***VERA***

I stayed in that cell long enough for time to lose its shape. Hours… days… I couldn’t tell. Only the cold stone beneath my legs reminded me I was still here. Still breathing. Still trapped.

They shoved food at me a few times. Metal scraping against the ground. A chunk of bread. A bowl of something gray.

I never touched any of it.

Not once.

I just kept my eyes closed and held tight to the only warmth left inside me—Conry. His voice. His hands. The way he looked at me like ...