The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

can rest.”
It didn’t seem right for me to do so when no one else
could, but I couldn’t fight the lure. It wasn’t the deepest of
sleep. Things I wanted to forget followed me. I found myself
back in the crypts, chained to the wall. Bile crept up my
throat as I turned my head to the side.
Oh, gods.
I came face to face with one of the corpses, its empty
eye sockets tunnels of nothingness as it shuddered.
Dust sifted through the air as its jaw loosened, and a
raspy, dry voice came out of the lipless mouth. “You’re just
like us.” Teeth fell from its jaws, crumbling apart as they did.
“You will end up just like us.”
I pressed back as far as I could go, feeling the bindings
tighten on my wrists and my legs. “This isn’t real—”
“You’re just like us,” another echoed as its head jerked
toward me. “You’ll end up just like us.”
“No. No.” I struggled against the bindings, feeling the
bones cut through my skin. “I’m not a monster. I’m not.”
“You’re not,” a soft voice intruded, coming from
everywhere and nowhere as the corpses along the wall
continued shuddering and moving, their bones rubbing and
grinding together. The voice sounded like… Delano? “You
are meyaah Liessa. Wake up.”
The thing beside me’s mouth fell open in a scream that
started silently but turned into a long, keening howl—-
“Wake up. Poppy. You can wake up. I’ve got you.”
Casteel. His arm was tight around me as he gathered me as
close as he could to his chest while Setti’s powerful muscles
moved under us. “You’re safe. No one is going to hurt you.”
His mouth pressed against my temple, warm and
comforting. “Never again.”
Heart thumping erratically, I dragged in deep breaths.
Had I screamed? I blinked rapidly as I struggled to free my
hands from where they were tucked between Casteel’s arms
and the blanket. I managed to pull one free and hastily wipe