Kieran’s POV

The chains were cold metal biting into my wrists and ankles, a relentless reminder of how completely unable I was to act in any way. There's the damp wall of stone pressing into my back, and I can feel its roughness scraping my skin. The darkness around me is absolute—no light, no sound but for a faint, dripping somewhere off in the shadows. It's a silence with something almost live about it, weighing down on me like a burden I can never escape.

I've ...