QUICK LINKS: Quicksilver Recap by Chapter 1–11 | 12–19 | 20–26 | 27–35 | 42–45 // Fae & Alchemy Book 2 Summary
Quicksilver Chapters 36–41 Summary
This chapter-by-chapter summary of Quicksilver by Callie Hart contains spoilers.
Quicksilver Chapter 36: Iseabail
After Carrion’s snoring drives Saeris to the couch, she wakes at sunrise to find Kingfisher watching the mountains. Saeris tries to leave the room quietly, but Kingfisher catches her hand and leans his head against her arm. She stays to comfort him until he gives a sign that he’s okay. Later, the group gathers in the library to discuss how to save Everlayne. They decide they need a witch to break the spell, but witches haven’t been seen in the area for a hundred years. Kingfisher discovers a lead on some half‑witches at Faulton’s Gap, and he prepares to leave immediately with Renfis and Danya.
Saeris watches as Te Léna pulls Kingfisher aside to make him promise something. Saeris can tell the quicksilver is affecting Kingfisher more severely than before.
Renfis returns a few hours later, furious and covered in mud. He reports that Danya’s hostility nearly ruins their chances, so Kingfisher sends Danya back to the war camp.
Kingfisher eventually arrives with a woman named Iseabail, the granddaughter of a High Witch, and Iseabail makes it clear she isn’t intimidated by the group.
When Kingfisher tells Saeris and Carrion they have to stay behind, Saeris flatly refuses. Kingfisher warns Saeris about the extreme danger of facing Malcolm and his Lords, but she doesn’t move. Carrion also insists on coming along. Kingfisher looks at Saeris and Carrion and eventually relents.
Quicksilver Chapter 37: Much Sharper
Saeris is preparing for another night on the couch when Kingfisher approaches. He asks for a single night of peace that has nothing to do with the war or the upcoming rescue mission. Kingfisher then opens a shadow gate, and they travel together to his apartment in Ballard.
While Saeris and Kingfisher are together, the mating marks on Saeris become visible again, and a set of new tattoos appears on Kingfisher’s skin. Kingfisher explains that these new markings appear because he has officially accepted their mating bond. He makes it clear that Saeris still has a month to decide if she wants to claim the bond as well, and he promises not to pressure her for an answer.
Kingfisher finally tells Saeris that he loves her, but he asks Saeris not to say anything in response, and she remains silent as they eventually fall asleep.
Quicksilver Chapter 38: Martyrs for Friends
Saeris wakes to find herself alone. Kingfisher has already departed, leaving a shadow gate in the room along with a letter. In the note, Kingfisher explains that he’s going to Gillethrye to face Malcolm by himself so that Everlayne can be sent home safely. He officially ends Saeris’s blood oath and asks Saeris to help his people find a way to escape before she returns to her own world. Kingfisher even leaves his sword behind to ensure the enemy cannot seize its magic.
Back in Cahlish, Saeris finds Carrion in Kingfisher’s bedroom. Carrion is reading a book of prophecies that belonged to Kingfisher’s mother, and he points out an illustration of a woman who looks exactly like Saeris.
With the farewell letter in hand, Saeris goes to Renfis and Lorreth, and they’re both devastated by the sacrifice. The group realizes that the shadow gate will stay open for a few seconds after Everlayne arrives. They hatch a plan to jump through it and rescue Kingfisher.
Carrion decides he needs a weapon for the fight, so Carrion and Saeris go to the forge. They attempt to work with quicksilver, but the metal refuses to cooperate until Carrion tells a crude joke. The metal finally yields, and Carrion decides to name the new sword Simon.
A shadow gate eventually opens high in the library ceiling, and Everlayne falls through, smashing the table below. Carrion leaps into the portal first, and Saeris follows right after. Everlayne tries to shout a warning about the water, but Saeris is already through the gate. She finds herself falling into a dark void on the other side.
Quicksilver Chapter 39: Annorath Mor!
Saeris plunges into the freezing water and nearly drowns. Lorreth manages to pull her to the shore, then swims back for Carrion, who’s limp and doesn’t seem to be breathing. Saeris hovers over Carrion and makes a joke about his reputation in bed to wake him up. The threat works, and Carrion eventually coughs up the lake water.
Afterward, the three realize that Renfis hasn’t made it through the portal. Lorreth gives Saeris and Carrion some Widow’s Bane leaves to help with the pain from their injuries. Lorreth warns them not to swallow the plant because it’s highly addictive and dangerous.
The group faces a massive obsidian cliff and begins the difficult climb to the top. As they reach the summit, they notice ash falling from the sky like snow. From the peak, they look out and see a gigantic amphitheater holding hundreds of thousands of people. The crowd chants a phrase that translates to “release us.” Kingfisher stands far below at the center of the structure.
Before the group can act, Harron appears behind them. His eyes are made of quicksilver, and he holds a dagger to Lorreth’s throat. Harron is accompanied by a large group of newly turned monsters. He forces the three of them toward a twisted vortex in the air. Saeris hears Kingfisher’s voice in her head, begging her to stay away, but she’s already being pulled into the portal.
Quicksilver Chapter 40: Introductions
Saeris, Lorreth, and Carrion emerge from the vortex only to find Kingfisher covered in blood and barely able to stay upright at the foot of the dais. Three powerful figures sit above him as the vampire king Malcolm joins Belikon and Madra. Saeris is stunned to see the King of Yvelia and the Queen of Zilvaren sitting alongside their supposed enemy.
Belikon admits that he’s always known Madra was responsible for closing the realm gates. Despite this knowledge, Belikon chooses to blame Kingfisher’s father and uses the lie to shame the House of Cahlish for centuries. He even confesses that he’s been intentionally feeding his own soldiers to Malcolm’s army rather than truly fighting a war.
After his admission, Belikon mocks Kingfisher and kicks him while he’s down. He speaks about the fall of Gillethrye and the oath that has kept Kingfisher from telling his side of the story for hundreds of years.
Malcolm gestures to the crowd in the amphitheater and reveals that the audience consists of the very Fae Kingfisher supposedly slaughtered. These victims are burned and dead, but they remain magically animated and trapped in their suffering. Belikon eventually decides to release Kingfisher from his oath and commands Kingfisher to stand before the crowd and confess exactly what kind of deal he made with the three regents in the past.
Quicksilver Chapter 41: Gillethrye
Kingfisher forces himself to his feet and finally shares the truth about what happened in the past. He arrived at Gillethrye with his small group of warriors only to find Malcolm’s army already inside the city walls. When Kingfisher confronted the vampire king, he discovered the horrifying truth that Belikon and Madra were actually Malcolm’s allies.
Belikon proposed a deal based on a coin toss to decide if the city would be spared or destroyed. However, the game was a trap because Malcolm caught the coin before it ever touched the ground. By that point, the citizens of Gillethrye were already dying or transforming into vampires. To prevent the infection from spreading across the realm, Kingfisher chose to barricade the city and burn it to the ground.
As a twisted form of punishment, Malcolm built a lethal labyrinth around the coin and trapped Kingfisher inside for over a century. He even filled the colosseum stands with the undead, smoldering remains of the Fae Kingfisher had been forced to kill. Kingfisher remained a prisoner until Saeris woke the quicksilver pool in Zilvaren, which opened a path for him to escape.
In the present moment, Kingfisher uses the rulers’ arrogance as a distraction. He suddenly moves with a speed that defies his injuries and snatches Solace from Saeris’s hip. Kingfisher drives the blade into Belikon to avenge his parents and the fallen city. Madra lets out a piercing scream as the entire scene descends into total violence.