The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

darkness staining the rose color of her gown around the
shoulder. “The bleeding has stopped, but…”
Vonetta pulled the collar of Tawny’s gown aside, and I
inhaled a shaky breath. Her veins stood out under the rich
brown skin, thick and black. “I don’t know what this is.”
I rose, unsteady. My clothing was stiff with blood. Some
was mine, but most of it had belonged to Ian. “I can help
her.”
“I think you should just sit back down for a little bit.”
Kieran was on his feet beside me.
Pressing a hand to my head, I kept looking and kept…
searching the patchy memories. The sound of crunching,
breaking bones came back to me. “Lyra?”
Kieran shook his head.
My heart started thumping as I slid my hand to my sore
throat. Isbeth. “Where is Casteel?”
Vonetta turned back to Tawny, her shoulders tight—too
tight.
Silence.
A tremor rippled through me. The hum in my chest
pushed and expanded, and my heart—my soul—twisted
because I already knew. Oh, gods, deep down, I already
knew the answer. I cracked as I drew in a too-shallow
breath.
I stumbled around in a circle. My eyes locked with
Kieran’s as I felt my broken heart crack even more. “No,” I
whispered, stepping back and then toward Tawny. I needed
to help her, but I bent, doubled over. “No. He didn’t.”
“Poppy,” Kieran whispered. “There was nothing we
could do. Cas…he handed himself over. We had to leave.
Isbeth said Tawny was a gift—a sign of her goodwill. One
that she said she hoped you would return.”
“No.” Tears rushed my eyes as I tried to make myself go
to Tawny. My stomach dropped as I jerked straight and
looked at my left palm. The imprint was still there. I closed
my hand and then my eyes, and I saw Ian…I saw him falling.