Emily's pov
I woke up the following morning to the smell of food - stew, actually: needless to say, it made me super hungry, and I would have gotten out of bed and rushed into the dining room if only there was a single muscle that didn't make me wish for death.
The separation ritual had been the most painful experience of my life. I had literally felt the bond fighting tooth and nail not to be destroyed, torturing me for daring to do such a thing: it was as if I had been immersed in the fires of hell while thousands of razor-sharp fangs tore my body from within.
I shivered. Henri had defined the bond as a living thing, and I hadn't fully understood that until I had felt it die.
Now, however, that it was gone... that I didn't feel it... the feeling of emptiness was the most beautiful I
