CHAPTER 100

~ Camilla

When consciousness finally clawed its way back into me, it didn’t feel like waking up. It felt like dragging myself through thick mud in the dark, every breath heavy, every heartbeat sluggish and far away. My skull was pounding, not like a headache, not like a migraine, but like there was a dull drum inside it being hit by a slow, cruel fist. My ears buzzed with a faint ringing. For a moment, I didn’t know where I was. Then, like a camera lens adjusting, the room came into shaky focus around me.

Dim. Brownish walls. A single lamp casting a muted glow that didn’t reach...