Title: Quicksilver
Series: Fae & Alchemy #1
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Published: June 4, 2024 by Forever
Kindle Page Count: 615 pages
Audio Length: 20 hrs and 41 mins (Podium Audio)
Goodreads: 4.34 / 5
My Rating: 4.5 / 5
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In the land of the unforgiving desert, there isn't much a girl wouldn't do for a glass of water.
Twenty-four-year-old Saeris Fane is good at keeping secrets. No one knows about the strange powers she possesses, or the fact that she has been picking pockets and stealing from the Undying Queen's reservoirs for as long as she can remember.
But a secret is like a knot. Sooner or later, it is bound to come undone.
When Saeris comes face-to-face with Death himself, she inadvertently re-opens a gateway between realms and is transported to a land of ice and snow. The Fae have always been the stuff of myth, of legend, of nightmares... but it turns out they're real, and Saeris has landed herself in the middle of a centuries-long conflict that might just get her killed.
The first of her kind to tread the frozen mountains of Yvelia in over a thousand years, Saeris mistakenly binds herself to Kingfisher, a handsome Fae warrior, who has secrets and nefarious agendas of his own. He will use her Alchemist's magic to protect his people, no matter what it costs him . . . or her.
Death has a name. It is Kingfisher of the Ajun Gate. His past is murky. His attitude stinks. And he's the only way Saeris is going to make it home.
Be careful of the deals you make, dear child. The devil is in the details . . .
TROPE GUIDE: Enemies to Lovers | Slow Burn | Different Worlds | Touch Her and Die | Forced Proximity
QUICK LINKS: Chapter Summary 1–3 | 4–14 | 15–21 | 22–30 | 31–40 | 41–45
TL;DR Chapter Summary
This quick chapter summary of Quicksilver by Callie Hart contains spoilers.
Chapter 1. Saeris Fane sneaks into Zilvaren’s forbidden Hub, steals a guardian’s golden gauntlet, and ignores its strange energy, determined to melt it for escape with her brother.
Chapter 2. Before confronting Carrion Swift, Saeris gives the satchel with the gauntlet to Hayden, but afterward discovers that both he and the satchel have vanished.
Chapter 3. Saeris finds Hayden cornered by guardians, admits to stealing the gauntlet, and pushes her brother away by calling him a burden to protect him.
Chapter 4. Saeris is brought before Queen Madra, who accuses her of being a Fae assassin. Madra orders her death and vows to destroy the Third Ward and everyone she loves.
Chapter 5. After being stabbed, Saeris unleashes her power to melt Harron’s weapon, which turns against him, then frees herself with an ancient sword. Death rises from a silver pool and carries her inside.
Chapter 6. Saeris wakes healed in Yvelia, learns she cannot leave after drawing an ancient sword, and prepares to meet King Belikon.
Chapter 7. King Belikon commands Saeris to reopen the portals, spares Kingfisher’s life, and orders him to help her.
Chapter 8. Saeris refuses the Fae history lesson, insists on returning home to learn her brother’s fate, and discovers the Fae are losing a war. Kingfisher offers hope that Hayden may still be alive.
Chapter 9. Kingfisher takes Saeris to a forge, reveals the Fae were once cursed as vampires, and explains the quicksilver’s danger. He admits he saved her because she’s the key to reopening the pathways.
Chapter 10. Saeris begins lessons with Everlayne and Rusarius. Later, in the forge, she confronts Kingfisher about his past, and he forces her through a painful quicksilver test.
Chapter 11. Saeris finds out that Kingfisher is Everlayne’s half‑brother. She then secretly plans her escape through the quicksilver pool beneath the Winter Palace.
Chapter 12. A fox suddenly bites Saeris, and hours later, after their experiment fails, she and Kingfisher share an intense kiss.
Chapter 13. Saeris tries to escape through the quicksilver pool using Kingfisher’s ring, but he stops her. They form a blood oath for him to bring Hayden, yet he returns with Carrion instead.
Chapter 14. Kingfisher returns with Carrion instead of Hayden but insists the blood oath is still valid. He forces Saeris to leave the palace, warning her to obey, while she refuses to abandon Onyx and Carrion.
Chapter 15. During their journey, Saeris and Kingfisher argue until they reach a tavern where a faerie bites her. When Renfis arrives, Kingfisher’s outburst exposes him as a celebrated hero, leaving Saeris stunned.
Chapter 16. Kingfisher forces Saeris through a shadow gate. After learning Hayden is safe, Saeris agrees to help forge relics if Kingfisher promises to return her and Carrion to Zilvaren.
Chapter 17. Saeris arrives at Kingfisher’s childhood estate in Cahlish. He shows her the magical forge and demands she honor their blood oath by transforming thousands of rings into relics.
Chapter 18. At a dinner arranged by Renfis, feeders attack and poison Saeris, and Kingfisher explains the Sanasrothian threat and why silver is vital in the war.
Chapter 19. Bound by the blood oath, Saeris is forced to stay in bed to recover. After failing to forge relics, she argues with Kingfisher at dinner when he returns, and he orders them back to the war camp.
Chapter 20. At the Cahlish war camp, Saeris trains with Renfis, clashes with Kingfisher, and reveals her Alchemist power by shattering Danya’s sword, just before a Sanasroth attack.
Chapter 21. Saeris and Carrion help break the river ice, while Kingfisher’s smoke drives them back. Malcolm, the vampire king, taunts Kingfisher before retreating.
Chapter 22. Kingfisher brings Saeris to his room in Cahlish, tells her not to share food with Carrion, and explains the Fae’s history with vampires. They share a passionate encounter, but he becomes distant afterward and departs for the war camp.
Chapter 23. After confronting Kingfisher about a tattoo and revealing her sterilization, Saeris resumes her unsuccessful quicksilver experiments. Later, Kingfisher arrives injured, mocks Carrion, and takes Saeris from the forge.
Chapter 24. Saeris learns that Danya’s blade was a god sword containing quicksilver, explaining why she shattered it. Later, drinking with Lorreth, she discovers the Oath Bound Fae cannot lie and that Kingfisher saved him through a soul‑binding sacrifice.
Chapter 25. Kingfisher brings Saeris to Ballard, where they share a meal with Wendy. When Saeris suddenly hears mysterious voices, he takes her to his mother’s old apartment, where he spends the night in his former room.
Chapter 26. Saeris calms Kingfisher during a quicksilver-induced episode by sharing her past in Zilvaren, including her mother’s execution. In turn, Kingfisher reveals that his mother was also killed.
Chapter 27. Saeris and Kingfisher share a passionate night, during which he bites her. He leaves tattoos he only partly explains and later conceals, and she understands his apology when she sees the bite marks on her throat.
Chapter 28. Saeris follows Carrion’s advice and asks the quicksilver to merge with silver. Through a telepathic link with Danya’s broken sword, she bargains for its cooperation by promising music, then turns to Lorreth for help with her plan.
Chapter 29. Saeris and Lorreth forge a new sword, Avisiéth, from Danya’s shards. Lorreth claims it through song and blood as light bursts from the blade, which Kingfisher calls the angel’s breath.
Chapter 30. Saeris wakes in Kingfisher’s bed and tries to free him from the quicksilver, but their bond proves unbreakable. As the horde advances, Kingfisher hands her his father’s sword, Solace.
Chapter 31. Saeris, Kingfisher, and Renfis fight vampires at the river. Lorreth turns the tide with Avisiéth, but their celebration ends when Everlayne appears across the river, surrounded by vampires.
Chapter 32. Taladaius reveals that Everlayne was bitten by Malcolm and used as bait for Kingfisher, powerless on Sanasrothian soil. The vampire demands the surrender of both Kingfisher and Saeris.
Chapter 33. After Everlayne’s capture, the group plans to search Cahlish’s library for a cure to Malcolm’s venom. Kingfisher then declares Saeris a blooded warrior through a ritual and finally speaks her name.
Chapter 34. In the forge, Saeris creates a relic by confessing a secret. Shaken by Te Léna’s explanation of the tattoos and God Bindings, she goes to seek Kingfisher.
Chapter 35. Saeris confronts Kingfisher about Fae bonds and his refusal to use her name. He admits he foresaw her arrival, calls her “Most Sacred,” but refuses to bond because of his madness. Saeris rejects his plan to send her away or end his life, vowing to save him and Everlayne.
Chapter 36. Only witch blood magic can free Everlayne, so Kingfisher brings back Iseabail from a half‑witch settlement. Saeris and Carrion insist on joining the rescue, and Kingfisher reluctantly agrees.
Chapter 37. Before rescuing Everlayne, Kingfisher brings Saeris to his Ballard apartment. They make love, and new mating marks and tattoos appear, showing his acceptance of their bond.
Chapter 38. The next day, Saeris discovers Kingfisher has left behind a farewell note confessing his love and releasing her from the blood oath. Determined to follow, she and Carrion forge a quicksilver sword and join the group through the shadow gate.
Chapter 39. Saeris, Carrion, and Lorreth fall into a lake, climb an obsidian cliff, and find Kingfisher in an amphitheater. Harron and a swarm of feeders ambush them, pulling them into a vortex.
Chapter 40. Saeris, Lorreth, and Carrion emerge from the vortex and find Kingfisher tortured by Malcolm, Belikon, and Madra. The Triumvirate reveals they’re siblings, expose Belikon’s betrayal and the oath that kept Kingfisher silent about Gillethrye, and demand that Kingfisher confess to the deal he made.
Chapter 41. Kingfisher recounts the fall of Gillethrye, describing Belikon and Madra’s pact with Malcolm, his decision to burn the city to stop the horde, and his 110 years of imprisonment. He then seizes Solace from Saeris and strikes Belikon.
Chapter 42. Kingfisher leads the group into the labyrinth, where they kill Morthil and confront the Triumvirate. With Malcolm weakened by Carrion’s blood, Kingfisher urges Saeris to find the true coin. She retrieves it from Morthil’s corpse after declaring Kingfisher her mate, but Malcolm seizes her wrist and demands the coin.
Chapter 43. Saeris kills Malcolm with Solace and frees the trapped Fae souls. Dying from her wounds, she rejects Kingfisher’s soul sacrifice, and Taladaius proposes turning her into a vampire with Kingfisher’s consent.
Chapter 44. As the amphitheater collapses, Saeris is pulled into the quicksilver pool, where Zareth reveals her and Kingfisher’s destructive destiny. He offers her the choice to sever her universal thread to save him and prevent ruin, and she accepts.
Chapter 45. Saeris awakens as half‑Fae, half‑vampire, regains her memories with Taladaius’s help, and learns of Carrion’s hidden royal heritage. When Kingfisher arrives, he reveals the vampire court has chosen Saeris as queen of Sanasroth.
Chapter-by-Chapter Summary
This chapter-by-chapter summary of Quicksilver by Callie Hart contains spoilers.
Chapter 1: The Climb
Saeris Fane sneaks into the forbidden Hub of Zilvaren City, where a royal guardian confronts her. She remembers how guardians killed her mother and neighbor, so she knows the risk.
When the guardian demands Saeris’s identity and origin, she gives a false name but truthfully says she’s from the feared Third Ward. Terrified of the ward’s plague, he attacks but recoils when she fakes symptoms. In disgust, the guardian throws his golden gauntlet, which Saeris seizes.
Clutching the gauntlet, Saeris scales the massive wall dividing the wards. She struggles but refuses to drop it, knowing all that gold could secure a future for herself and her brother, Hayden.
At the top of the wall, Saeris feels the gauntlet stir with strange energy. She suppresses it, determined to melt the object down and use it as her ticket out of Zilvaren.
Chapter 2: Glassmaker
Saeris brings the stolen gauntlet to Elroy’s workshop, but he refuses to melt it. Furious, he warns that stealing from the queen’s guard is a death sentence, and their argument grows heated as Saeris insists she’s doing this for Hayden.
Elroy brings up the execution of Saeris’s mother and fears that Saeris’s secret ability to manipulate metal will be exposed. Saeris dismisses his warning and leaves, determined to follow her plan.
Outside The House of Kala, Saeris finds Hayden beaten after losing their money in a card game. Before confronting Carrion Swift, the smuggler responsible, she gives Hayden the satchel with the gauntlet and tells him to wait outside.
Carrion flirts with Saeris, insists Hayden attacked first, and reveals that he knows about the stolen gauntlet. He warns that the Third Ward will suffer if the guardians find out and urges her to hide the weapon in his warehouse. She agrees, but when she steps outside, Hayden and the satchel are gone.
Chapter 3: The Kindest Purpose
Saeris panics when Hayden disappears with the gauntlet, then races through the ward toward The Mirage. There, she finds her brother surrounded by thirty guardians.
Hoping to protect his sister, Hayden claims the theft, but Saeris steps forward and confesses instead.
When the captain orders Saeris restrained, she kills two guardians and maims a third. Condemned to death, she drives Hayden away by calling him a burden to save him.