The basement was suffocating, the air thick and stifling, but it wasn’t the stale atmosphere that made my chest tighten. It was the searing humiliation and rage clawing at my insides. I yanked at the chains binding me, feeling the cold metal bite into my skin, but I didn’t care. The barrier, a shimmering, unbreakable wall of Elsie’s magic glowed faintly, taunting me like a smug prison guard.

How could she do this to me?

“ELSIE!” I screamed, my voice raw and breaking. I slammed my fists against the barrier. It absorbed the force with an almost mocking hum, as though daring me to try harder. “You think you can...