The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

My brow furrowed as I tore my gaze from the table and
the chairs to the god. “You were expecting us.”
“No.” He sat in the chair and reached for the bottle. “I
was expecting you.”
I stood there. “Then we didn’t wake you.”
“Oh, you woke me quite some time ago,” he replied,
pouring what looked like red wine into a delicate, stemmed
glass. “I wasn’t sure exactly why, but I’m beginning to
understand.”
My thoughts spun. “Then why did you threaten to kill
us?”
“Let’s make one thing clear, Queen of Flesh and Fire,”
he said, and a shudder worked its way through me as he
looked over at me. “I do not threaten death. I make death
happen. I was simply curious to see what you and your
chosen were made of.” He smiled slightly, pouring wine into
the other glass. “Sit.”
I forced my legs to move. My boots made no sound as I
walked across the floor. I sat stiffly as I told myself not to
ask any of the thousand questions brewing. It was best that
I get to the point and then get the hell out of there as fast
as possible.
That was not what happened.
“Are any other gods awake? Your Consort?” I blurted out.
An eyebrow rose as he placed the bottle back on the
table. “You know the answer to that. You saw one yourself.”
My breath caught. Aios had appeared while we’d been in
the Skotos Mountains, stopping me from what would’ve
been a very messy death.
“Some have stirred enough to be aware of the realm
outside of others. Others have remained in a semi-lucid
state. A few are still in the deepest sleep,” he answered.
“My Consort sleeps now, but she does so fitfully.”
“How long have you been awake? The others?”
“Hard to say.” He slid the glass toward me. “It’s been on
and off for centuries, but more frequent in the last two