The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

Chapter 5
I couldn’t have heard him right. There was no way he
planned to do what he’d stated.
“None will be the wiser until it’s too late,” he said. “You
will be beyond their reach, like all the others the Ascended
have taken.”
“That…that doesn’t even make sense,” I said, stunned
when I realized that he was serious.
“It doesn’t?”
“No!” I exclaimed. “For several reasons. Starting with
how you plan to get me there.”
Alastir smiled at me, and my unease grew. “Penellaphe,
dear, you’re no longer within the Pillars of Atlantia. You’re in
the Crypt of the Forgotten Ones, deep within the Skotos
Mountains. If anyone even learns that you are here, they will
not find you. We will already be gone by then.”
My insides chilled as disbelief rose. “How did you get
past the Guardians?”
“Those who were unaware of our presence felt the kiss
of the shadowshade.”
“And those who weren’t?” I asked, already guessing
what’d happened to them. “You killed Guardians?”
“We did what needed to be done.”
“Gods,” I whispered, swallowing the anger and panic
that swirled within me. “They protected Atlantia. They—”
“They were not the true Guardians of Atlantia,” he cut
me off. “If they were, they would’ve struck you down the
moment you appeared.”