From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout

gods.
I couldn’t even fathom living that long. I gave a little shake of myy
head and kept reading.
At this time, the Atlantians are capable of passing on the ill-spirits in
their blood to mortals, creating a violent and destructive creature known
as a Craven, who share some of the physical traits of their creators. This
curse is passed through a poisonous kiss…
A poisonous kiss wasn’t referencing two lips coming into contact
with one another. The Atlantians did what the Craven did, albeit not as…
messilyy. Atlantians bit and drank the blood of mortals, something theyy had
to do to survive.
Their enormous lifespans, strength, and healing abilities all stemmed
from feeding off mortals, their primaryy food source. I shuddered.
It had to be an Atlantian that had bit and fed from Malessa, which
explained how there was no apparent bloodshed, and whyy she had looked
so incrediblyy pale.
What it didn’t explain was whyy the Atlantian had then snapped her
neck, effectivelyy killing her before the curse could spread. Whyy wouldn’t
the Atlantian allow her to turn? Then again, the bite wasn’t exactlyy in a
place that could easilyy be hidden. The bite itself was the warning to all
who saw it.
An Atlantian was deep within our midst.
Closing the book, I carefullyy placed it back on the stool, thinking
about how myy Ascension would occur on myy nineteenth birthdayy and how
the Atlantians reached a certain majorityy around that age. It wasn’t exactlyy
surprising. After all, our gods had been their gods at one time.
But the gods no longer supported the Atlantians.
Making myy wayy out of the room, I started for the kitchens when myy
gaze landed on the room Malessa had been found in. I needed to go back to
myy chambers before the staff became active, but that wasn’t what I did.
I crossed the space and went to the door, finding it unlocked when I
turned the handle. Before I could reallyy think about what I was doing and
where I was, I slipped inside, grateful that the wall sconces cast a soft
glow throughout the room.
The settee was gone, the space bare. Accent chairs remained, as did
the round coffee table with some sort of floral arrangement neatlyy placed