The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

side-stepped Casteel, he wasn’t fast enough to block me.
I stood in front of him, hands at my sides and feet
spread wide. Silvery-white light crackled over my skin, and I
knew I couldn’t stop Nyktos. If he wanted us dead, we would
die, but that didn’t mean I would stand by. I would die a
thousand deaths before I allowed that. I would—
Without warning, an image flashed in my mind. The
silver-haired woman standing before another as the stars
fell from the sky, her hands balled into fists. Her words came
from my lips, “I will not let you harm him or any of my
friends.”
Nyktos’s head tilted to the side as his eyes widened
slightly. “Interesting,” he murmured, his gaze flicking over
me. “Now I understand why sleep has been so hard lately—
why we dream so intensely.” A brief pause. “And you do not
need anyone to stand before you in defense.”
His statement shook me enough that the eather fizzled
out.
“Though,” he continued, his gaze sliding to where
Casteel stood, “it’s admirable of you to do so. I see that my
approval of the union was not a mistake.”
The breath that left me was one of ragged relief, but
then Nyktos turned away. He started walking up the stairs.
Where was he going? I stepped forward, and the god
stopped, looking over his shoulder. “You wanted to speak.
Come. But only you. No one else can enter, or they will die.”
Heart thundering, I twisted toward Casteel. His features
were sharp as crystal-bright eyes locked with mine. A
desperate sense of helplessness echoed throughout him. He
didn’t want me to enter that Temple, but he knew I had to.
“Do not get yourself killed,” he ordered. “I will be very angry
if you do.”
“I won’t,” I promised. At least, I hoped I didn’t. The
draken named Nektas made that gravelly chuckling sound
again. “I love you.”
“Prove it to me later.”