The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

Dalos shimmered in the distance as we walked toward the
shadowstone Temple.
The first thing I noticed was there was no slumbering
stone draken. “Where is….?”
“There.” Kieran’s steps slowed as I followed his gaze to
the Temple stairs. A man with black hair streaked with silver
stood in the center of them, dressed in black pants and
nothing else. “You think that’s Nektas?” he asked, his voice
low. “In his mortal form?”
“Maybe.” Shards of diamonds crunched under my boots.
“The wolven is correct,” the man spoke, and my brows
lifted. The draken’s hearing was extraordinary. “You have
returned several members less than the last time. That does
not bode well.”
I stiffened as I stopped many yards from the Temple.
“If you are seeking Nyktos, you are not in luck,” Nektas
continued. “He has joined his Consort once more in sleep.”
“I’m not here to see Nyktos,” I said, taking in the fine
ridges all along his back. They looked like…scales.
“I understand.” A heartbeat of silence. “Or is it that you
now understand the power you wield?”
Wanting to know how the draken was aware of my
epiphany, I glanced at Kieran. He sent me a look that said
he knew I was about to ask a rather irrelevant question.
I fought the urge and won. “I understand.”
His head tilted, but he still did not look at us. “Before
you speak, you must be sure, for these words cannot be
rescinded. Once you summon the flesh and fire of the gods,
to protect and serve you, to keep you safe, they will be cast
in fire and carved in flesh.”
My mouth dried. “I’m sure.”
“What makes you so sure?”
“The Blood Crown took what is mine. They took
everything from me, and they will continue taking
everything.”