The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

Was it my bloodline—the eather in it—recognizing the
land, the air, and the sea? Was my heritage that powerful?
Because I honestly hadn’t believed I would feel that after
the attack.
A warm breeze sent a tangled strand of hair across my
face. I caught it, tucking it back as the same current caught
the edges of the cloak I wore, lifting them. Would my
parents—at least the one who carried Atlantian blood in
them—have felt this way upon seeing Atlantia? If they had
made it. My chest clenched with sorrow and anger, and it
took everything in me to push it down and not let it take
over. If I allowed that, the nasty ball of emotion that had
settled in my chest would work its way free, and I…I
couldn’t allow that to happen. Not now.
Weight pressed against my leg and hip, and I looked
down to find that Kieran had leaned into me. Like I often did
with Delano, the urge to pet or scratch his head was hard to
ignore. He’d stayed outside with me after Casteel had led
me onto a stone pavilion behind the Temple of Saion and
then went underground with a few others to retrieve Alastir
from the crypts.
It wasn’t the same one they’d kept me in, but Casteel
had asked me to stay aboveground. I imagined he did that
because he didn’t want me to be surrounded by the dead
again, to be reminded of my time spent with them. His
foresight was another thing I was eternally grateful for.
I turned back to the sea as I dredged up the hope I’d felt
when I realized that there was a chance that Ian was like
me. If he was, then he could come here. He would love it. I
already knew it after only seeing what little I had. He would
feel the peace, too. And when he saw the sea, as clear as it
was during the day, and as dark as it was at night? I
couldn’t wait to discover what stories he’d be inspired to
tell. A smile tugged at my lips.
Kieran stood, ears perking as he heard the footsteps
several moments before me. Maybe I was stronger, but it