Nicole’s POV
The damp chill of the dungeon clung to my skin, making it impossible to feel anything but cold and trapped. The walls loomed around me, their dark stone surfaces swallowing the faint flicker of torchlight, as though even light could not survive in this place. My frustration boiled over, raw and suffocating, and I slammed my fist into the wall. Pain lanced through my hand, sharp and immediate, but it was not enough to quell the storm inside me.
I screamed until my throat became sore. Jake was winning. Every move he made tightened the noose around me, and no matter how much I fought, I was powerless against it.
Another scream erupted, unbidden, as I punched the wall again and again. The sharp sting of torn skin and bruised knuckles barely registered over the rage burning ins
