The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

colliding with the world around me. It had always been me—
this absolute power.
But I…I wasn’t me.
I wasn’t the Queen of Flesh and Fire.
My chest rose and fell as my fingers spread wide. I was
vengeance and wrath given form, and in the moment, I was
exactly what Alastir and the Unseen feared. I was the
Bringer of Death and Destruction, and I would tear down the
walls they sought to protect themselves with. I would rip
apart their homes, scorch their lands, and fill their streets
with blood until there was nowhere to run or hide.
And then I would destroy them all.
Streaks of silver-white energy crackled off my skin as I
turned back to the edges of the woods, toward the city.
“Poppy. Please—” Vonetta shouted, leaping in front of
me.
I threw out my hand, and she skidded through the tall
grass. I stalked forward, the wind whipping overhead.
Leaves snapped and fell. Trees bent under the weight of the
rage pouring out of me, their limbs slamming into the
ground all around me.
“Poppy!” Vonetta’s scream was caught in the wind.
“Don’t do this!”
I kept walking, the ground trembling under my feet, the
image of Ian collapsing, of Lyra being struck down, playing
over and over to the sound of Casteel begging—begging
her.
Kieran darted around one of the branches as it slammed
down, kicking up dirt. “Listen to us,” he shouted, the force
of my anger tearing at his clothing. “You don’t—”
I sent him back, his feet slipping out from under him as I
screamed. Another pulse of energy reverberated through
the forest. The trees in front of me shattered, and I saw the
black wall of the smaller Rise surrounding the village outside
of Oak Ambler. The guards saw me coming forward—coming
for them. Several unsheathed swords of bloodstone as