The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

“Whatever.” I bit down on my lip. “I don’t think so? I
mean, I haven’t felt that gnawing ache again. I think I would
know if I had.”
“It’s not always like that, my Queen.”
My Queen. I liked that. Almost as much as I liked it when
he called me Princess. Not that I’d admit that to him. “How
does it feel?”
“You’ll feel inexplicably tired, even after sleeping. You’ll
eat, but you’ll still feel hunger. Food will eventually lose its
appeal,” he told me. “You’ll be easier to irritate, which
wouldn’t be new for you.”
“Hey!” I smacked his arm.
“Perhaps you do need to feed now,” he teased, eyes
glittering. “Once you get to the point where food no longer
eases your hunger, you’ll need to feed.”
I nodded. “Okay.”
“You probably wouldn’t need to feed by now, anyway. If
we’re basing it on when Atlantians need to feed,” he said.
“But you may be different. You may not even need to, but I
wanted to check in.”
I searched to find even a flicker of unease at the
possibility of feeding and found none, when a knock
sounded.
Casteel let Kieran in. The wolven appeared to have
managed a shower and a change of clothing. A fresh white
shirt and black breeches had replaced what he’d worn
earlier. I was jealous.
“We won’t keep you long,” Casteel said, coming to join
me. “But there is something important we wanted to ask
you.”
Kieran raised a brow as he glanced between us. “Is it
about the Joining?”
For the second time in twenty-four hours, I choked on
my breath. “What?”
“Am I wrong?” Kieran crossed his arms.