The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

second time, the lack of rest from our first trip, or from
everything that had happened from the moment I arrived in
Atlantia. It could’ve been a combination of all those things.
Casteel had to be equally exhausted, but the good news
was that I was once more exposed to sunlight, and my skin
wasn’t decaying or doing anything equally disturbing.
So that was a plus.
“You hanging in there?” he asked in a low voice as we
approached Setti, the horse’s coat a gleaming onyx in the
morning sun. He grazed in the grass.
I nodded, thinking this likely wasn’t the homecoming
Casteel had wanted. How long had it been since he’d even
seen his parents last? Years. And this was how he had to
greet them, with an attack on him, me, and a potential
wedge being driven between him and his father.
A heaviness settled in my chest as one of the Guardians
led Setti to us. I looked up at the looming Skotos to see a
canopy of glistening red.
The landscape of Atlantia had been forever changed,
but what did it mean?
“Poppy?” Casteel’s voice was quiet.
Realizing that he was waiting for me, I dragged my gaze
from the mountains and reached up, grasping Setti’s saddle.
I didn’t find out if I had the strength to pull myself up as I’d
done outside the hunting cabin. Casteel lifted me and then
quickly followed.
Kieran joined us, having returned to his mortal form,
now dressed in the clothing Niall had brought back with us.
He mounted one of the horses, and I saw the shadows
gathering under his eyes. We were all tired, so it was no
surprise that we rode away from the Temple in silence,
followed by the wolven. I didn’t see Emil or Naill when we
left, nor did I catch sight of Quentyn.
It took some time for us to navigate the cliffs and come
upon the field of pink and blue wildflowers. I looked at the
trees at the other end of the field but couldn’t see the