The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

physical changes. It was why Casteel believed that the
Ascended had waited until now to have me go through my
Ascension. My blood would be of more use to them now,
capable of making more Ascended.
Had the Ascended known about the blood I carried? Had
Queen Ileana known the entire time? Alastir had been in
contact with the Ascended. I believed that. Would my blood
even work now that I had…?
I had nearly died.
And maybe I had a little. I remembered floating toward a
silvery light, without body or thought. And I knew if I made
my way to it, not even Casteel would be able to reach me.
“I think so,” Casteel said as the warmth of his body
pressed against my side, drawing me from my thoughts. “I
think being on Atlantian land combined with the blood I’ve
given you played a role in strengthening the blood in you.”
“And I guess what happened at the Chambers of Nyktos
just tipped it all over the edge?” I leaned into Casteel.
“Waking this…thing up inside me?”
“What is in you is not a thing, Poppy.” Casteel looked
down at me. “It is a power. Magic. It is the eather waking up
inside you, becoming a part of you.”
“I’m not sure that makes me feel any better.”
A lopsided grin appeared. “It would if you stopped
thinking of your ancestry as a thing. But considering
everything that has happened, you really haven’t had any
time to come to terms with any of this.”
I wasn’t sure how I could come to terms with it even
when I had time. “I don’t…”
“You don’t want this,” Kieran finished for me, his wintry
gaze meeting mine.
“I don’t want”—I briefly closed my eyes—“I don’t want
to come between you two. I don’t want to come between
any wolven and the Atlantian they were bonded to.” I don’t
want to be the monster that Alastir warned me I’d become.
“Poppy,” Casteel started.