Sergio’s POV
The dungeon felt like a living thing, closing in around me with every breath. Stale air filled my lungs, thick with the scent of moss and cold stone, mixed with the faint, metallic tang of blood that lingered in the cracks of the floor. I’d come to appreciate the silence down here; it left room for thought, allowed me to watch her, to read the slight shifts in her expression, the faint tremor of her hands as she stared at the ground. If she thought she could avoid me forever, she was sorely mistaken.
Elara was curled against the far wall, knees drawn to her chest, eyes focused on some invisible point in the distance. Her lips were dry and cracked, and there were dark shadows under her eyes. She looked smaller than she had before, a shell of the fierce woman I’d once glimpse
