The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

mortals but did not live among them. They remained in
Iliseeum, while their children lived in the mortal realm.”
Iliseeum? The Shadowlands? All of this sounded
delusional, and my patience was already barely hanging on
by a thin thread. I was this close to risking losing a hand so I
could grab the spear and launch it at the bastard.
“I don’t know if it was mortal influence or not, but after
the gods chose to sleep, the deities became—”
“Too powerful and too dangerous,” I cut in. “I know. I’ve
already heard this.”
“But did Jansen tell you what they did to deserve that
fate? I’m sure you’ve realized by now that all those
entombed here are deities.” He lifted his arms, gesturing
toward the sarcophagi and the bodies. “Did he tell you why
the elemental Atlantians rose against them, just like their
forefathers rose against the original gods? Did he tell you
what kind of monsters they became?”
“He was too busy hitting me to get to that point,” I
sneered. “So, no.”
“I feel I must apologize for that once more.”
“Fuck you,” I choked out, hating his apology—the
apparent sincerity of his words. And he legitimately meant
them. I didn’t need my ability to know that.
His brows lifted, and then his expression smoothed out.
“The deities built Atlantia, but they almost destroyed it in
their greed and through their thirst for life—their
unquenchable desire for more. Always more. They knew no
limits. If they wanted something, they took it or created it.
Sometimes, to benefit the kingdom. A lot of the internal
structure you see here exists because of them. But more
often than not, their actions only benefited them.”
What he said reminded me an awful lot of the Ascended.
They ruled with their desires at the forefront of each
thought.
I stared up at him. “So, I’m a threat that must be dealt
with because I’m descended from a deity, who may or may