The ​Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and Ash, #3)

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

My first. My guard. My friend. My betrayer. My partner. My husband. My heartmate. My everything.

“‘With the last Chosen blood spilled, the great conspirator birthed from the flesh and fire of the Primals will awaken as the Harbinger and the Bringer of Death and Destruction to the lands gifted by the gods. Beware, for the end will come from the west to destroy the east and lay waste to all which lies between.’”

“I love him,” I whispered. Kieran paused by my legs. “Are you just now figuring that out?”

“You are dangerous now, but you will become something else entirely later.”

“I love you, Penellaphe. You. Your fierce heart, your intelligence and strength. I love your endless capacity for kindness. I love your acceptance of me. Your understanding. I’m in love with you, and I will be in love with you when I take my last breath and then beyond in the Vale.”

I could see him clearly, his hair a coppery red in the lamplight. His square jaw covered in several days-worth of a beard. Straight nose. Eyes the color of pine. “What a pretty, little flower. What a pretty poppy.” Papa leaned in, kissing the crown of my head. “I love you more than all the stars in the sky.” “I love you more than all the fish in the sea.” “That’s my girl.” Papa’s hands trembled on my cheeks. “Cora?” Momma came forward, her face pale. “You should’ve known she would find a way down here.” She glanced over her shoulder. “You trust him?” “I do,” he said as Momma took my hand in hers. “He’s going to lead us to safety….” Wind roared like thunder through the inn, coming from a place that was not here. Voices rose, ones that didn’t come from Papa or Momma, but from above, somewhere beyond the whirlpool of colors at the other end of the nothingness.

“Stay with your momma, baby.” Papa touched my cheeks, drawing me away from the voices. “Stay with her and find your brother. I’ll be back for you soon.” Papa rose and turned to the door—to the man who stood there, watching from the small crack between the panels. “Do you see him?” The man at the door, whose hair reminded me of the beaches of the Stroud Sea, nodded. “He knows you’re here.” “He knows she’s here.” “Either way, he’s leading them here. If they get in here…” “We won’t let that happen,” Papa said, reaching for the hilt of a sword. “They can’t have her. We can’t let that happen.” “No,” the man agreed softly, looking over his shoulder at me with strange blue eyes. “I won’t.” “Come, Poppy.” Momma pulled on my hand—

They had gotten inside, just like the man had warned. The screams. There were so many screams, and the shrieks of those things outside the window, scratching and clawing at it. “You’ve got to let go, baby. You need to hide, Poppy—” Momma stilled and then wrenched her arm free. Momma reached into the kid leather boots I liked to shuffle around in, pretending that I was older and bigger. She pulled something out, something black as night and slender and sharp. She moved so fast—faster than I’d ever seen her move before, spinning around as she rose, the black spike in her hand. “How could you do this?” Momma demanded as I scooted to the edge of the cupboard.

“I know. You’re hungry. But you can’t eat Kieran. That would make me a little sad.”

“You are the foundation that helps me stand. You are my walls and my roof. My shelter. You are my home.”

tried to eat Kieran.” “He won’t hold it against you.” “I tried to eat Kieran while I was naked.” “That’s probably why he won’t hold it against you.”

“If you think that what I did was a shock, then you need to understand that I will do anything and everything for my wife.” Casteel’s gaze latched on to his father’s. “No risk is too great, nor is anything too sacred. Because she is my everything. There is nothing greater than her, and I do mean nothing.”

“It could also mean that only one—or neither of them—was your parent by blood.”

sometimes, no matter how many measures one takes, or how much they are willing to compromise, war cannot always be prevented.”

“Poppy, listen to me,” he whispered, and my eyes opened. “I know the truth. Wake Nyktos. Only his guards can stop the Blood Crown.”

Where we would take the Crown. And then we would travel to Iliseeum and wake the King of Gods.

“You’ve got to let go, baby. You need to hide, Poppy—” Momma stilled, and then she wrenched her arm free, reaching inside her boot. She pulled something out, something black as night and slender and sharp. She moved so fast—faster than I’d ever seen her move, spinning around as she rose, the black spike in her hand.

“How could you do this?” Momma demanded as I scooted to the edge of the cupboard. A…a man stood a few feet from her, cloaked in scary shadows. “I’m sorry.” “So am I.” Momma swung out, but the shadow man caught her arm. “Momma!” I screamed, and glass cracked. Her head jerked around. “Run. Run—” Glass shattered, and the night spilled into the kitchen, tumbling down the wall and hitting the floor. I froze, unable to move as the gray-skinned creatures rose, their sunken bodies and red-smeared mouths scaring me. They swarmed the kitchen, and I couldn’t see her. “Momma!” Bodies snapped in my direction. Mouths dropped open. Shrill howls ripped through the air. Bony, cold fingers pressed into my leg. I screamed as I scrambled back inside the cupboard— “Shit,” the dark man cursed, and a spray of something rotten hit my face. The thing let go of my leg. I started to twist away, but the shadow man reached inside the cupboard, grabbing my arm. “Gods, help me,” he muttered, yanking me out. Panicked, I pulled at his grip as those things came at him. He swept out an arm. I twisted, struggling. My foot slipped in the wetness. I turned sideways— Momma was there, her face streaked with red. She thrust that black spike into the center of the shadow man’s chest. He grunted out a bad word. His grip loosened and slipped away as he fell backward. “Run, Poppy,” Momma gasped. “Run.” I ran. I ran toward her— “Momma—” Claws caught my hair, scratched my skin, burning me like the time I’d reached for ...

“The heart doesn’t care how long you may have with someone.” Kieran looked over at me, his eyes sheltered. “It just cares that you have the person for as long as you can.”

I was brave. I was fearless. And I ran from no one and nothing—and

“You will bow before your Queen.” Casteel eyed the Atlantian coolly. “Or you will bleed before her. It is your choice.”

“You were born of flesh with the fire of the gods in your blood. You are a Bringer of Life and a Bringer of Death,” Nyktos interrupted. “You are the Queen of Flesh and Fire, due more than one Crown, one kingdom. What you seek, you already have. You always had the power in you.”