The War of Two Queens (Blood And Ash, #4)

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

I found it—a passage with just enough ink left to make out a reference to the Chosen, but I was even more confused. Because when I cross-checked the births in the other ledger, only the third sons and daughters born of the same family had no death dates—dates only marked by the month, day, and the age. I was positive that wasn’t due to faded ink. “How was the Rite possible, then?” I asked the empty chamber. The only answer was if the Rite had existed and then had stopped, somehow being forgotten by the time the first Atlantian was born. That was the only explanation, as I knew he couldn’t have lied about this. Every Atlantian and wolven I’d met believed that the Rite had begun with the Ascended. As I stared at the ledger, it struck me that these records could be far, far older than I believed. Possibly written during a time when the gods were awake. My lips parted. “These ledgers have to be—” “Older than sin and most kin.” I jerked at the raspy voice, my gaze swinging to the half-open doors. A shiver coursed down my spine at the sight of the hunched figure shrouded in black. It was her. The old woman. The widow…who might not even be a widow.