The Ascended (The Aesymarean Duet, #1)

by Bree Grenwich

I'd never been in the presence of a god before, and now, perhaps, I understood why people built temples and offered sacrifices. It wasn't devotion—it was self-preservation.

"The greatest triumph of the Aesymar was convincing mortals to revere the very system designed to keep them in their place."