The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

It really could be. Nothing could be more beautiful.
“Do you think anyone in the city is awake?” Vonetta
asked quietly.
My heart skipped a beat. “Could there be?”
Casteel shook his head. “It’s possible, but we…we won’t
find out.” His gaze touched mine. “Remember Willa’s
warning.”
I swallowed, nodding. “We can’t go into the city,” I
reminded everyone. “Maybe gods are awake there, and
that’s why we can’t.” I looked at Emil. “Or maybe Dalos is a
part of the Vale.”
Clearing his throat, Emil nodded. “Yeah.”
If gods were awake in the city, I had to wonder if they
were unaware of what was happening past the Mountains of
Nyktos. Or if they simply didn’t care.
“You think that’s the Temple where Nyktos may sleep?”
Delano asked.
Kieran inhaled deeply. “We might as well find out.”
We started down the hill, the grass reaching our knees.
The air smelled of fresh lilacs and…something I couldn’t
place. It was a woodsy scent but a sweet one. A more-thanpleasant
smell. I tried to figure it out but couldn’t by the
time we reached the bottom of the hill.
The grass became white soil that reminded me of sand,
but there was no beach that I could see, and it was brighter
than sand. It sparkled in the sun and crunched under our—
“Are we walking on diamonds?” Vonetta stared at the
ground, disbelief echoing from her. “I think we’re actually
walking on diamonds.”
“I have no words for this,” Casteel commented as
Delano bent and picked up a piece. “But diamonds are
birthed from the joyous tears of the gods—of gods in love.”
My gaze shifted to the Temple, and I thought of Nyktos
and the Consort that he was so protective of. No one even
knew her name.