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

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

I didn’t understand why either of them would behave this way toward the Prince, but especially Kieran. He had been bonded to Casteel from birth, meant to obey and protect him at all costs.

They are protecting YOU from HIM.. I think

“Yes, you are mortal, but you are descended from a deity—the children of the gods. All it takes is a drop of god’s blood—” She swallowed thickly. “You may have more than just a drop, but what is in your blood, what is in you, supersedes any oath the wolven have taken.”

The gods had given the once-wild kiyou wolves mortal form to serve as guides and protectors to the children of the gods—the deities.

Casteel was alive. I shuddered again, tears scorching my throat. He was alive.

I bet hes pissed too.. I NEED his pov

“I am no Descenter.” “Really?” His superspeed sort of gave that away. “Then what are you?” The tight-lipped smile grew. His features sharpened, narrowed, and then he changed. Shrinking in height and width, the new body drowned in the clothing Jansen had been wearing. His skin became tanner and smoother. In an instant, his hair darkened to black and became longer, his eyes lightening and turning blue. Within seconds, Beckett knelt before me.

WHAAAAATTTTTT

I saw death in your eyes, even all those years ago.” My heart stuttered and then sped up. “What?” “We met before. You were either too young then to remember or the events of the night were too traumatic,”

I fucking knew it

Would I even get the chance to see Casteel again?

Uhhhh id like to see him too. This iss too long tto go with out him. We need his pov asaap

Delano.

God bless this mman

A thousand questions rose, but the most important one came out first. “Casteel—?” “Is currently disemboweling some idiot in a godsdamn Descenter mask,”

Thabk godd. Hes probably pisssssed

“Okay. He’s really angry,” Kieran amended, reaching for the bindings just below my breasts. “He has been going crazy looking for you. I’ve never seen him this way.” His hands trembled slightly as they folded over the bone and root chains. “Never, Poppy.”

“You’re going to be okay,” he said to me. “I’m going to take the pain away.

Wait.. IS he gonna change her? Idk if thaats a tthing lol

“You’re going to…” Kieran rocked forward. “Fuck. Yeah. Okay.” He tore through the roots. “Let’s do this.” Do…do what?

Change her...?

“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.”

“But I have no plans to enter the Vale anytime soon. And I will not lose you. Ever. I love you, Princess, and even if you hate me for what I’m about to do, I will spend the rest of our lives making up for it.” He jerked back, exhaling heavily. “Now!”

Oh, gods, he was going to Ascend me. Terror dug its claws into me. I didn’t want to die, but I didn’t want to turn into something inhuman, either. Cold and violent and without a soul. And that’s what the Ascended lacked, wasn’t it? That’s why I couldn’t feel anything from them. There was no soul to fuel the emotions. They were incapable of even the most basic feelings. I didn’t—

“Drink. Keep drinking,” it ordered. “That’s it. Keep swallowing. Drink, Princess, drink for me…”

Wow i cant believe he ascendded her. That was exactlgy what he was saving her ffrom ....

“I can still feel your notam.”

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

“Her eyes,” the other said as the one holding me lowered his arm—his wrist. His bleeding wrist. “They’re not black. They’re still green.” The male stiffened against me. “What?”

“Poppy,” he whispered, those strange, churning eyes glimmering with dampness. “You didn’t Ascend.”

I know what bloodlust feels like. I know that you can lose yourself in it.

I dont undeddstand why she has bloodlusst if she didnt aszcendd

These images, these thoughts were his as he spoke softly.

Thoughts???

Him. I wanted him.

Uh is kieran still there?

“She’s taking too much,” the other man said, his voice closer. “You’ve got to stop her.” Even in my lust-addled mind, even as tension coiled tighter and tighter inside me, I knew the one who moved under me and in me wouldn’t stop me.

Oh my god he is hahahaahah

Still warmed and filled that gnawing, painful hollowness inside me. I shuddered, and the hand on the back of my head stilled. Oh, gods, they succeeded. He’d…Ascended me.

What had he been thinking? I will not lose you. Ever. I love you, Princess. He hadn’t been thinking. He’d simply been…feeling.

Namely, how I was in here after I had Ascended. After he’d done the unthinkable to save me. I remembered the panic in his father’s voice as he pleaded with him not to do it—not to repeat history.

I was in awe of him, and I was in love with him.

Thats good i thoighshe was gonna be maad and theen wed start all ovver again lol

“I love you. I would”—I swallowed—“I would do anything for you, Cas. Like you did for me. Anything—”

I think this is thee first timw she calleed him Cas

“Cas,” he echoed against my lips. “You have no idea how long I’ve waited to hear you call me that.” “Why?” I hadn’t even realized I had used the nickname.

“I don’t know. Only those I trust most call me that.” His laugh was soft, and then he drew back farther, clasping my cheeks carefully. “You know, don’t you?” He searched my eyes with his. “What you mean to me? What I feel for you?” “Yes.” He wiped away another tear with his thumb. “I never knew it could feel like this. That I could feel this for someone. But I do—I love you.”

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

“Then please don’t blame yourself. Please. If you do, I’ll…I don’t know what I’d do, but I’m sure you wouldn’t like it.” “Does it involve stabbing?” I stared at him. “Because I’d probably like that.” I sighed. “Cas.” A faint smile appeared. “I will try not to blame myself. Okay? The guilt that I feel isn’t something that will go away immediately, but I will try. For you.”

“Because I did lose you, Poppy. I felt your heart stop. The imprint on my palm started to fade. I was losing you, and you are my everything.”

Omg i didnt reealize the imlrrint faded

“Don’t apologize,” he told me. “None of what happened was your fault, Poppy. I just…I can’t feel that again.”

Oh myy godd i lovw him ugh awwww

Well, killing people by turning their emotions back on them would probably count as an amazing ability—a scary one—but why couldn’t I morph into something like a dragon? That would be incredible.

HAhaha

“When I use compulsion, the eather gives me the ability to do so. I see in my mind what I want the person

“Am I…am I immortal now?”

A part of me still wanted to remain quiet, to not bring up King Malec, but I…I didn’t want anything unspoken to linger between us. Not after what had happened. Not after what he’d risked for me. Not after we’d come so close to losing each other.

Im lovving thiss communicarion... Evetyonee iss twling everyone everything. I feel like theerfe sso secrets rrigh now

“We have no idea why you haven’t Ascended, or if you did and we just don’t know into what yet.

Into what.. Couls she be a dragon lol. She did joke about it earlier... forshawoing?

The voice sounded like… Delano? “You are meyaah Liessa. Wake up.” The thing beside me’s mouth fell open in a scream that started silently but turned into a long, keening howl—-

“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.”

Shouts of excitement and cheers filled the streets as people clamored and spilled out of buildings or leaned from windows above. Arms rose and trembled as some yelled Casteel’s name, and others praised the gods. An older man dropped to his knees and clasped his hands together against his chest. He wept. And he wasn’t the only one. Women. Men. Many openly cried as they yelled his name. Casteel shifted behind me as my eyes grew to the size of the sun. I…I’d never seen anything like this. Ever.

“Liessa!” a man shouted, slamming a hand against the sidewalk, startling me. “Meyaah Liessa!”

Thats what delano said

“It’s old Atlantian. The language of the gods,” Casteel said, his voice rough. He cleared his throat as he squeezed my hand again. “Meyaah Liessa. It means: my Queen.”

AHHHHHH

“Obviously, I don’t have experience in the whole marriage department, but be that as it may, you’re my wife. That means we don’t pretend anymore, correct? That, always and forever, we are real with one another.” “Yes.” I nodded. “Not about anything. Not even when you don’t want me to worry. I know you’re strong and so resilient it’s fucking unbelievable, but you don’t have to always be strong with me. It’s okay to not be okay when you’re with me,” he said, and my breath caught. “It’s my duty as your husband to make sure you feel safe enough to be real. You don’t have to pretend that you’re okay with everything that has happened, Poppy.”

The dimple in his right cheek appeared, and he dipped his head, kissing just above my brow and then lower, over the scar. “Princess?” My lips curved up. What had started as a nickname had become a reality. “Yes?” His mouth moved over mine. “I love you.” The smile on my face grew as my heart did a little skip in my chest. “I love you.” He made that rough, rumbling sound. “I will never get tired of hearing that. Say it over and over, a hundred thousand times, and it will feel like I’m hearing it for the first time.”

I think it’s a Gyrm.”

“I imagine Wilhelmina knows—” Casteel choked on his drink as my mouth dropped open. Jasper’s eyes narrowed. “You okay over there?” “Wait,” Casteel coughed again, eyes watering. “Wait a godsdamn second. Wilhelmina? Who is Wilhelmina?” Jasper frowned, clearly confused. “You never met Willa?” Oh, my gods. There was no way. “What is her last name?” Casteel asked. Please don’t say Colyns. Please don’t say Colyns, I repeated over and over as Kieran’s father stared at Casteel as if he’d lost his mind. “I think it’s Colyns.” My jaw was now in my lap. Godsdamnit, Casteel’s theory had been right. Miss Willa was an Atlantian. I couldn’t believe it—wait. Did that mean she was here, in Atlantia?

HAHAAHAHAAHAHHAAH

“Unworthy.” “Excuse me?” “I am unworthy of you,” he stated roughly. “You are a dream.”

Ughhh