The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

though. And not all of them were. But it had nothing to do
with their blood. It was their age.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
Casteel exhaled heavily. “You think an Atlantian’s
lifespan is unthinkable, but a deity is like a god. They are
immortal. Instead of living two and three thousand years,
they lived double and triple that,” he said, and my heart
stuttered. “Living that long would make anyone apathetic or
bored, impatient and intolerant. They…simply grew too old
and became cold.”
“Cold? Like the Ascended?”
“In a way, yes,” he said. “It’s why the gods went to
sleep. It was the only way they could keep some sense of
empathy and compassion. The deities never chose to do
that.”
“So even if that were to happen to you,” Kieran began,
drawing my gaze to his, “you would have thousands of
years before it came time to take a very nice, long nap.”
I started to frown, but what Kieran said slammed into
me with the speed and weight of an out-of-control carriage.
My heart started racing as I stared at him first and then
turned to Casteel. A tingling sensation swept over my skin
as my mouth tried. “Am I…am I immortal now?”