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

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

“You should hold onto the bench.” With shaking hands, I gripped the edge of the seat. One side of his lips curved up. “Good girl.”

He consumed me, and I was lost—willingly lost in the raw sensations flooding me, devoured by the groan he unleashed against my flesh.

“But just in case, if anyone comes in here, stab first and ask questions later. You should be familiar with that mentality.” “Why does everyone act like I run around stabbing people?” Casteel stared back at me and then looked pointedly at his chest. “Whatever,” I muttered. “You deserved it.”

“I’ve changed my mind about you calling me that.” “You have?” I lowered my glass. He nodded as he leaned in, brushing his lips across mine. “Because hearing you say it makes me want to get my mouth between your thighs again, and that need is quite distracting.” Heat flooded my veins. “Sounds like that’s your problem.” I grinned. “Cas.”

“Probably all those reasons, but also because he is one of the few gods that can change forms,” he said.

He nodded. “He was able to take the shape of a wolf—a white one. You haven’t seen much of Atlantia, but when you do, you will see paintings and statues of Nyktos. He’s often depicted with a wolf either at his side or behind him. When the wolf is behind him, it symbolizes the shape he can take, and when the wolf is beside him, it represents the offer he made to the kiyou.”

You have a healthy obsession with stabbing people. Gasping, I gave a little jump. “I do not!” A wide grin broke out over Kieran’s face. “You heard, then?” “I did.” Dropping the pillow, I smacked his arm. “And I don’t have a healthy obsession with that. I’m just surrounded by people who have an unhealthy obsession with annoying me.”

“And, of course, you are not staying put,” Kieran muttered, opening one of the double doors. “Nope.” I followed behind him.

“Cas will be fine,” he snapped, hauling me into the enclosed patio once more. “I know you can fight. You’re a badass, Poppy. But not only will Casteel have my head if something happens to you, you are also our Queen.”

“How many of them did you kill?” “A few,” I answered, curling my free hand into the front of his shirt. His lips brushed my ear. “A few?” “A decent amount,” I amended. Casteel kissed my cheek. “That’s my girl.”

Casteel…he just understood me. Understood my need to never be helpless.

“You can stand? Or have I blown your mind and your muscles?”

My jaw was now in my lap. Godsdamnit, Casteel’s theory had been right. Miss Willa was an Atlantian.

“You don’t travel over or through the Mountains of Nyktos. You travel under them.”

The only visible white I saw in the entire wardrobe were two slips. A smile tugged at my lips, and I didn’t stop it—didn’t even have to think about concealing it like I had when I’d been the Maiden. Casteel. This was all him. He’d made sure there was little white to be found in my options. Gods, I loved that man.

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

He smiled as he cleared his throat. “Please tell me you’re wearing your dagger.” Fighting a grin, I lifted the right side of the skirt to my thigh. Casteel groaned. “Gods, you’re perfect.”

His lips twisted into a half-smile. “Look at us, agreeing on who to kill and who not to.” I shook my head. “Which is a conversation I truly never expected to take part in.”

“You have the blood of the gods in you, Poppy. How much and what that truly means is unknown, but what is clear is that the kingdom is yours. Alastir knew it. My mother recognized it. And despite what my father said about her reacting with emotion, he realizes what it means. The bonds with the wolven breaking and shifting to you is further confirmation.

“But most will see you for who you are. Which is the next Queen of Atlantia.” The breath I took went nowhere. His steady gaze met and held mine. “Just like I see you for who you are. My Queen.”

“Do not continue denying what you are. You’re smarter and stronger than that,” he interrupted, and I snapped my mouth shut. “You do not have the luxury of doing so. Neither do I, and neither does the kingdom. Your arrival changes everything.”

“But this is your home.” “You told me that I was your home. That works both ways,” he reminded me. “You are mine. What matters is that we’re together and happy.”

“I do not want to be party to forcing you into yet another role you did not ask for nor desire. I will not replace the veil you loathed with a crown you hate. If you do not want to take the Crown, I will support you,” he swore, and the intensity in his words captured me. The irrevocable oath he was making. “And if you decide you want to take what is yours, claim the throne, I will set this entire kingdom on fire and watch it burn if that ensures that the crown sits on your head.”

“You love your people—” “But I love you more.” Flecks of gold burned brightly in his eyes, churning restlessly. “Do not underestimate what I would or would not do to ensure your happiness. I think you know this by now. There is nothing that I wouldn’t do, Poppy. Nothing.”

“You know what it means to me, having that choice. That freedom.” Emotion swelled in my chest and burned its way up my throat. “It means everything to me.” He slid his hand around to my cheek, tilting my head back. Dipping his head, he kissed me softly. “I know.” “You are worthy of me, Cas. I need you to know that.”

“First and foremost, you won’t be a terrible Queen, Poppy.” “You have to say that,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Because you’re my husband, and because you’re afraid I’ll stab you if you say otherwise.” “Fear is not remotely what I feel when I think you might stab me.”

“You know that’s not what you did,” he said. “You brought that girl back to life.” The breath I took seized in my throat as I opened my eyes. “That’s not possible.”

“It shouldn’t be,” he agreed, sliding a hand over my bare arm and then across my chest. A curl low in my stomach made itself known as his palm grazed my breast. “Not for a mortal. Not for an Atlantian, or even a deity.” His hand slipped over my hip and then my thigh. I could feel the heat of his palm through the dress as he skimmed past the wolven dagger. “Only a god can do that—only one god.” “Nyktos.”

“She was gone.” He nipped at my lower lip, drawing a gasp from me. “And you brought her back because you tried. Because you refused to give up. You did that, Poppy. And because of you, those parents won’t be mourning their child tonight. They’ll be watching her fall asleep.”

My head pushed back against the wall as the feel of him, hot and thick, consumed me. His mouth closed over mine, and I loved the way he kissed me, like my very taste was enough for him to live on.

“You know how you said it was weird to be a Queen to the wolven but not be a wolven?” Cas said after a few moments. “It made me think of how when I met you, I was looking for the Maiden, but I found a Princess, a Queen—my wife.” He laughed, and it sounded as if it were one of awe. “I don’t know. It just made me think about how you find things you never knew you needed when you’re looking for something completely opposite.”

“After everything that happened with Shea and my brother, I honest to gods never thought a laugh could wreck me like yours does. And when I say it wrecks me, I mean in the best way—in the most complete way. And I…” A shaky breath left him. “I just want to thank you for that.”

“You’re thanking me?” I twisted as far as I could in his embrace, searching for his gaze and finding it. “I should be thanking you. It is you who made it possible for me to laugh without recourse.”

Casteel’s head snapped toward his father, tension stiffening his broad shoulders. “Her name is Penellaphe. And if you get my wife’s permission, you may call her that. If not, then you may call her Princess. Whatever rolls more respectfully off your tongue. But what you will never refer to her as is the Maiden. Do you understand me?”

“I don’t know what you might think of me or what Alastir shared with you, but I didn’t choose to be the Maiden or to wear the veil. I didn’t choose to be a descendant of some deity or come back here and break bonds or usurp any bloodlines. The only thing I have ever chosen is your son.”

“What we’re saying is that it’s impossible for the ones you believed to be your parents to be who you remember them to be.” King Valyn’s tone was softer than what I even imagined him being able to accomplish. “Or they were not your parents at all. Because we know who one of them was.” The sympathy that radiated from the Queen nearly choked me. “Malec had to have been your father, Penellaphe.”

“No other deity could do that. Only those who carried the blood of Nyktos. And there was only ever Malec. And he was Nyktos’s grandchild. That was why he was so powerful. That partially explains why you are so powerful, as Nyktos would be your great-grandfather.”

“So…they’re not a bad thing?” I asked. A faint smile tugged at Queen Eloana’s lips as she shook her head. “No. They have always represented the blood of the gods.” “And that is why I did not become an Ascended? Because of the blood of the gods, or that I…I was never truly mortal?”

The Queen stared for a moment and then smiled. “I would think not. My son would only choose a bride whose bravery equaled his own.”

“I’m sure you know that I spent many years with Queen Ileana.” Tension bracketed her mouth as she echoed, “Ileana.” Her nostrils flared in distaste. “The Queen of Blood and Ash.”

“Yours.” Stark need shone through the slits of his eyes. “Now. Forever. Always.”

“Harder.” “Harder?” “Yes.” I curled my upper body around, reaching back and clasping his hips. “Please.” “Fuck,” he growled, and I felt him jerk deep inside me. “I love you.”

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

So,” he said, running his thumbs over my knuckles, “is it your choice to take the Crown?” My heart skipped a beat. “It is,”

“You’re sure about this?” My heart gave another leap. “I am.” Something occurred to me. “I want the crest changed. I want the arrow and sword to be equal.” His dimples appeared then. “I like the sound of that.”

Tomorrow, we will leave for the capital.” Where we would take the Crown. And then we would travel to Iliseeum and wake the King of Gods.

My finger stilled over the ring. “You…you fell in love with her knowing you could lose her?” “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.”

“You are a descendant of the gods, Poppy. You run from no one and nothing.”

Because they were right. I was brave. I was fearless. And I ran from no one and nothing—and that included a crown.

“Rise,” Eloana ordered softly, her eyes glistening with bright tears when I looked up. She smiled. “Rise as the Queen and King of Atlantia.”