The Book in Brief
After killing Malcolm, Saeris prepares to claim the Blood Court. The Lords of Midnight demand proof that she has fed, so she drinks from Fisher and awakens her vampire senses. An assassination attempt fails, and Saeris issues decrees forbidding enthralled armies and protecting her allies. Meanwhile, strange human creatures called feeders attack Yvelia, absorb magic, and spread a black rot that destroys people and land.
The feeders bear Zilvaren sterilization marks, proving Madra is sending victims between worlds. Fisher and Carrion travel to Zilvaren to find silver and bring Hayden home. Saeris remains in Yvelia, where the spirit of Fisher's mother, Edina, guides her toward a hidden Alchemy book. She meets Foley, a former Fae warrior turned vampire, who begins teaching her to seal and control her runes.
In Zilvaren, Fisher and Carrion survive a demon trap, find Hayden, and mourn Carrion's protector Gracia. They discover that Elroy's family has hidden an enormous quicksilver pool beneath his forge. Fisher delays leaving because he wants to understand Madra's scheme, but the gate opens when Saeris's magic surges, and he returns with Carrion and Hayden.
Saeris proves herself to the sentient quicksilver and unlocks her full Alchemist power, although it warns that the magic may eventually kill her. Belikon's seneschal Orious attacks with null blades, and Saeris learns that Fisher and his friends remain magically bound to the king. The rot advances as Saeris studies Edina's transforming book and receives runes for brimstone and magical breaking.
At the Evenlight Ball, Taladaius helps Saeris sever their maker bond. Foley becomes a Lord of Midnight. Taladaius then poisons the court, offering the high bloods a choice between death and a cure that restores their original Fae state. Most choose death. Saeris saves Taladaius when the magic used in the purge nearly opens a demon portal.
The rot reaches Cahlish. Because brimstone is the life essence of fire sprites, using enough to stop the plague would kill them all. Fisher refuses that sacrifice and evacuates the household toward Inishtar. The destination is already under attack. Saeris realizes Zilvaren was constructed as a giant magical sigil through which Madra drains power and sends feeders without quicksilver pools.
Fisher disappears after entering the shadow gate. Saeris learns he intended to trade with a dangerous being for a cure. Using their shared dream realm and the Hazrax's favor, she finds him imprisoned by Belikon inside a cursed tree in the Wicker Wood. Saeris invokes Fisher's true name---Khydan Graystar Finvarra---and uses her breaking rune to free him from his oaths. They wound and behead Belikon, though he remains alive, and escape after Onyx is killed protecting Saeris.
Saeris sacrifices the breaking rune to restore Onyx. At Ajun Sky, Renfis reveals the second gate opens into Diaxis, a hellish realm containing the brimstone they need. Saeris and Khydan cross, confront a dragon and two powerful brothers, and demand an audience with Styx. Khydan ends the book by declaring that Styx is his father.
Important Characters
Saeris Fane: The new Queen of the Blood Court, Fisher's mate, and an Alchemist whose expanding runes give her power over quicksilver, fire, healing, brimstone, shields, and magical structures.
Kingfisher / Khydan Graystar Finvarra: Saeris's mate and the warrior of the Ajun Gate. The recovery of his true name frees him from Belikon's oaths and reveals a possible divine heritage.
Carrion Swift: Saeris's friend and Yvelia's hidden Daianthus heir. He returns to Zilvaren with Fisher and begins studying how to become a king.
Taladaius: Saeris's vampire maker and former lover of Everlayne. He becomes her adviser, orchestrates the violent purge of the Blood Court, and receives the god sword Tarsarinn.
Foley Briarstone: A former member of Fisher's Lupo Proelia turned into a vampire. He teaches Saeris Alchemy and becomes a protected Lord of Midnight.
Hayden Fane: Saeris's younger brother. Madra's propaganda has damaged his trust in Saeris, but he leaves Zilvaren and begins rebuilding their relationship.
Lorreth: Fisher's soul-bound friend and bearer of Avisiéth. He trains Saeris and helps coordinate the defense and evacuation of Cahlish.
Renfis: A Fae general bound by oath to Belikon. His disappearance leads to Ajun Sky, where he serves as a Knight of Orrithian.
Everlayne: Fisher's half-sister, still unconscious after Malcolm's abuse and enthrallment. Edina's spirit speaks through her early in the novel.
Edina: Fisher's dead mother and an oracle. Her spirit leaves Saeris a magical book and guides her toward the powers needed to survive.
King Belikon: Yvelia's treacherous ruler. He uses null blades, true-name magic, and oaths to control Fisher and the other Fae.
Queen Madra: Zilvaren's ruler and the architect of the feeder invasion. She has turned the city itself into a magical device for crossing worlds.
Iseabail: A witch who helps Taladaius purge the Blood Court and later attempts to locate Renfis and Fisher.
Danya: A formidable Fae warrior who challenges Saeris but remains fiercely loyal to Fisher.
Archer: A fire sprite whose brimstone blood reveals a possible cure for the rot.
The Hazrax: A dangerous supernatural being that trades one favor per year for residence at Saeris's court and grants her a rune capable of breaking magic.
Onyx: Saeris's fox companion. His death and resurrection demonstrate a new form of power inside Saeris.
Styx: The god who rules Diaxis and, according to Khydan, is his father.
> Spoiler Warning and Content Note: The summaries below reveal the > complete sequel. Brimstone contains explicit sexual content, graphic > violence, blood drinking, gore, torture, coercion, mass death, suicide > ideation, animal death, and threats of genocide.
Chapters 1–13
Prologue. Fisher kills a vampire infiltrator who warns that Saeris and the court are doomed. Feeders then chase the injured Onyx toward the palace. Fisher saves the fox by spending the last of his finite healing magic, permanently losing that ability because Saeris trusted him with the animal she loves.
Chapter 1: Hell's Teeth. Saeris prepares to claim the Blood Court despite Fisher's desire to destroy it. At the Hall of Tears, the Lords of Midnight challenge the hybrid who killed Malcolm. Saeris answers their contempt by declaring herself queen and insisting that taking the crown is the only way to end the cycle of violence.
Chapter 2: Hall of Tears. The Lords demand that Saeris feed before accepting her rule. She refuses a captive human and drinks from Fisher instead. His magical ink passes into her as her vampire senses awaken. The court's enthusiasm turns the intimate act into public proof of sovereignty.
Chapter 3: Dose. Ereth attempts to assassinate Saeris with a silver needle, but Fisher kills him and Taladaius stops the guards with forbidden blood magic. Saeris establishes laws protecting her allies and ending enthralled armies. Fisher's commanders then identify Foley, an old friend with Alchemy knowledge, as a possible teacher.
Chapter 4: 114. Feeders attack the River Darn and absorb every form of magic used against them. Fire eventually destroys the creatures, but 114 warriors die and the survivors suffer terrible burns. Even decapitated, the feeders continue moving and rot the tree used to restrain them.
Chapter 5: Deadstock. Carrion notices that the feeders have human ears and the sterilization scars used in Zilvaren. Fisher concludes that Madra is transforming and sending humans through the realms. Taladaius admits that the Blood Court palace contains a quicksilver pool.
Chapter 6: Titles. Saeris and Fisher return to Cahlish for a welcoming dinner. Fisher publicly names Saeris the Lady of Cahlish. When Carrion asks about marriage, both mates claim their magical bond is enough, although Fisher's fleeting disappointment suggests he wants a ceremony.
Chapter 7: Home. Fisher explains that Fae marriage requires an exchange of secret birth names, but his parents died before telling him his. Saeris says the absence of a name changes nothing and tells him she loves him. Their explicit reunion reflects the greater strength and intimacy created by her transformation.
Chapter 8: Make Your Peace. At Irrín, Fisher and Saeris discover the war camp erased by the rot. Thousands have vanished, and black roots spread from the tree that held the feeders. Fisher argues that Taladaius's past service to Malcolm may have involved coercion, while Renfis struggles to forgive him.
Chapter 9: Hidden. Saeris touches one of Everlayne's earrings, allowing Edina's spirit to speak through her. Fisher's mother directs Saeris to a blue butterfly book hidden in the library and asks that the secret be kept from Fisher. Fisher enters in time to hear his mother's name.
Chapter 10: Rot. With the infection spreading, the group divides its tasks. Fisher and Carrion will return to Zilvaren for silver, Hayden, and answers. Saeris will find the Ammontraíeth forge and train her new power. Fisher hates leaving her, but they accept that both realms require action.
Chapter 11: Fool's Paradise. While Fisher travels, Lorreth trains and secretly guards Saeris. He takes her to Taladaius's tavern, where an old debt starts a fight with vampires. Taladaius ends the violence and asks to speak privately with the queen he helped create.
Chapter 12: Tal. Taladaius warns that the high bloods may challenge Saeris. He identifies the pain in her runes as unsealed Alchemy and suspects Edina's spirit remains nearby. They agree to sever their maker bond publicly while retaining Taladaius as Saeris's representative and friend.
Chapter 13: Silver City. Fisher and Carrion enter Zilvaren under attack and escape through a bread cart. Carrion leads Fisher toward the Brigand's Bank, but the second key is missing. Their search for the vault breaker Vorath Shah turns into a chase when Shah recognizes and fears Fisher.
Chapters 14–26
Chapter 14: Blood in the Milk. As deaths pass thirteen hundred, Algat trades an Alchemy book for Saeris's blood. An unbound vampire attacks her in the library. Saeris defends herself, but uncontrolled runes explode and tear a huge hole through the palace wall.
Chapter 15: Vorath. Vorath leads Fisher and Carrion into a trapped bell tower, claiming he can reach the stolen silver. Ancient runes pin Carrion to the floor. Vorath reveals that he serves Joshin, a desert demon whose magical snare contains a swarm of scorpions.
Chapter 16: The Blood. Saeris restrains her attacker and proves she is Fisher's mate by revealing her runes. Lorreth recognizes the vampire as Foley, his former brother-in-arms. Because Foley never swore loyalty to the Blood Court, Saeris's royal protections did not bind him.
Chapter 17: The Dark Door. Fisher breaks Joshin's shield with a blood rune while Carrion kills Vorath. Stung by a scorpion whose poison causes endless nightmares, Fisher bargains for the venom needed to make a cure and for a secret. Joshin says killing a queen requires a bargain with a beast in the darkest corner of the world.
Chapter 18: Brother. Foley explains that Malcolm transformed and shunned him after he refused loyalty. Living in isolation has kept him from harming the Fae. When he sees Saeris's unsealed runes and Alchemy text, he agrees to teach her after she rests and gives him time to consult his records.
Chapter 19: I'll Live. Fisher and Carrion survive the antivenom's agony and recover in Carrion's apartment. Carrion admits he loves Saeris as family, not as a romantic partner, because grief still occupies that part of him. Fisher accepts the answer and refuses Carrion's request for an easy way to endure pain.
Chapter 20: Huntsman. Saeris meets Fisher in their shared dream cottage. She tells him Foley is alive. Fisher explains that Malcolm tore out Foley's fangs and used him as leverage, while Taladaius abandoned Everlayne because he loved Zovena rather than because he supported the vampire king.
Chapter 21: Daianthus. Saeris's dream healing repairs Fisher's broken hand. In Carrion's room, Fisher recognizes portraits of the Daianthus rulers and confirms Carrion's identity as the child smuggled away after Rurik's death. Instead of mocking his longing, Fisher gives him an image of the Winter Palace to carry home.
Chapter 22: Stargazer. Foley begins Saeris's basic Alchemy training and identifies her burns as part of an unfinished shield. A paper bird follows her from the library but dies when it crosses the threshold. Saeris pockets the lifeless stargazer while continuing to investigate her magic.
Chapter 23: Your Mistake. Fisher and Carrion find Hayden and tell him Saeris lives. They mourn Gracia, then encounter guardians taking girls for Madra's cleansing. Fisher sends the others away, kills the soldiers, and draws on immense power to plunge Zilvaren into darkness.
Chapter 24: Tria Prima. Saeris trades an unidentified memory to quicksilver for a relic. The Hazrax warns that repeated sacrifices will fail and says she must seal the quicksilver rune. It negotiates an annually renewed court position, then leaves as Saeris's uncontrolled power threatens to destroy the palace.
Chapter 25: Foundations. Fisher, Carrion, and Hayden hide at Elroy's forge. Elroy reveals that his family has protected magic users while the Swifts guarded Carrion. A blood-opened door leads them down twelve hundred steps to a hidden cavern containing armor, treasure, and an enormous quicksilver pool.
Chapter 26: In the End. Saeris dives into the palace pool to contain her magical surge. The quicksilver calls her a pretender and asks whether she would sacrifice Fisher for power. Her refusal proves she has something precious to lose. The metal unlocks her magic but warns that it will eventually kill her.
Chapters 27–39
Chapter 27: What's Done Is Done. Elroy explains that scavenged quicksilver merged into the hidden pool after Saeris left and that he destroyed Fae records to protect her. Fisher wants to remain and kill Madra, but Saeris's gate opens unexpectedly. Believing she is in danger, he enters with Carrion and Hayden.
Chapter 28: Seneschal. Orious and Belikon's guards emerge from the pool with demands for Saeris, Everlayne, and Fisher. Their null blades suppress metal magic, but Saeris activates a shield rune and wins. She sends Orious back as a warning, seals the pool, and receives the unconscious Hayden from Carrion.
Chapter 29: Fortunes of the Universe. While Hayden recovers, Saeris and Fisher discuss the oaths binding their friends to Belikon. Fisher names Saeris's paired swords Erromar, "mercy," and Selanir, "honor." After their reunion, new pieces of Saeris's mating ink appear on Fisher.
Chapter 30: Leash. Everlayne suffers a seizure and warns that an open gate cannot be closed. Fisher evacuates border forces and sends Lorreth to find Iseabail. At Ammontraíeth, Saeris confronts Zovena for withholding Foley's letters before discovering Taladaius naked and covered in blood.
Chapter 31: Vapor and Smoke. Fisher follows a shadow cat to Foley's hidden rooftop home and convinces him that centuries without attacking local Fae prove he is still honorable. Fisher entrusts him with the trapped remnant of Joshin, whose bargain must eventually be fulfilled.
Chapter 32: The Thing About Leaning. Taladaius shows Saeris a captured null blade and orders her to attend the Evenlight Ball. In the library, hundreds of stargazers test Saeris's blood and transform into Edina's hidden book. Saeris ignores the instruction to keep it from Fisher and lets him read his mother's message.
Chapter 33: No Regrets. Edina explains that Saeris's voluntary honesty strengthens her bond with Fisher. The oracle says remaining as a spirit was purposeful, expresses pride in her son, and directs him to return the changing book to Saeris.
Chapter 34: Very Wrong Indeed. At Cahlish, Saeris and Carrion study the null blade. An infected feeder attacks Archer and absorbs the weapon, but Archer's magma-like blood kills it. The creature bites him badly, and the wounded fire sprite is carried into the forge.
Chapter 35: Brimstone. Iseabail and Lorreth identify Archer's life essence as brimstone, which destroys the rot but does not regenerate. Saving Yvelia with it would kill every fire sprite. Fisher refuses that price. Later, he tells Saeris stories of his father and gives her a safe dream sunrise.
Chapter 36: Would That I Could. Hayden wakes suspicious because Madra's propaganda says Saeris died serving the crown. Their argument exposes years of secrecy and sacrifice before he notices a new brimstone rune on her hand. Edina's book says accepting the rune will permanently change Saeris, while Renfis vanishes during a mission.
Chapter 37: Three Minutes. Saeris and Fisher prepare for the Evenlight Ball while Iseabail searches for Renfis. Fisher gives Saeris a rose tattoo during a private moment. The next entry in Edina's book settles Saeris's decision, and she leaves for the court with new purpose.
Chapter 38: Scion of No One. Taladaius publicly severs the maker bond, leaving Saeris violently ill but politically independent. The candidates for Lord of Midnight include stolen Fae warriors and advocates of slavery. Saeris humiliates Zovena for obstruction and then presents Foley as the final candidate.
Chapter 39: Keeper of Secrets. Saeris protects Foley from the court and defeats Algat's mental attack. Foley becomes a Lord of Midnight. Taladaius then reveals he poisoned the high bloods, offering death or restoration to their Fae forms, and drinks the poison himself so Saeris will not bear responsibility.
Chapters 40–53
Chapter 40: Judgment. Saeris and Foley force the antidote on Taladaius, while most vampires choose death. Iseabail admits helping him poison the wine through blood magic. The spell nearly opens a demon portal through Taladaius's witch mark, but Saeris's fire power closes it.
Chapter 41: Processing. Saeris fears the cure could kill her or remove her power, and Fisher promises to follow her even into death. Carrion discovers that flowers bloom when he speaks and admits he has secretly studied Yvelian kingship. Ten thousand warriors then march toward Cahlish under Lorreth.
Chapter 42: Black Dawn. Lorreth warns that the rot will reach Cahlish within sixteen hours. Fisher rejects Danya's proposal to sacrifice the fire sprites. As evacuation begins, Hayden apologizes to Saeris. The Hazrax gives her its true-name rune, which can break magical structures, and leaves its Lord's ring for Foley.
Chapter 43: Dark Spots. Iseabail cannot locate the magically shielded Renfis. With rot consuming the estate, Fisher opens gates to evacuate everyone toward Inishtar. The fire sprites remain behind, while a mysterious voice addresses Fisher as "Dog" during his final passage.
Chapter 44: Inishtar. The refugees arrive during a feeder assault, and Fisher is missing. Saeris recognizes that the new feeders have crossed realms without quicksilver. She realizes Madra designed Zilvaren itself as a giant power-draining sigil and plans to use Madra's hair to anchor a protective ward.
Chapter 45: Redemption. Saeris finds Taladaius beside Zovena's body after he failed to end his life in sunlight. She transforms a blade into the god sword Tarsarinn, which chooses him. Lorreth reveals Fisher's secret plan only after Saeris swears not to act recklessly. Satyrs then recognize Carrion as their king.
Chapter 46: Break. Saeris asks Danya to knock her unconscious so she can enter the shared dream. In a rotting version of Cahlish, she uses the Hazrax's breaking rune to enter Fisher's warded room. A hidden stargazer page gives her new instructions, and she spends her annual favor to reach the Wicker Wood.
Chapter 47: Unless . . .. Belikon holds Fisher inside a cursed dryad tree and offers freedom only if Saeris becomes his servant. Saeris kills Orious, wounds Belikon, and calls Fisher's god sword despite not being its chosen bearer. She speaks his true name---Khydan Graystar Finvarra---and declares every oath binding him broken.
Chapter 48: Folly. The tree shatters, and Belikon's attempt to control Khydan with the true name fails because Saeris used the breaking rune first. Khydan wounds and beheads the king. Orious kills Onyx while attacking Saeris, and the mates escape through shadow gates carrying Belikon's head.
Chapter 49: When We Need Them Most. On a mountain near Ajun, the Hazrax confirms that Onyx's spirit remains. Restoring him will destroy Saeris's only rune for breaking oaths. She chooses the fox over future strategic power and channels both known magic and a deeper new energy into his body as the sun rises.
Chapter 50: Knight. Onyx revives. At Ajun Sky, Renfis reveals that an oath pulled him to the mountain where his twin is buried and made him a Knight of Orrithian. The unstable second gate opens daily into Diaxis, the realm containing the brimstone needed to stop the rot. Khydan calls it hell.
Chapter 51: The Obvious . . .. Facing the gate and the creatures beyond it, Khydan makes one position absolutely clear: he hates dragons.
Chapter 52: Promises and Hope. Saeris and Khydan enter Diaxis, confront the dragon Arissan, and wake chained before an infernal crowd. Khydan overpowers the brothers Crave and Githrand, who accuse him of killing sacred beings. He demands an audience and a bargain with Styx, then reveals that the god is his father.
Ending Explained
Saeris frees Fisher by using his birth name in the opposite way that Belikon expects. A true name can be a weapon of ownership, but Saeris first marks Fisher with the Hazrax's breaking rune. When she calls him Khydan Graystar Finvarra, the name restores the identity hidden by his parents' deaths and shatters the oaths that let Belikon command him.
Belikon does not truly die. Khydan removes his head to delay pursuit, but the king's unnatural power and former connection to the Triumvirate allow him to survive. The protagonists escape rather than win the war.
Onyx's resurrection reveals that Saeris contains another source of magic beyond her known runes. The decision also has a strategic cost: restoring him consumes the breaking rune, leaving Saeris unable to free other oath-bound friends by the same method. The scene shows that she will not reduce loved ones to acceptable losses, even when rulers would call that choice irrational.
The rot remains the central unresolved threat. Brimstone kills it, but using the fire sprites' supply would amount to genocide. The Ajun Gate offers a possible alternative source in Diaxis. Fisher's history with the gate, his shadows, and his hidden name all point toward the final revelation: Styx, ruler of the infernal realm, is his father.
The word "father" may mean literal parentage, divine creation, or a more complicated claim, but it explains why Khydan's shadow power exceeds that of other Fae and why the beings of Diaxis recognize his sword. The sequel ends before Styx appears, turning the whole book into the approach to a bargain that may save Yvelia at an enormous cost.
Unresolved Questions
What price will Styx demand for brimstone? The series has established that powerful beings never offer help freely. Khydan and Saeris may have to trade power, loyalty, memory, or life.
Is Styx truly Khydan's biological father? Khydan states the relationship directly, but the exact circumstances and their connection to his Fae parents remain unknown.
Can the black rot be stopped without killing the fire sprites? Diaxis may contain brimstone, but the scale of the infection and the stability of the realm gates remain uncertain.
What power revived Onyx? Saeris reaches beneath her familiar runes to a new energy. It may derive from divinity, her severed life thread, her hybrid transformation, or an undiscovered branch of Alchemy.
How can Saeris free the remaining oath-bound Fae? Her breaking rune is gone, while Belikon still holds magical claims over Renfis, Lorreth, and others.
What will Carrion do with the Yvelian crown? The satyrs have recognized him, his speech affects living plants, and he is studying kingship. Claiming the throne means open war with Belikon.
Is Belikon weakened by decapitation? He survives, and his soldiers continue the pursuit. The limits of his immortality remain unclear after Malcolm's death.
Where is Madra? She still controls Zilvaren's enormous portal sigil and continues turning its people into feeders. Neither her location nor her ultimate goal is resolved.
Can Everlayne recover? Her body survives, and Edina's spirit can use it as a channel, but she has not awakened from Malcolm's damage.
Will Saeris remain a vampire? Taladaius's purge introduces a possible restoration cure, but its effect on a hybrid Alchemist is unknown and may be fatal.
About the Book
Brimstone is the second volume of Callie Hart's projected Fae & Alchemy trilogy. Grand Central Publishing released it on November 18, 2025. The publisher lists the main edition at 720 pages and identifies the novel as adult fantasy romance intended for readers seventeen and older because of graphic violence and sexual content.
The novel was a New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestseller. It continues directly from Quicksilver and should not be read as a standalone because its characters, magic, and central conflicts depend on the first book.