The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

like the deities were supposed to be. I just wanted them to
taste their emotions, for that ugliness to be the last thing
they felt. I wanted that more than—
I wanted that too much, when I shouldn’t want it at all.
I didn’t enjoy killing, not even the Craven. Killing was
merely a harsh reality, one that shouldn’t be desired or
enjoyed.
Unsettled, I sucked in dry air and did what I had to when
I was in a crowd or around someone who projected their
emotions into the space around them. I shut my senses
down, forcing the silvery webbing of light from my mind.
The hum in my chest calmed, but my mind didn’t. I’d
stopped myself. That’s all I needed to know to prove that
what Alastir had said wasn’t true. I wasn’t a chaotic, violent
entity incapable of controlling myself.
Kieran came to my side, angling his body so he could
see me and everything happening around us. He unhooked
his cloak. “Are you okay?”
“I’m not a monster,” I whispered.
He stiffened. “What?”
Swallowing hard, I shook my head. “N-nothing. I…” I
watched King Valyn strike down another masked man. He
and his son fought with the same kind of gracefully brutal
force. “I’m fine.”
Kieran draped the soft material over my shoulders,
startling me. “You sure about that?”
“Yes.” My gaze flicked to his as he secured the button
just below my neck. It was then that I remembered I wore
nothing but the thin, bloody slip. He pulled the halves
together. “Thank you. I’m…I’m going to sit this one out.”
“I want to thank the gods,” Kieran muttered. “But now
you really have me worried.”
“I’m okay.” My gaze followed Casteel as he spun,
knocking a sword from a Protector’s hand. The blade
clattered on the stone floor as Casteel drew his sword back,