The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

lied to you. That because of those lies, you were hurt.
Because of what I did, people died—people you loved.”
My heart ached. “Neither of us can change the past,
Cas, but because you lied, I saw the truth of the Ascended.
People were hurt—Loren, Dafina.” I drew in a shaky breath.
“Vikter. But how many lives have you saved? Countless, I’m
sure. You saved mine in more ways than we probably even
know.”
A small smile appeared and then faded, and I sensed it
was about more than just what had happened to me. His
shame and guilt ran so much deeper than that.
“Talk to me,” I whispered.
“I am.”
“I mean, really talk to me.” I smoothed my fingers along
his cheeks. “What makes you think you’re unworthy of me?”
His throat worked on a swallow. “Are you reading my
emotions?”
“No.” I sighed when he arched a brow. “Kind of.”
He chuckled, the sound hoarse. “I don’t know, Princess.
There are things that…come into my head sometimes.
Things that lived in my head when I was caged by the
Ascended. I don’t know how to put them into words, but
even if I did, neither of us need to deal with that right now.”
“I disagree,” I said empathetically. “We do.”
One side of his lips tipped up. “We have a lot on our
plates. You have a lot on yours. I’m not going to add to that.
I don’t need to,” he added when I opened my mouth. “I’m
okay, Poppy. Trust me when I say that.”
“Cas—”
He kissed me, capturing my lips in a deep, drugging sort
of kiss. “I’m okay, Princess. I swear.”
Sensing I would get nowhere with him right now, I
nodded, then curled my hands around his wrists as he
tucked my head back under his chin. This wouldn’t be the
last time we talked about this, I would make sure of that. We
sat there in silence for several minutes as I thought about