The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

“A few know how to bypass the mountains.” Jasper
leaned back, resting an ankle on a knee.
We all waited for him to continue.
And waited.
I stared at him. “You going to tell us how?”
Jasper eyed each of us for a long moment before
settling on Casteel. “Your father and your mother have killed
to keep Iliseeum’s location hidden.” His voice was as quiet
and cold as falling snow. “So have I.”
Casteel’s head cocked slightly to the side as his hand
stilled along the back of my neck. “And I’m inclined to kill to
discover the truth.”
A chill swept down my back as Jasper grinned at the
Prince, either unbothered by the threat or not aware of what
that too-flat tone signaled. Bloody things usually followed
his usage of that tone. “I don’t think there needs to be any
sort of killing,” I ventured.
“That’s rich coming from you,” Kieran commented.
My head snapped in his direction. “I’m trying to
deescalate the situation.”
Kieran snorted.
“What’s rich is that you’ve all killed to keep the Lands of
the Gods secret,” Casteel said. “And yet, the Unseen
obviously discovered how to travel to Iliseeum. That is,
unless there is a bucket of Iliseeum soil I’m unaware of.”
“I don’t believe there’s a bucket of soil lying around,”
Jasper advised, eyes glimmering as amusement filtered
from him to me. “Most wouldn’t even have the knowledge of
how to use such magic—only the oldest of our kind. And I
imagine the Unseen would have known when they were
more prevalent. I’m guessing they must’ve kept records of
such things.”
“Other than you and my parents, I assume Alastir
knew?” Casteel drew his hand down my spine. Jasper
nodded. “Who else has that knowledge?”