The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

Alastir studied me. “Does it matter?”
It did. “Yes.”
“They do not know about this,” he said. “They may have
speculated that our…brotherhood had risen once more, but
they had no hand in this. They won’t like what I’ve been a
part of, but I believe they will come to see the necessity of
it.” He inhaled deeply through his nose, tilting his head
back. “And if they don’t, then they too will be treated as a
threat.”
My eyes widened once more. “You…you’re staging a
coup.”
His gaze shot back to mine. “No. I am saving Atlantia.”
“You’re saving Atlantia by working with the Ascended,
putting the people of the kingdom in even more danger, and
overthrowing or doing something worse to the Crown if they
disagree with your actions? That is a coup. That is also
treasonous.”
“Only if you’ve sworn allegiance to the heads the crown
sits upon,” he countered. “And I don’t think it will come to
that. Eloana and Valyn both know that protecting Atlantia
may mean engaging in some most unsavory deeds.”
“And you think Casteel will go along with this?” I
demanded. “That after you hand me over to the Ascended,
he’ll just give up and move on? That he’ll marry your greatniece
after your daughter—” I cut myself off before exposing
what Shea had really done. Withholding that wasn’t for his
sake. Gods, no. The desire to see his face when he learned
the truth of what his daughter had done savagely burned
through me, but I stopped out of respect for Casteel—for
what he’d had to do.
Alastir stared at me, his jaw tight. “You would’ve been
good for Casteel, but you never would’ve been my
daughter.”
“Damn straight,” I said, my nails digging into my palms.
It took me several moments to trust myself before I spoke
again. “Casteel chose me. He’s not going to turn around and