The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

I could tell. I don’t know if they were truly a part of what
Alastir spoke of or if they were somehow manipulated into
their actions. But I do know that Alastir must have been
working with the Ascended. He insinuated that they knew
what I was capable of and that they planned to use me
against Atlantia.” I told them what Alastir believed the
Ascended would do, my mind always drudging up the
memory of the Duchess.
“He figured that the Ascended would kill me when I
attacked them, but he also had a backup plan. I didn’t get it
when he said that I would never be free again. He must’ve
given the others an order to kill me if the plan with the
Ascended failed. He said he’d rather see a war among his
people than have me…unleashed upon the people.”
“He’s a fucking idiot,” Casteel growled, rising from the
bed. “Part of me wanted to give Alastir the benefit of the
doubt at first in the Chambers. That he wouldn’t be that
fucking stupid.”
“I don’t think any of us thought he’d do something like
this,” Kieran said. “To go as far as to betray you—your
parents. Kill Beckett? That’s not the man I know.”
Casteel cursed again, dragging a hand through his hair.
Sadness settled on my shoulders. I couldn’t stop the image
of Beckett in his wolven form, tail wagging as he bounded
alongside us as we arrived in Spessa’s End. Anger mixed
with the distress. “I’m sorry.”
Casteel turned to me. “What do you have to apologize
for?”
“You respect and care for Alastir. I know it has to bother
you.”
“It does, but it is what it is.” He tilted his head to the
side. “But it would not be the first betrayal by one who
shares his blood.”
An ache pierced my chest, even though he had his
emotions locked down. “And that makes me even more