ISABELLA’S POV
The first thing I felt was the cold.
It seeped through my cheek, through the thin cotton of my ruined top, through every pore until it reached bone. Then came the pain: wrists on fire from rope, shoulders wrenched from their sockets, lungs raw from whatever chemical had knocked me out.
My eyelids fluttered as torchlights danced across ancient stone. Roots twisted overhead like black veins. A jagged slit in the ceiling bled crimson moonlight straight down onto me.
I was staked inside a perfect circle of silver dust, arms spread wide, ankles chained. Runes carved into the floor glowed like hot coals. The air stank of blood, incense, and something feral I couldn’t name.
My heart jackhammered so hard I thought it would c***k a rib.
Four figures stood around me.
Caleb s
