The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

knew. The moment she didn’t see Casteel, her agony was
sharp and pungent. A hand fluttered against her breast as
she reached for the empty space beside her, seeming to
realize then that her husband wasn’t there.
The two Elders stood hastily. “Your Majesty,” Sven said,
bowing. Concern rippled from him as he glanced at the
wolven siblings. “Are you okay, Your Majesty?”
No. I wasn’t. I wouldn’t be okay until Casteel was by my
side, and the Blood Crown was nothing but a pile of ashes.
But my sorrow and fear gave way to anger as I stared at
Casteel’s mother. I latched on to it, letting it wrap around
the hum in my chest, filling the hollowness of where my
heart beat.
And that anger tasted of power and death, a lot like it
had when I walked toward Oak Ambler, but I was in control
this time.
Barely.
“You knew.” I stared at his mother. “You knew what she
was and what she wasn’t.”
Blood drained rapidly from Eloana’s face as she jerked
back. “Penellaphe—”
“Where is the King?” Gregori demanded, stepping
forward.
The wolven let out a low rumble of warning as my head
snapped toward him. Words fell from my lips like poisondipped
daggers. “Where is the King, Your Majesty?” I
corrected softly in a tone eerily similar to the one Casteel
had used when he was but a second away from relieving
someone of their heart.
Gregori stiffened. “Where is the King, Your Majesty,” he
repeated, his irritation acid on my tongue and his dislike of
me hot against my skin.
My head tilted to the side as everything came to a head.
Something happened then, tearing open from deep within. It
had rattled with all the lies and then had shaken loose when
Casteel had saved my life. It had cracked open when I stood