The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

“My wife is far humbler than I am,” Casteel asserted,
and there was a soft, barely audible but recognizable snort
from behind me. The corners of my lips turned down as
Casteel’s gaze slid to mine. “If I were capable of doing what
she did, I would have my greatness inked on my skin.”
“Really,” I replied dryly. “That sounds excessive.”
“But as you already know, I am excessive in all things,”
he told me in a voice that was all lush, decadent smoke.
Warmth crept into my cheeks as a wicked heat settled
low in my belly. Immediately, I thought of what we’d done
on the beach the night before. That had been…excessive.
Casteel grinned.
His father cleared his throat. “Have you always been
able to do what you did with the child?”
Pulling my gaze from Casteel, and my mind from very
inappropriate places, I answered. “No, I haven’t,” I said and
then gave a brief recap of the evolution of my abilities.
“They were changing before I Ascended.”
“I figured it had to do with the Culling,” Casteel
supplied.
“The Culling would explain the change,” his mother
agreed.
“And this was before the Ascension? I know of no other
half-Atlantian to go through the Culling.” His father eyed me
closely. “Or any Ascended mortal with Atlantian blood who
went through a Culling and did not become a vampry. But
then again, I know of no other half-Atlantian descended from
the gods, who is alive today.”
“Me, either,” I said and then cringed. Obviously, I didn’t.
Gods.
Amusement trickled in from Casteel, and surprisingly,
his father. A faint grin appeared on the King’s face as
Casteel said, “You said you know of no other that is alive
today. Are you saying there were others like her before?”
I almost wanted to smack myself for not catching that
earlier.