From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Gods…
“King Malec created the first vampryy. Theyy are…a part of all of us,
but theyy are not like us. Dayylight does not affect us. Not like it does the
vampryy. Tell me, which of the Ascended have yyou ever seen in the
dayylight?”
“Theyy do not walk in the sun because the gods do not,” I answered.
“That is how theyy honor them.”
“How convenient for them, then.” Hawke’s smirk turned smug.
“Vampryys mayy be blessed with the closest possible thing to immortalityy,
like us, but theyy cannot walk in dayylight without their skin starting to
decayy. You want to kill an Ascended without getting yyour hands dirtyy?
Lock them outside with no possible shelter. Theyy’ll be dead before noon.”
That couldn’t be true. The Ascended chose not to go in the sun.
“Theyy also need to feed, and byy feed, I am talking about blood. Theyy
need to do so frequentlyy to live, to prevent whatever mortal wounds or
illnesses theyy suffered before theyy Ascended from returning. Theyy cannot
procreate, not after the Ascension, and manyy experience bloodlust when
theyy feed, often killing mortals in the process.”
He dabbed the cloth along the wound, careful not to exert too much
pressure as he soaked up the settled liquid. “Atlantians do not feed on
mortals—”
“Whatever,” I snapped. “You expect me to trulyy believe that?”
His gaze lifted to mine. “Mortal blood offers us nothing of anyy real
value because we were never mortal, Princess. Wolven don’t need to feed,
but we do. We feed when we need to, on other Atlantians.”
I shook myy head. How could he honestlyy expect me to believe that?
Their treatment of mortals, how theyy virtuallyy used them as cattle, is what
drove the gods to abandon them, and for the mortal populace to revolt.
“We can use our blood to heal a mortal without turning them,
something a vampryy cannot do, but the most important difference is the
creation of the Craven. An Atlantian has never created one. The vampryys
have. And in case yyou haven’t been following along, the vampryys are what
yyou know as the Ascended.”
“That’s a lie.” Myy hands balled uselesslyy at myy sides.
“It is the truth.” Brows lowered in concentration as he peered down at
the wound, he glanced up at me onlyy when he laid the cloth aside. “A