Chapter 41. Draining

The moment my eyes fluttered open, the pain hit all at once — every inch of my body screaming in protest. If I had been standing, I would’ve hit the floor by now.

My first instinct was to reach out to Ria — to feel her presence, her strength — but she was gone. Silent.

I couldn’t sense her at all.

Panic surged in my chest.

What have I done?

She warned me about pushing too far… about her taking over… and now? I didn’t even know if she was still alive in me. Maybe the drug they used — whatever the hell it was had suppressed her. I could only pray that was all it did.

I took a moment to really look around and the change hit me immediately.

This wasn’t the same cell.

They’d moved me.

Not just to another room — to a completely different dungeon. The air was colder here, heavier. This wasn’t one of the elder prisons where they kept supernatural rules in place this was real.

This was a place where you could die if you d