The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

turned,” he told me, and I hated that he had experienced
any of that. “You would be going at my throat right now if
you were a vampry. You wouldn’t feel warm and soft in my
arms or around my cock,” he said, and I flushed a hot pink.
“You didn’t Ascend.”
“But that doesn’t…” My gaze traveled past the bed to
the doors. Sunlight. The Ascended could be in indirect
sunlight without injury. But direct sunlight?
Totally different story.
I moved before I even realized what I was doing,
launching myself out of Casteel’s lap. I must’ve caught him
off guard because he reached for me, but I slipped past his
grip. Or maybe I was just that fast. I didn’t know.
“Poppy!” Casteel shouted as I reached the door. “Don’t
you dare—”
Gripping the handle, I threw the door open. Cold air
poured in as I stepped out onto a small porch. Sunlight
streamed in, drenching the cracked stone of the floor with
cool light. I stretched out an arm as Casteel’s curse blistered
my ears. Light fell over my fingers and then my hand.
Casteel wrapped an arm around my waist, hauling me
back against his chest. “Godsdamnit, Poppy.”
I stared at my hand, at my skin, and waited for it to do
something terrifying. “Nothing’s happening.”
“Thank the gods,” he growled, squeezing me tightly.
“But I might be having a heart attack.”
My brows pinched. “Can Atlantians have heart attacks?”
“No.”
“Then you’re fine,” I replied, biting down on my lip as I
became aware of the dampness between my thighs.
His forehead pressed against the side of my head.
“That’s debatable. I feel like my heart is about to come out
of my chest at the moment.”
A rough, huffing noise came, drawing my gaze up to the
thick line of half-dead trees. It had sounded an awful lot like
a laugh. For a moment, I forgot all about what I’d been