The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

Casteel groaned. “Gods, you’re perfect.”
“And you are demented,” I said. “Worthy, but
demented.”
“I’ll take that.”
I laughed. “Did I hear you mention cheese?”
“You did.” He extended an arm to the table. “Help
yourself.”
I did exactly that, seating myself at the table and
immediately reaching for chunks of yumminess.
“What would you like to drink?” he asked, joining me.
“There’s water, wine, and whiskey—the three Ws of life.”
I arched a brow. “Wine.”
He smirked as he poured the faint pink liquid and then
fixed himself a glass of whiskey. I tentatively tasted the
wine, pleased to find that it tasted like strawberries. “What
do you think about the whole Iliseeum thing?” I asked since
we hadn’t really talked about that.
“Honestly?” He let out a low laugh. “I really don’t know. I
grew up believing that Iliseeum existed in a realm beside
ours but not part of ours. Just like the Vale and the Abyss.
And to think my parents always knew? Alastir? Jasper?”
Casteel shook his head. “But then you really didn’t know
Iliseeum was real at all. It had to be more of a shock to
you.”
“It was,” I admitted, squinting. “But there is still so
much I don’t know. I’m kind of in a constant state of
surprise, but it’s amazing to think that at one time, when
the gods were awake, they were right there. I wonder how
often they interacted with Atlantians and mortals.”
“Not often from what I’ve been taught. But that too may
not be exactly true.” He ate a piece of cheese. “The crazy
thing, Poppy? Is that Malik, Kieran, and I must have gotten
close to Iliseeum at some point. We traveled those tunnels
heading east. We always ended up stopping, though, at
some point.”
“Was there ever a reason for you to stop?”