The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

time passed, but finally, the hand under my jaw eased, and
one of the arms slid away from me. My cheek fell to a warm
shoulder, and I sat there, eyes closed and breathing
shallowly as he held me tightly to his chest, his hand still
tangled in my hair at the back of my head. He nodded, and
the wolven left. The click of a nearby door signaled his
departure, but I remained, sated and relaxed. The heat of
the blood coursing through me cooled. His blood…
Hawke’s blood.
Casteel’s blood.
The nothingness in my mind shattered in an instant.
Thoughts flooded me, connecting with memories. They
reached into the deepest parts of me, linking with a sense of
self. Shock found me first—utter disbelief and anguish over
what Alastir had done while we stood at the Chambers of
Nyktos and everything that had happened after that.
I’d trusted him.
I…I’d wanted acceptance from the people at the Temple,
but they’d called me a Soul Eater. They’d called me a
whore. They…they’d called me the Maiden, and I was none
of those things. Anger crowded out the horror. A rage that
carved itself into every bone in my body. Fury hummed at
my very core, striking against the wildness growing inside
me. They would pay for what they had done to me. Every
single one of them would discover exactly what I was. I
would never be struck down like that again. They wouldn’t
succeed…
But hadn’t they already?
I could still feel the bolt striking my flesh, tearing
through vital parts of me. I’d tasted death. Felt it—the
breath I couldn’t take, the heart that no longer beat, and the
words I couldn’t speak. I’d been dying, but there had been a
different pain, too, a fiery one that had ripped through me.
Drink. Keep drinking. That’s it. Keep swallowing. Drink,
Poppy, keep drinking for me… The taste of citrus and snow
still coated the back of my throat, my lips. Still warmed and