The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

“Well, now that we cleared that up, I know you have a
lot of questions,” Casteel said, turning me toward the
bathing chamber. “But let’s get this stuff off you first.” He
paused. “And into something clean.”
I glanced down at my hands, my nose wrinkling as I saw
that they were spotted with purple. “Is it even blood?”
“I honestly can’t say for sure.” Casteel led me to the
vanity in the bathing chamber and turned on the faucets. He
grabbed a bottle and squirted some of that rich, pinescented
soap onto my hands. “Whatever it is, it smells
weird.”
I nodded as I rubbed my hands together. “It reminds me
of stale lilacs.”
His brows knitted as he grabbed a bar of soap. “You
know, you’re right.” He turned, handing the soap to Kieran.
In the mirror, I watched him strip off his ruined shirt and
toss it aside as he turned on a faucet to the shower. One of
the overhead showerheads came on. “The one you said was
on the wall,” Casteel said quietly, drawing my attention. “He
spoke?”
I nodded as I rubbed the liquid soap up my forearms.
“He wasn’t like the others. He was either mortal or
Atlantian.”
“He wore a silver mask,” Kieran said, the muscles along
his back and shoulders tensing as he dipped his head under
the spray as he scrubbed his face and his closely-cropped
hair. “Like Jansen did at the ruins. He also had those damn
bone bindings with him.”
“What?” Casteel barked out.
“He did,” I said, running my hands under the warm
water.
“Those bones will never touch your skin again.”
Casteel’s voice was full of smoke and blood, and eyes as
cold as frozen amber met mine. “That, I can promise you.”
“I promise myself that,” I murmured, as a cold slice of
unease pierced through me when I thought of the Unseen.