Relief crashes into me so hard it almost makes me dizzy.
It doesn’t last, because the sound echoes a little too loud. Cracking the terrifying silence.
Suddenly every head in this place turns toward us.
Murmurs ripple through the cells. Then coherent voices.
Men shouting.
Women begging.
“Oh God!”
“Help us!”
“Please!”
Desperation rises like a wave—loud, chaotic, clawing at the walls.
The woman ignores it all. Her focus is entirely on Charlotte.
The moment the cell door creaks open, Charlotte doesn’t hesitate. She surges forward, straight to me.
My heart slams against my ribs as she crosses the threshold.
Finally. She’s close enough to touch.
She drops between my spread legs, her hands hovering for a split second like she’s afraid I’ll break under her.
God. Her face is so heartbreakingly beautiful even now. Relief shining through layers of fear and pain that shouldn’t belong on her.
I nod once.
Her hands come up, cupping my face. Sliding down my neck, my chest—so fucking careful—before she wraps her arms around me.
“It’s okay,” I whisper, pressing my lips to her damp cheek. “It’s alright. You’re okay.”
She clings to me. Warm and shaking.
I can’t even hold her. The frustration burns through me just as sharply as the relief.
Then I barely register the bolt cutter lining up before my arms drop like dead weight.
The sound echoes, manacles slamming against stone. My wrists are still locked in the rusted metal, but no longer bound above me.
Charlotte doesn’t even flinch. She just holds on.
A strangled groan rips out of me as fire tears through my arms. Blinding pain. Needles. Thousands of them. Burning under my skin, stabbing into muscle, into bone.
It’s like my limbs don’t belong to me. Like they’ve been replaced with molten iron and shattered glass.
I can’t breathe. My chest heaves, air scraping in like it’s too thin—too sharp.
My arms—fuck—they’re heavy,like a thousand bricks tied to dead nerves. Like someone’s driven red-hot rods straight through them.
“Ah fuck.” My jaw locks, teeth grinding as my vision blurs.
Charlotte pulls back, trying to look at me, but I can’t see her. Can’t focus. Everything is drowning in white-hot agony.
