Kingdom of Ash

Gone.
Here, but gone. As if their bodies were
shells.
“What happened?” Chaol breathed.
Aelin’s hand fell from where it had been
clapped onto her arm and dangled limply at
her side. Revealing that open wound. The
black slivers of rock shoved inside it.
Something in Rowan’s chest, intricate and
essential, began to strain. Began to go taut.
The mating bond.
Rowan lurched forward a step, a hand on
his chest.
No. The mating bond writhed, as if in
agony, as if in terror. He halted, Aelin’s name
on his lips.
Rowan fell to his knees as the three
Wyrdkeys within Aelin’s arm dissolved into
her blood.
Like dew in the sun.