Emilia’s POV

The sound of shattering stone split the air.

I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. Couldn’t move.

The beast’s arm swung wide, and the chain binding his other wrist snapped free from the wall with a thunderous crack. The chamber shook with the force of it, dust and fragments of stone raining down from the ceiling. My heart slammed against my ribs so hard it hurt, each beat a frantic warning drum screaming the same word over and over.

Run.

But I couldn’t.

The door wasn’t an option. One swing of those chains, and I’d be crushed before I made it two steps. The walls closed in around me, suffocating,...