The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

“Are you going to cry?”
“I don’t know.”
Chuckling, he let go of my hands and stretched up,
cupping my cheeks. “You’re sure about this?”
My heart gave another leap. “I am.” Something occurred
to me. “I want the crest changed. I want the arrow and
sword to be equal.”
His dimples appeared then. “I like the sound of that.”
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Okay.”
“Okay,” he repeated, nodding. “We need to rest here for
the night, but I’ll send someone ahead of us to Evaemon.
Tomorrow, we will leave for the capital.”
Where we would take the Crown.
And then we would travel to Iliseeum and wake the King
of Gods.
“You’ve got to let go, baby. You need to hide, Poppy—”
Momma stilled, and then she wrenched her arm free,
reaching inside her boot. She pulled something out,
something black as night and slender and sharp. She moved
so fast—faster than I’d ever seen her move, spinning around
as she rose, the black spike in her hand.
“How could you do this?” Momma demanded as I
scooted to the edge of the cupboard.
A…a man stood a few feet from her, cloaked in scary
shadows. “I’m sorry.”
“So am I.” Momma swung out, but the shadow man
caught her arm.
“Momma!” I screamed, and glass cracked.
Her head jerked around. “Run. Run—”
Glass shattered, and the night spilled into the kitchen,
tumbling down the wall and hitting the floor. I froze, unable