Elin's POV

The iron door of the detention cell creaked open in the dead of night, a sound like the groan of some ancient beast, shattering the fragile silence I'd wrapped around myself. Dim light from the corridor spilled in, casting long, jagged shadows across the cold concrete floor, turning the sparse room into a cage of flickering ghosts. The air was thick with the stale scent of metal and despair, and Istha stirred restlessly inside me, her low growl a vibration against my ribs, as if she ...