The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

His gaze coasted over my features. “Did you know that
she was already gone?”
“I…” I’d started to deny it, but I stopped myself as what
Casteel had said the morning before resurfaced. Denial was
no longer a luxury. He spoke of the Crown, but the same
logic applied here. “I can’t say that she was gone for
certain, but she was close.”
He slowly unwound my hair. “Then you either willed her
soul to remain with her, or you brought her back to life,
Poppy.”
My heart tripped over itself. “It’s hard for me to accept
that, but I think I did.” Hair tumbled over my shoulders as I
rose onto my knees. “It makes sense that I can do that
because of who Nyktos is, but it’s kind of—”
“Amazing.” He carefully untangled his hand from my
hair.
“I was going to go with unnerving,” I said.
His brow furrowed. “You gave that child a second chance
at life. How can that be anything but marvelous?”
I glanced down at my hands, unsure of how to explain
what I was thinking. “It’s just that kind of ability…is powerful
in a frightening way.”
“Explain.”
Sighing, I shook my head. “I know the people who saw
what happened yesterday think I am a deity—”
“I believe they think you’re a goddess,” he countered.
“And there is a difference between the two.”
“Okay. They think I’m a goddess. But we both know that
isn’t the case,” I pointed out, and he simply raised a brow. I
rolled my eyes. “Either way, doing that felt like…playing
god. It feels like an ability that could be misused without
even realizing it—that is if I can even do it again.”
He was quiet for a moment. “Do you think it was her
time, and you interfered?”
I stiffened. “I cannot believe that it was time for anyone
that young to pass on to the Vale. I don’t think that at all.”