The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

scars there. “We have no idea why you haven’t Ascended,
or if you did and we just don’t know into what yet. And, on
top of all of that, you have had one shock after another—
from learning the truth about the Ascended, to fearing for
your brother and Tawny, to now learning that you have
god’s blood in you.
“Well, when you list it all out like that, I think I may need
to sit down,” I commented.
He kissed the bridge of my nose. “But you’re not. You’re
standing. You’re dealing with it, and fuck if I’m not in awe of
you right now. But I also know none of this has hit you yet,
and that concerns me. You keep telling me you’re okay
every time I ask how you are, and I know that can’t be
true.”
“I am okay.” Mostly. I rested my cheek against his chest.
I needed to be okay because none of what had happened
from the moment I stepped into the Chambers of Nyktos
changed the fact that we needed to find his brother and
mine—
Ian.
I jerked back, my eyes going wide. “Oh, my gods. I
haven’t even thought about this.” Hope exploded deep
inside me, loosening tense muscles. “If I didn’t become a
vampry, then that means Ian might not have, either. He
could be like me. What I am. He might not be like them.”
Wariness echoed through Casteel. “That’s possible,
Poppy,” he began, his tone cautious. “But he’s only been
seen at night. And he’s married to an Ascended.”
The rest of what he wouldn’t say hung unspoken in the
air of the dusty hunting cabin. Ian may not be my brother by
blood, or we may not share the same parent that carried the
eather within them. I didn’t know. But just because Casteel
hadn’t seen Ian during the day or just because he was
married to an Ascended didn’t mean that Ian had become
one. The hope I felt now wasn’t nearly as flimsy and naïve