–25 Summary
This chapter-by-chapter summary of Brimstone by Callie Hart contains spoilers.
Brimstone Chapter 14: Blood in the Milk
Saeris struggles with her new role as the death toll climbs. Over 1,300 people have died, and the rot claims more land by the day. Taladaius leads Saeris to the palace library, where she meets Algat, the Keeper of Records. Kingfisher had warned her to be careful around Algat, but Algat is the only one who can help. Her alchemy books survived because King Belikon never set foot in the palace.
Algat agrees to hand over a book in exchange for five drops of Saeris’s blood. Saeris realizes Algat can read her thoughts and uses her authority as queen to forbid it. Taladaius leaves them alone.
While Saeris waits, an unknown vampire attacks from the shadows. She drives a silver‑tipped dagger into his ribs. Saeris’s runes then flare out of control and blast a twenty‑foot hole through the side of the palace.
Brimstone Chapter 15: Vorath
Kingfisher and Carrion corner Vorath Shah in his shop and demand to know where the stolen silver is hidden. Shah refuses to tell Carrion where Eric took it, but he offers to guide them there. He warns that the area bristles with traps only he can bypass. Distrusting him, Kingfisher nevertheless agrees to go along.
Shah leads them through a hidden door in a ward wall and into a dark bell tower. On the way up the spiral stairs, Kingfisher finds a Fae skeleton, and his gut tells him something is wrong.
At the top, Kingfisher tries to call it off, but Shah moves too fast. Shah grabs Carrion and shoves him through an archway. Carrion hits the floor and finds his hands stuck to it, as if glued. Kingfisher spots ancient Alchimeran runes all over the room. It’s a demon trap, and the creature inside has learned to use the magic like a spider’s web. Shah has been the demon’s servant all along.
Shah names the demon as Joshin, the Lord of the Desert. A terrifying roar fills the air, and Kingfisher summons a silver sword. Carrion asks about the rushing sound. Kingfisher tells him it’s a million scorpions.
Brimstone Chapter 16: The Blood
Using Kingfisher’s silver belt, Saeris ties her attacker to a chair. Magic discharge chars and blisters her hands. She yanks the gag from his mouth, and the vampire demands to know what she did to Kingfisher. Recognizing the dagger, he assumes she killed Kingfisher to take it.
The accusation makes Saeris set the vampire straight. She tells him she’s Kingfisher’s mate, pulling off her gloves to reveal the Alchemist runes etched across her arms as proof. The vampire is stunned.
Saeris wonders how he managed to attack her despite her royal decree. Lorreth arrives and solves the mystery. The vampire never pledged loyalty to the Blood Court, so the decree has no power over him. Lorreth then greets him as Foley and calls him his brother.
Brimstone Chapter 17: The Dark Door
Kingfisher and Carrion are buried under a swarm of scorpions. Carrion is trapped in the demon’s snare while Kingfisher searches for a way out. Kingfisher uses his own blood to paint a rune on the tower wall and shatters the magical shield. Sunlight floods the room, and Joshin begins to melt. In the chaos, Carrion kills Vorath.
Before the demon is fully defeated, Kingfisher is stung again. He warns Carrion that the poison will cause a lifetime of horrific nightmares without a cure. Kingfisher forces Joshin into a deal, offering to spare the demon’s life in exchange for its venom and a powerful secret. To keep his end technically intact, Kingfisher traps a single scorpion in a box.
Joshin reveals that Kingfisher must travel to the world’s darkest corner and strike a deal with a powerful beast to kill a queen. Kingfisher then burns the demon and its scorpion horde to ash.
Brimstone Chapter 18: Brother
Lorreth identifies the stranger as Foley, a former member of the Lupo Proelia who once trained with Kingfisher. After Algat hands over the book she promised and leaves, Foley stays aggressive until Lorreth convinces him that Saeris is Kingfisher’s mate, pointing out that she carries his scent and that Kingfisher gave her the dagger willingly.
Foley then explains that he didn’t choose to become a vampire and hates what he is. He moved to this desolate city to stay away from people he might harm. Since he never joined the Blood Court, Saeris’s magical laws don’t apply to him.
Saeris opens the book and finds it’s a detailed guide to Alchemy. Foley notices, and she admits she’s an Alchemist with unsealed runes and uncontrolled power. He agrees to help her seal them but sets a condition. She needs to sleep first, and he wants time to go through his own records. Saeris agrees and promises to return the following evening.
Brimstone Chapter 19: I’ll Live
Kingfisher and Carrion return to the shop and prepare the antivenom. Both are barely conscious and plagued by visions of people from their pasts. Kingfisher combines salt and his own blood with the scorpion’s venom and uses his magic to finish the cure. They drink it and spend an agonizing hour in pain.
They head to Carrion’s apartment to recover. Over whiskey, Carrion mentions that Saeris made the glasses they’re holding. Kingfisher asks if he’s in love with her. Carrion says he loves her but isn’t in love with her. His heart is still too full of old grief. Kingfisher accepts this. Carrion asks if Kingfisher can teach him to block out pain. Kingfisher refuses, saying the only way to build that endurance is to suffer through it yourself.
Brimstone Chapter 20: Huntsman
Saeris falls asleep and finds herself in a dream world she shares with Kingfisher. They meet at a small cottage near Cahlish, with Onyx there too. Saeris and Kingfisher spend the night catching up on everything that happened while they were apart.
The conversation turns to Foley. Kingfisher is shaken to learn he’s alive and living at Ammontraíeth. He explains that Foley’s gold‑plated teeth mean he was cast out as a shunned vampire. Malcolm tore out his original fangs because Foley refused to pledge loyalty to the king. Kingfisher believes Taladaius kept him alive so Malcolm could use Foley as leverage against him.
Saeris asks why Renfis hates Taladaius. Kingfisher explains that Taladaius was once engaged to Everlayne but abandoned her just before the wedding. He didn’t leave because he supported Malcolm. He left because he was in love with another woman named Zovena.
Brimstone Chapter 21: Daianthus
Kingfisher wakes to find his broken hand fully healed. Carrion, covered in itchy welts, asks why Kingfisher has already recovered. Kingfisher figures Saeris healed him in their sleep. Carrion gives him a change of clothes, and they prepare to head aboveground.
In the bedroom, Kingfisher notices drawings of Amelia and Rurik Daianthus on the walls. He realizes Carrion was the child who was smuggled away the night Rurik died. Carrion catches him looking and expects to be mocked for being fixated on a homeland he never knew. Kingfisher tells him he sees someone who misses a family and a home he never got to have. He hands Carrion a sketch of the Winter Palace and tells him to take it back where it belongs.
Brimstone Chapter 22: Stargazer
Saeris wakes up and finds bite marks on her leg, proof that her experience with Kingfisher in the dream was real. When she runs into Lorreth, he notices Kingfisher’s scent on her.
As Saeris and Lorreth train together, she realizes she’s much faster and stronger than before. Afterward, Saeris mentions that her sword feels too large. Lorreth tells her Solace belongs to her now, and she can do whatever she wants with it.
Later in the library, Foley examines the burn marks on Saeris’s hands. He explains they’re part of an Alchimeran shield and that the quicksilver rune is the most painful because it constantly searches for more energy. Foley argues she’s only learned to bully her magic rather than master it and insists she spend two hours on basic exercises. Saeris agrees, though annoyed.
On her way out, a paper bird called a stargazer follows Saeris to the library exit. The moment it crosses the threshold, it loses its magic and falls dead. Saeris brings it back inside, but it remains still. She pockets the bird and heads to the forge.
Brimstone Chapter 23: Your Mistake
Kingfisher and Carrion track down Hayden Fane. Hayden attacks them at first, convinced by palace propaganda that Kingfisher murdered his sister. Once they convince him that Saeris is alive, Hayden breaks the news that Gracia has died. They travel into the desert for her funeral pyre. Carrion burns his only book on Fae history as a final tribute.
Back in the city, Kingfisher and Carrion find wanted posters offering a year of water for their capture. Guardians ambush them at Carrion’s apartment, and they flee to a public square, where palace guards are taking young girls away for a monthly cleansing. The sight sends Kingfisher into a rage. He sends Carrion and Hayden to safety and kills dozens of guardians alone. As a larger army closes in, Kingfisher taps into a massive well of energy and plunges the entire city of Zilvaren into darkness.
Brimstone Chapter 24: Tria Prima
Saeris strikes a bargain with the sentient quicksilver to create a relic, trading a memory to complete the process. Afterward, she can no longer identify what part of her past she gave up.
The Hazrax suddenly enters uninvited and warns Saeris that bartering blood and memories for every relic will eventually fail. It also warns that Kingfisher needs to be careful around strangers. Through their talk, Saeris understands she must learn to seal the quicksilver rune to progress.
Then the Hazrax explains that it wants the same arrangement it had with the previous king, offering one favor each year to stay and watch the court. Saeris agrees but insists the contract renew every year rather than bind her permanently. The Hazrax accepts and leaves.
When Saeris picks up the finished relic, her mental barriers fail, and her magic surges out with terrifying force. She fears it will kill her or destroy the palace, so she flees.
Brimstone Chapter 25: Foundations
Kingfisher, Carrion, and Hayden take cover in a forge belonging to a man named Elroy. The moment they arrive, Elroy hits Kingfisher with a fire iron and demands that he leave. Carrion stops the fight by shouting about everything they’ve been through and mentioning Gracia Swift’s death. Elroy calms down. Kingfisher explains his promise to Saeris to bring Hayden back to Yvelia. Elroy leaves the choice to Hayden, and the boy confirms he wants to leave.
Carrion spends hours explaining the Fae world to Elroy and Hayden. Hayden is shocked, but Elroy stays calm. He’s known about the Fae and Carrion’s true identity his entire life. His family has carried a secret duty for generations. The Swift family protected Carrion while Elroy’s family kept magic users hidden.
Elroy uses his own blood to open a hidden door in the forge wall and leads them down more than twelve hundred steps into a massive underground cavern filled with old armor and treasure. At the center sits a giant recessed pool filled with quicksilver.