POV: Alexei

The pain was gone. That should have been a relief, but it terrified me instead. For days, the poison had burned through my veins like liquid fire. Every breath was agony. Every heartbeat felt like it might be my last. The bond with Maya, severed but still trying to reconnect, had been a constant ache in my chest.

Now there was nothing. Just emptiness where the pain used to be.

I pushed myself up from the floor of my cell, testing my limbs. They worked. No weakness, no ...